Catching fishing while others are not while ice fishing

Many anglers when you talk with them as they come off of the ice, the first question that always starts a conversation, how did you do? More times than not when fishing for pan-fish, the response comes back, they weren’t biting very well today. In reality, the fish were there and willing to bite if the right bait and presentation were presented to them.

This article is going to give some helpful tips and hints on how to locate, entice and catch these fish that do supposedly not want to bite. Fishing here in New England, and being from Minnesota, there are many tactics that we use there that are super productive here in New England and some of these just have not made it here to the angler.

To start, most if not all ponds and lakes here in New England have some sort of pan-fish in them. Not all species are found in these waters as some waters may only have sunfish, or maybe some have sunfish and perch and then there are others that have a good population of all the pan-fish, sunfish, perch, crappies and white perch which are the most commonly sought after pan-fish.

The techniques that we are going to be talking about work for any and all of the species and will be caught in the same hole as you are fishing. If there is one fish that you only want to target on a particular trip, then as you are catching the other types of fish, you will need to keep moving until you find an area that supports the fish that you are seeking.

The key piece of equipment that we like to use and never go to the ice without is a flasher type piece of electronics. There are a variety of manufacturers on the market these days, Vexilar, Humminbird, Marcum and others as well. They all do the same job of showing you fish and also showing you where and what your bait is doing around the fish and with that, which company you are more comfortable with using, that would be the choice for you.

Don’t get stuck into what a number of anglers do, and that is once they drill their holes and get setup, that is where they park themselves and they don’t move. To be successful in catching fish through the ice you will need to be mobile and follow the fish instead of being the one that sits and waits for the fish to come to them. Of course at certain times of the day you will sit in one spot because they are aggressively feeding, but to keep catching throughout your time out there you will need to be on the move.

What a typical day is for us is that we drill anywhere from 50 to 100 holes throughout an area and that allows you to cover many depth variations as well as different structure on the bottom. By having this many holes, you would be able to take your electronics and place it in the hole and if you see no activity, move on to the next. This way you are targeting active fish and not jigging a hole that has nothing hanging around.

Once you start finding those active holes, the next key feature that we use to catch fish is keeping the jig very small. In the cold water, fish have a tendency of biting much more finicky than the warmer waters and we have also seen that small baits produce so much better and fish size generally goes up with these smaller baits.

The jigs that we have been using this winter are the Northland Tackle Mooska Tungsten jigs in the #16 hook 1/57 oz size. Here in New England we are not allowed to use lead so these tiny tungsten jigs work very well and show up on the electronics very well in deep water. By using a loop knot this will allow the jig to hang horizontally and look more natural in the water as well.

Another little trick that we have implemented this winter season is using the Euro Larvae colored worm live bait grubs. These need to be ordered online as we have not been able to find them here but after bringing them back from MN this winter, these little grubs have been a fantastic attractant to our jigs. These grubs come in a few different colors and the best combination we have been finding is a red and white or yellow hooked onto the jig.

To give you an idea as to how our presentation goes, once we find that active hole, we have our electronics setup and can see the red lines of where the fish are in the water column. Watching our jig on the screen dropping down to that location, keep the bait a bit above the red lines and start working the jig and you will see the active fish move up towards your presentation and the fish is on.

The main points that we are trying to get across here is don’t get stuck in one hole and keep moving to find those active holes with fish. Trust your electronics as these are your eyes to what is going on underneath the sheet of ice. Also, keeping your jigs very small and tipping them with bait, this will make your presentations much more attractive to even the finickiest fish that is down there.

Hopefully you can get a pointer or two out of this article and the next time that you are coming off of the ice and get ask that question, “How were they biting?”, with a grin you can say, pretty good today.

Good luck and may your lines always be tight.

