Live from the Field – 12/12/13

Posted on December 12, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

For the first time in almost 2 weeks, I am back at the Banks County property that I have hunted most the season. Because of my time constraints today, I immediately headed over to my ladder stand. It is located over looking a creek with pine thickets on either side of the hardwoods. Early in the season it was one of the few places we found some oaks dropping acorns. As long as the leaves stayed on the trees, this stand was pointless until about 3 weeks ago. Now we are hoping that it will produce some results.

With doe days being closed to modern hunters across most the region, most hunters are out of the woods until after Christmas. Fortunately for us, this rule does not affect bow hunters. Bow hunters may hunt either sex provided they are not on Natural Forest or WMA property. These properties run by their own set of rules.

For the northern zone, we are almost out of days. 18 days, less than 3 weeks remain of deer season. If you aren’t in the woods yet, it’s time to get there!!!

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Live from the Field – 12/06/13 Post Report

Posted on December 12, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

Due to the weather, I was unable to post from the field on 12/6. It was off and on showers all afternoon. Two hunters hunted a small piece of property in Hall County. Two coyotes, two does and a nice buck were spotted. Unfortunately, there were no shooting opportunities due to angles or distance.

Although the weather wasn’t great it was a pretty successful hunt.

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Live from the Field – RBR Quota 12/4/13

Posted on December 4, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

We are back live from the field on day 2 of the RBR Quota hunt. Taking a quick break, I decided to update DRD on the hunt. 11 deer were killed yesterday among 29 hunters. Weather played a big role in yesterday’s poor showing. Today I got a late start as expected but was in the field around 10:30. Very few hunters arrived today so I took advantage of the lack of hunters. Yesterday I sat on stand for 10+ hours. Today has been a “boots to the dirt” day. Still hunting is when you walk and look and walk and look. With the rain from yesterday the woods are very quiet and I have covered a lot of ground. Unfortunately with zero results. I have yet to even jump a deer today.

With that said, I am starting to question Georgia’s deer population and plan. 29 hunters in a closed state park hunt are going to end up killing less than 20 deer. Many of the hunters saw very few deer in general. We were encouraged to take does to help control the herd. At some point Georgia DNR is going to have to take a step back and reevaluate its plan. There is no need to have a hunt every year or even every other year just to have one. Maybe the 10 doe limit is a bit excessive with a 2-3 month gun season. There are states that have thriving deer herds that are doing the exact opposite of us.

Now don’t get me wrong. The biologists only make suggestions to the state and the law makers are the ones passing the regulations making our deer population very much a political one. Insurance companies want to see fewer and fewer deer to lower deer vs car situations. You also have anti-hunters fighting the hunting in general so many groups are scared to change anything without other recourses. All I am saying is that the hunters across the state have spoken. They have lobbied their frustrations and hopefully the changes made this year are just the beginning. Otherwise, there will be more and more hunters saving their money from Georgia hunting licenses and spending the extra dollars to go hunt other states.

Also, the game wardens, biologists and staff at RBR have done a great job of accommodating us. It has been a very pleasurable hunt and they should be proud of the way they took care of us. Thank you to everyone that worked the RBR Quota hunt.

I will be sure to post the final results after the hunt.

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Live from the Field – RBR Quota 12/3/13

Posted on December 3, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

We are live from the field at the Richard B Russell State Park Quota Hunt. Arriving early in the fog and steady drizzle, I checked in and headed for my zone. Not having scouted made it difficult to know where to go, but quickly I found a suitable tree and set down my gear. What happened next would have made the steadiest of people jump. A flock of about 30 turkeys poured out of the tree I was standing under. If you have ever heard a turkey fly you know the commotion that caused. If you haven’t, imagine a server dropping and breaking a whole tray of dishes.

Finally my heart re-entered my chest, so I climbed the tree and got set. The first gun shots rang out right at sunrise but it didn’t take long for the woods to become completely quiet again. Only 3 shots were fired before 9 am. Other than the squirrels chasing one another and the turkeys clucking to find one another, the woods were quiet. Finally a little after 10 I got down. I walked for a ways and found some sign but no deer.

I headed back towards the road. I jumped three deer that ran across the road and offered no shot. I went back into the woods and found more signs and even some hog sign but no deer. I stayed in that area for two hours. I then decided to move further down the road. I tend to come in heavy and had a hunting pack, rifle and stand. With all that gear it was no surprise I couldn’t get the gun up quick enough when I jumped a deer. What happened next shocked me though. The deer got to the water’s edge and realized that it had no way around without coming into the open and it jumped. I stood there watching this deer swim towards South Carolina to avoid me.

Anyways, it has been a little disappointing so far. Only 28 of 80 hunters showed for the pre-hunt meeting last night and about 10 hunters showed up this morning. I haven’t been by the check station yet but have heard less than 10 shots all day. Tomorrow is the either sex hunt so I am sure more hunters will show up tomorrow. With so few hunters, there is nothing to get the deer moving so it has been very slow for a quota hunt.

I will wait it out in my tree until dark and then be back late morning if I don’t tag out tonight. I am just disappointed in the lack of commitment shown by these Georgia hunters. We will see the results when I check out tonight.

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Live from the Field – 12/1/13

Posted on December 1, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

After taking most of the week off to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family, we are back at it today. This week should be a good one with one of our staff hunters heading to the RBR (Richard B Russell) State Park Quota hunt and several other hunts are lined up this week.

RBR State Park does an annual quota hunt to manage their deer herd in the park and on the golf course. They require a pre-hunt meeting and then two days of hunting. Day 1 is doe only for the first deer. After you kill a doe you receive an either sex tag. This helps manage the herd. We are looking forward to this hunt and doing our part.