Ice fishing Massachusetts 1/19/14

Well the warm weather really has done a number on our ice conditions on most or the lakes in our area by rotting the shoreline ice and creating open water and making it impossible for getting onto the ice. If you can find a location to get onto the ice, there is a good change that there will be 6 inches of solid ice once you getting past that shoreline. Fortunate for us we have a lake or two that has shoreline that never sees the sun so these areas are generally the first ones to freeze and the last to thaw out. So I checked one of these and the shoreline was still frozen solid so that lake was our target for a morning of fishing. Conditions for the day were partly cloudy after the day before snowstorm, 26 degree air temperatures and winds that picked up as the morning went along. Upon getting to the lake, we were the only ones there and that allowed us to setup on the prime area that we hoped that would yield some nice bass and also get into a sunfish bite. For the bass we generally will run tip-ups and had them placed anywhere from 5 to 22 feet of water and for this outing the 10 foot depth seemed to be the most productive. The beginning of the morning had many flags flying with bass and pickerel, then the winds picked up and it seemed to die off for a bit and then the sun started coming out which made the bite turn on again. The bass that we caught were all about the same size and there weren't any big fish caught but having fish bite and be caught is better than nothing. I drilled a number of holes around the area at various depths and was hoping to find some of the sunfish that live in the lake. But after fishing all around, there wasn't any aggressive sunfish willing to bite but with the flags flying, really didn't care that they weren't biting. For a short morning run we had a great time out there and if you are persistent in locating a place to fish, it will always pay off. Tight lines until next time.

 

 

 

Coyote Hunt 1/18/14

The main hunting season for most species has come to an end with the beginning of the New Year. But there are still a few species that have open seasons and those would be the coyote and fox. This time of year is prime time for varmint hunting as with the cold and snow, these critters are spending more time looking for food and if you can get your decoy and calls setup to look and sound inviting; this will make for a productive hunt. In our location when a youth turns 12 they are able to go hunting as long as they go with a licensed adult. Also, when doing this, there can only be one weapon between the two of you and with this makes for a fun hunt as this will be my sons first real experience in actually hunting. There is a location where I deer hunt that gives a great advantage for sight of placing a decoy that the animal can see a long ways from three different directions. So Saturday morning came and we were up early so that we could get into place as it was getting light out. Without any snow cover, it will make spotting a coyote a bit more difficult as their fur blends perfectly into the dead grass of the salt marsh swamp that we were in. With the blind setup, the decoy placed and the call set out, we were ready to see if we are going to have any action. We had been calling for about 30 minutes and the first flock of crows came in and they hung around for 10 minutes or so circling the decoy and calling sounds before moving off. After about an hour my son spotted a coyote skirting us to the left and not sure if he wasn't comfortable with the setup or if he seen movement in our blind, but when we saw him he was trotting to our left and wasn't going to slow down. So we took a quick running shot at him and that was a miss as he kept running towards the field and then shortly later seen him running along the edge of the swamp further down. We called for another half hour or so but nothing was going to come in so packed our gear up and headed home. That was a very exciting time for my son's first time in the field actually hunting and seeing and taking a shot at an animal and he is ready to go back again this next weekend.

Ice Fishing Massachusetts 1/12/14

Since our ice season is so short here in New England, you really need to drop everything and take advantage of the few weeks that we have to fish on the ice here. Winter break for college is over and we had to move my daughter back to school but we brought the ice gear along and planned on fishing around where her school is. The temperatures are still highly mild and partly cloudy skies helps when the sun is shining but the winds just will not let up and gusts at 20 mph makes for hard fishing on glare ice. We drove to the first location only to find open shorelines and with the winds; there was actually a current that you could see moving underneath the ice. Took off for the next location which is a river system with a dam in between 2 pools and we ran into the same situation as the shorelines were open and you could actually see where the current was in the river channel as that was open as well. It was time to head back to our area as I am not really sure that this location made a lot of ice as this weather really is doing a number and who knows if that ice will ever be fish-able again this winter. The next stop was at a small pond that has big crappie in it and as we checked the shorelines there, it was open a little and you could easily get onto the ice, but my son was very leery about going onto this pond, plus without any snow cover it makes for a long drag pulling the sleds to the pond. After chopping a couple of holes along the shoreline there is definitely enough ice as I was seeing 5-6 inches but if he isn't comfortable, not going to go onto there. So we headed back to where I had fished the previous day and upon getting to the location, was very surprised not seeing another vehicle parked there. We checked the shoreline and it was open a bit but there is a swimming dock that isn't pulled all the way onto shore and that is what we used to get onto the ice. After drilling a hole and seeing good 6 inches, we were comfortable and proceeded to the location where I was catching the crappies the day before. There was still water on top of the ice and you can definitely see that the rains, wind and warm temperatures are really raising havoc with the ice surface. Also, any previous holes and ice cracks, you wanted to avoid those as they were wearing very hard and opening from the conditions. When we finally found the area that I was fishing previously, we dropped the electronics in and the fish were there and waiting for us. My son likes setting out a number of tip-ups as well so we proceeded to setting a line from deep water up into the shallower shoreline. The tip-ups were not that productive for the day as only a few jumbo perch were caught but made for an interesting afternoon trying to run across the glare ice getting to a flag. With the wind blowing so hard we wanted to set up the new Clam Vista shelter and once we had it anchored to the ice, have to say that this is one well-built shelter. It held up very well with the strong winds coming across the ice and was really nice to get out of the wind and when the sun would shine, warmed right up without having any heater on. The crappie action was none stop for quite some time and the electronics screen was lit up with fish and was a lot of fun watching my my catches fish after fish. There was a mixture of crappies, sunfish and white perch and as it got to later afternoon, was thinking that the bite would get better but it actually went the other way. The fish were still down there but they were getting more and more finicky so that was a clue that it was time to head out. It was a very productive day and not sure what the weather is going to do to our ice here, but I have a feeling that we will be making a trip to New Hampshire this coming weekend as the ice up there is more stable after this weather.

Ice Fishing Massachusetts 1/11/14

Since the snow has finally melted down from the previous storms and getting around the lake ice is much simpler, wanted to hit a local pond in search of deep water crappies. In fact the weather now has gone the other way as it is way to warm for a January day with air temperatures in the upper 50's, cloudy skies and rain showers off and on. The top of the ice was very sloppy with standing water all around up to an inch or so deep making for a mess walking around as the ice was very slick as well. There were a number of anglers out on the ice spread around different locations. I wanted to try an area that I had found on the open water last fall that was 22 feet deep but at the time the graph showed either weedbeds or bushes scattered throughout this area. Today's agenda was to jig with electronics in search of suspended crappies and once a number of holes were drilled, didn't take long to find them. The first location wasn't giving me the results that I was looking for as the crappies were very small in size and there were a number of white perch scattered in the area as well. The bait of choice was the Northland Tackle Mooska Tungsten jig and this was tipped with Eurolarva. Seeing that the fish were on the small side, I packed up and moved off another 40 yards or so and drilled a number of holes. As I would move from hole to hole, certain holes only had white perch, others had small crappies, and then I hit the magic holes that finally I had found the bigger sized crappies. These still weren't the 11-12 inch long ones that I was looking for but was consistently catching 9-10 inch long ones. Of course as it got later into the afternoon the bite really picked up but I had another engagement to attend to and had to call it a day. It turned out to be a very good fishing outing for what the weather was throwing out there and was definitely worth every minute of it.

 

 

Ice fishing New Hampshire 1/5/14

Finally our ice fishing season has kicked off here in New England and been a long time coming as we never know if there is even going to be a season. We have been having very cold temps and there are waters that were fishable the last couple of weeks but with to many other things going on, getting there was a bit of a problem. We had a major snow storm last week that left 18-24 inches of snow in the area, so with that we decided to head for New Hampshire as they didn't get near that amount and will make for easier walking across the lake to where we want to fish. We went to a reservoir that I have been wanting to fish for quite sometime and finally made it there. There are largemouth bass, pickerel and it is known for its crappies. The day was perfect with temps around 30, clear sunshine skies and no wind. There were a number of other anglers on the water and everyone was spread throughout the reservoir. We started drilling holes in the main river channel and setup a number of traps in water depths from 23 feet up to 5 feet deep. The deeper water traps had little action and the moderate to shallower water produced all day with numerous pickerel and largemouth bass being caught. We drilled a number of holes all around the river channel and used our electronics to search for and catch numbers of crappies. The size was rather small and there weren't any keepers caught but it was definitely a fun day to be out on the ice and kick off our season. The crappies were biting on very small jigs with the use of euro larva that I brought back from Minnesota. Our plans for the next trip will find us around the Boston area and will be fun as we have never fished the waters in that location.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 12/12/13 Morning Hunt