Yesterday was the end of doe days across most of the state until the end of December. There is an exception that many hunters aren’t aware of. Bow hunters may still take either sex at any point during the season. Make sure to check your county regs regarding the change in doe days.

In the mountain counties, the rut seems to finally be in full swing. Reports are coming in that bucks are chasing does. On my way in today, I watched a small buck chase a doe for two minutes before they vanished into the pines. This makes the third report in two days in this area. If you hunt in the mountain counties, now is time to use those vacation days!

Bear season ends across the northern zone today with a few exceptions. Duck season is also on its break but we are getting into the full swing of seasons over the next 10 days. Check your regs, call in sick or use that remaining vacation and get up your Christmas decorations. Over the next few weeks you may not want to come out of the woods so make sure you don’t have any excuses!!!

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Live from the Field – 11/25/13

Posted on November 25, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

We stayed out of the field this weekend to allow the weekday workers a chance to hunt. Last week was productive, finally dialing in a spot with some scrapes and rubs. We had deer come through 3 of the 4 days.

A cold front came through Saturday night dropping the temps in the area into the 20s with daytime temps only getting into the mid 40s. Now a major rain maker is coming through and the area has been placed under a Flash Flood Watch. When we heard all of this, the first thing we did was run to the field. Game tends to move well with fronts coming through so we are riding out the cold and wind this evening.

More active scrapes have been found along with several fresh rubs. It seems that the deer in this area are finally beginning to rut. We are sitting in an area tonight that has multiple fresh scrapes and is more open than the other areas we had been hunting. I had been getting frustrated with spooking deer so a burlap wrap has been added to the stand. Hopefully this will reduce the spooking going forward.

Reports from other hunters have been good with more deer being spotted and a very successful open to duck season.

Check back often for more updates from the field along with our 1st annual special features: Outdoor Gifts for Kids and our Black Friday Picks for the Outdoorsman in Your Life!

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Live from the field – 11/22/13

Posted on November 22, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

We are back for another day of fun in the woods. I hiked down and got my stand off the tree I left it on last week to carry it over to the area that I have hunted the last several days. The new scrapes I found are still clean and active. The deer that moved through last night circled around trying to find me but I never got a clean look at it. I moved about 30 yards north to give myself a better look tonight. I still have a long shot at the nearest scrape but more importantly I opened up the woods beyond the scrape. I climbed about 25 feet up into this pine and have good coverage but great visibility. I am looking forward to the last 90 minutes tonight and hope we get some movement through the area with the multiple fronts that are coming through this weekend.

On a side note, the first split of duck season and the last split of dove season opens tomorrow. Our time gets even more divided now so watch the weather and get out on the water, in the field or up a tree!

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Live from the field – 11/21/13

Posted on November 21, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

We are back on our mission to hunt no less than every other day. Today’s hunt was an open hunt. There was no predetermined location, but sign put me on stand rather quickly.

Tracks that had been wiped clean on Tuesday were back today. It rained here over night so the woods are extremely quiet. Even the squirrels are moving without the nuisance of crunching leaves. I decided to check the active scrapes from the weekend. They were dead. Leaves covered them almost completely at this point with no fresh signs around them. I decided to move down the trail before backing out to a different location. A ways down the trail I found a new scrape in the center of the trail. This caught me off guard because it wasn’t here Tuesday. It was a good size scrape with a fresh rub right next to it. Not 25 yards away was another scrape but this one was massive. You could place a kids sled over this scrape and not cover it up. And there was another smaller one within 10 yards of this one. Instead of looking any further, I set up about 20 yards off the trail against a large pine.

I have stayed in place for almost 3 hours and just had a deer straight down wind blow at me. It couldn’t figure out exactly where I was so I am hoping it circles close enough for me to get a look. I can say, that isn’t a good sign for the cover scent products I am using though. Those details will be in a different post.

We will update later if there is any news on this hunt.

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Live from the Field – 11/19/13

Posted on November 19, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

Today I got a mid morning start. After my mistake on Sunday, I have gotten into stand and stayed put. The morning was frosty and sunny with very little breeze. I checked the scrapes when I first arrived and they are still active but not as much as last week. It warmed up quickly and dried out the woods. Bird watching seems to be the best thing going today though. I didn’t even see deer on the drive today. The wind is picking up and it is almost time for me to leave. I may check out a new area or two on my way out.

On a side note, I always clear the tracks that I cross on my way in and out. Today the area was covered in coyote tracks along with very fresh coyote scat. That isn’t good for our hunting in this area.

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After the Hunt – 11/17/13

Posted on November 17, 2013 by dirtroaddispatch

Today we couldn’t do a live post due to the rain. The last several days have been slow for us with still not seeing deer. Arriving early afternoon, it was already raining. Deer tracks that had been wiped clean on Friday in the parking area, were freshly pressed into the mud today. It was a good sign that maybe the luck is changing.

I headed over to the same location I sat on Friday. The rain started to come down harder. The scrape was still clean and found two more rubs in the area. I settled into the only spot that conceals us there. After two hours of getting poured on, I got restless. I also hadn’t scouted this area and wanted to see what the other side of the tree line looked like. I got up and headed down the tree line. The area was every bit as thick as it appeared. About 50 yards away was another scrape. Three solid scrapes within 75 yards of one another is the best signs that I had found all season.

I scouted for about another 30 minutes and found the area to be incredibly dense and it is going to be very difficult to hunt. I headed back to the original scrape and on the trail I heard a blow and looked up to see the white tail running out of the area. I regretted not staying in place and having a short shot at a deer, but the rain just got me antsy.

Having to leave a little early tonight, it was nice to see a deer track over top of the boot tracks. I wiped away all of the new tracks and thought as I left, good days are ahead…

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