With schools starting to wind down for the coming holiday season, needed to take a day off to watch my son when he came home from school. So I spent the morning before that sitting in the deer stand in hopes that the deer that I am seeking shows himself. Conditions are really getting to those winter temperatures as the air temp was 11 degrees, clear skies and no wind at sunrise with it picking up quite a bit at 9:00 am. I am still thinking that the buck in the area is going to show himself, sat in that particular stand that I have been for so long already. As the sun rose over the swamp, and warmed me as it came up, it was going to be another fruitless day as there were no deer moving in this area what so ever. As I left I made my way around and through this bigger field looking for any sign and there was not one track in the little snow that we have showing that anything is even moving through this area. As I walked through the woods and around a smaller field, there still were no tracks anywhere showing deer activity. This is not a good sign as it is telling me that these deer have totally vacated that area and I am just wasting my time staying here in hopes that one will come out. I think that this may be the last time sitting in any of my existing stands as things are just not lining up. We have a big storm coming this weekend and next week will make it out there once just to check and patch of woods that I have not entered into as I have been waiting for snow to do that. I have a feeling that the deer I seek stays in this area, but lately without any sign of him moving around, my hopes are not that strong anymore. My main plan for the remainder of the year is to concentrate around some of the horse farms in the area, hoping the deer are feeding in these areas. And I am also making a move to a neighboring town in search of hoping to see more deer activity there.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/30/13 Evening Hunt

The end of the woods being void of numbers of hunters is coming to a close as this is the last sit before shotgun season opens Monday morning. Conditions are the same as the morning and a bit warmer. The particular property that I hunt will get a lot of pressure from hunters come Monday morning as the owners have been there their whole life and they have a large family and friend base so a number of them will show up to hunt. Usually after the first weekend if there aren’t many deer seen then it will clear out quite a bit and there are only a few that will hunt the muzzleloader season that follows. Not a lot of people have been in the area that I am hunting this year but that can always change. On this particular hunt, once again there were plenty of squirrels and birds using the area but the deer just are not going to show themselves. I still think that they will come through the area and will probably use this area for the remainder of the season, but there is one area I haven’t even gone into yet. I have been waiting for snow to soften the foot noise of sneaking through there and that is supposed to come next week. I will be taking the next weekend off and hopefully the shotgun hunters will get disappointed and leave the area for when I return. The plan for next season will definitely need to look for more private land that isn’t being hunted and allows the deer to stay with their daily routines that the deer I am hunting now change as hunters enter the woods.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/30/13 Morning Hunt

I am really hoping that this morning is going to be the one that finally settles the season for me as with the rut in full swing, something has to be moving as it is cold once again. Conditions for this hunt were mid-teens for air temperatures, moderate wind and cloudy skies. With the cold weather parked over us right now and the rut in swing, really hoping that the bucks would start moving more during the daylight hours but without any snow, hard to tell what they are doing now as the ground is frozen so finding fresh tracks is a bit hard these days. After sitting for a few hours and nothing moving around, is making for a very long sit while in the stand. With the upcoming shotgun season approaching, my hopes of getting this done before those are getting more dismal as the hours pass by. Nothing was seen this morning and with one more sit for the weekend, not looking good and as I walked back through the woods to my truck, there is little sign of rubs or scrapes and that does not make for a good feeling.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/29/13 Morning Hunt

The weather has been horrible and for the last long weekend of spending in the woods before the guns enter, is getting shorter as each day passes. Conditions this morning were cold air temperatures of mid teens, light breeze and sunny skies. I wanted to get out Wednesday afternoon but it had been and was raining all day and ruined any chance of getting into the stand. Usually go out Thanksgiving morning and that was not the case as well as the rains were gone but now the cold temps were here and also the 30 mph winds that come along with them. So finally I was able to get out Friday morning and was hoping that after the bad weather the past 2 days, the deer would be moving around much more and the rut in full swing. Sat in the stand for 4 hours and not a deer was seen or heard and made for a cold morning waiting. The animals are in these woods as their tracks are left behind each day but they are moving mainly in the nocturnal hours and that is making the hunting a very difficult and challenging one. I want to start doing some stalk hunts, but without any snow cover, making it near impossible for getting around the woods without making any noise. The small squirrels even make a lot of noise as they hop across the dry leaves so for me to walk through there, going to be a difficult task.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/23/13 Evening Hunt

Really didn't want to go back to this stand as I feel the deer have left the area and are using totally different routes but my son convinced me to take another shot here. Conditions have stayed about the same from this morning with partly cloudy skies, low 40 degree air temperatures and considerable amount of wind. I didn't do the scent drag to the stand but when arriving at the stand I added new scent to the wick and hung it under the tree. Just as I was settling into the stand it sounded like a deer snort coming from behind me. Thinking there was a deer in the vicinity, I scoured the woods and looked for movement as another sound came out so did a gun shot. The trapper using the area had a bog raccoon in his trap and dispatched of it and reset and vacated the area. After having this happen, my hopes were not that good as there has been a human walking and making noise through a section of woods. But with the amount of wind we were having, I was hoping that the sounds were carried the other direction from where ever a deer may come from. I don't watch the worked over field to much as there is nothing there for the deer and concentrate more on the creek bottom and woods behind me. As I was turning around from searching those areas here comes a deer walking across the field and it seen me rotating around but wasn't alarmed. I ranged the deer at around 85 yards and it looked like it was heading to the trail on the edge as it went behind the field edge brush and disappeared out of sight. From what I could see it looked like a doe to me and figured that it continued into the woods and not to be seen again. 15 minutes went by and all of a sudden here comes the deer down the edge of the field and it is a spiked buck. It took me by surprise as the time that had elapsed had me off guard and was not ready to say the least. As he walked down the edge he got to my stand trail and stopped there smelling the wind as he could smell the doe urine hanging there and was searching around for the doe that left it. With him standing 10 yards right in front of me, I slowly got my hands onto my bow and get the release to the string as he starts meandering down the edge of the field. By the time I could get the bow into position, he was getting out of range and no shot could be taken. At this point my heart was racing and my hands were shaking from all of the excitement that just happened in front of me. Hoping that he would turn around or swing around from behind me searching for the doe, he and no other deer were seen as darkness came. I did learn something from this that if I see one I need to be ready for a while after seeing it as the silence these animals can travel at, will have you off guard and allowing you to miss the opportunity of having a harvest.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/23/13 Morning Hunt

Going to sit in a stand that hasn't been used in the morning yet and hopefully something will be moving through this area. Conditions were partly cloudy skies, winds around 10 mph and air temperatures of upper 20's. Upon arriving to the area, with the rut coming to a heightened state, decided to drag a scent trail as I cross the field heading to the morning stand. I criss crossed across the field dragging a scent patch full of doe estrus in hopes that anything crossing the field will catch wind of this and follow it to my location. With a decent breeze in the air, the scent should be drifting all over the area and at the same time I am using a doe bleat call to try to entice something to come out as well. As the morning went on, frustration starts setting in once again as there were no deer being sighted from this stand. So decided to go and collect all of my cameras as they are not getting any pictures lately as well and as I go back to the truck, go and check out another area that I haven't hunted before and see if there is any sign at that location. I dropped off the cameras and backpack in the truck and made my way to the first location and there were a fair amount of deer tracks there. But as I looked more and more around this area, low and behold there was a ladder stand there and not sure if that was to be used for the upcoming gun season or if they use it for bow season. Walked around to another area that I have seen deer in and there definitely is plenty of trails through it and is a number of rubs on small trees. So there are a couple of options to try as well and would sit on the ground at these locations.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/21/13 Evening Hunt

Decided to sit on the stand where the rub is just to see if anything comes through this area on its way to feeding for the night. Conditions improved a bit as the air temperatures were in the mid 40's, sunny skies and the winds did pick up a bit as they were noticeable now. This outing was turning into the same as all of the rest as there wasn't any movement of basically anything in or around this stand. Kept watching out onto the open swampland in hopes of seeing some coming across but nothing was venturing around from where I could see. After walking out of the woods after sunset, there was nothing moving around on the open fields as I walked back to the truck. I went and checked the small field and nothing was hanging out there as well. For a day that I felt was going to be somewhat promising, it is giving me more doubts as each hunt passes and it is turning into exactly the same as last years dismal hunt. My conclusions are that for next season I am going to have to really search for some new land to hunt and be able to get away from other hunters as well as finding more food plots for having more active deer around.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/21/13 Morning Hunt

With the onset of the rut season vastly approaching, wanted to go to the woods during the week so that there shouldn't be any other hunters in the area. Conditions were cold, 20 degree air temperatures, partly cloudy skies and no wind. Felt like a good morning that the deer may be moving around and decided to vacate the previous stand locations and sit in a stand that is on a travel route. As light approached, off to my left really sounded like there was finally a deer going to be seen as the steps were pronounced, and you could hear something rubbing on the brush as it moved. But after quite sometime, nothing materialized and all hopes of seeing one were vanishing as the moments passed. It was quite a cold morning for sitting in the stand and I made it to 9:30am before I needed to get down and move around. Nothing came through this morning and figured I might as well check all of my cameras since I am out and about. Checked the camera watching a fresh rub but doesn't look like he has been back. Checked the camera watching a heavy trail coming to a field and nothing was recorded there as well as our prime location seems to have dried up. The deer have definitely changed and moved as the season has gone along and I really need to figure something out fast as after Thanksgiving, the gun season starts. I walked back to my truck and always check a small field down the road and someone has setup a blind on this field. Looks like this weekend I will be pulling the stand near this field and relocating. Have an area in mind and hopeful there is no one there as I am finding out fast this year that I need to find some new land to hunt as there are just to many other hunters on this property.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/16/13 Evening Hunt

With the sight that I had seen from the morning walk through the woods back to the truck, time to change stand locations. Conditions stayed fairly much the same for the day at mid 50's for air temperatures, sunny skies and little wind. In the morning on my walk back as I was almost out of the woods, I walked past a hunter sitting in a stand that wasn't there before. So this evening's sit was going to rest on if this hunter was at this location or not. As driving past the entry point, I looked at the stand location that you can see and there was no person sitting there so I planned to sit in the stand that has the rub underneath it. I had about 3 hours on this sit and did some rattling as well as in the past I have always been able to get something to come and look around for the sound being made. But as I sat there until darkness fell, again nothing was to come through and was an uneventful day of hunting. I know that the temperatures were a bit warm for this day but with the peak of the rut coming, would think that the deer would be moving around much more. I am definitely seeing a lot more deer sign than I did last season so I know that they are using the area but it is going to come down to timing and them going through an area that I am in. As I walked out of the woods and got to the edge, across the field there was a deer walking on the opposite wood edge but was never able to see what it was as it stepped into the woods and disappeared. They are here, just have to be in the right place at the right time.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/16/13 Morning Hunt

Going to give this one stand location one more morning sit and will have to adjust to another location if it doesn't pan out this time around. Conditions were overcast skies, low 40's air temperatures and little to no wind. Was in the stand before the sky lightened and listened to the woods come to life for another day. As it started getting light out there was a grey fox that came trotting across the field and hit the edge of the field and came right back to the tree that I was sitting in and he was looking around for a bit and then headed down the field. Today I had decided that I was going to start doing some rattling and doe calling to see if the bucks are into the rut phase yet. As the morning went on it was becoming like any other morning that there was going to be no deer coming through this location. I don't know why they have changed the patterns as for months they had been using this location and now nothing. Even after checking the cameras there was only one deer pictured coming through and that was during one night and that was the only one for the whole week. Checked another camera in the same location facing a different direction and that camera had no pictures as well. Checked my third camera that was on a decent trail that always has fresh tracks and may have had that one to deep into the woods as there was no pictures on that one as well and I moved that camera right next to the field edge right where the trail comes in. When leaving this location I typically cross my bridge on a deep creek, and make my way past one of my other stands. When arriving at this stand there was the first buck rub on a tree right next to my tree stand and was fairly fresh. So I hung a trail camera there in hopes of capturing which buck was using the area and also left some scent in the area. Plan is to sit at this location this afternoon when I return.

2013 Archery Deer Hunt 11/9/13 All Day Hunt

The plan for this day was to try and sit all day to see if the deer moved around during the noon hour as some of the pictures on the cameras were showing. Arrived in the stand at dark-o-thirty and there was a breeze all ready, skies were clear and the air temperatures were around the freezing mark. Hopes of seeing the big buck in the area, I set myself up for an all day sit and hopefully something will come through. As the skies brightened up and all of the small animals and birds started coming to life, anticipations were running wild listen to every little noise that one could here. As the minutes and hours passed by, you do a lot of thinking and second guessing yourself as to was this the right stand, why don't they come through here and always, there is sign everywhere, where are they? At around 11:00 am with nothing sighted yet, decided to get out of the stand and go check my cameras and stretch my legs and get some feeling back into my toes. Upon checking the cameras, the past week had only shown one small deer at this stand in the middle of the night. There is a trapper using the area and not sure if that is messing with the deer's patterns here or if they are changing their patterns with the coming rut. Since the cameras had no pictures, I took two of them off of the field and located one behind my stand looking a different direction than one that is there already and the other one was moved down the field to a highly used deer trail and hopefully will see some better results there next weekend. After doing the cameras I made it back into my perch in my tree stand for the rest of the afternoon's sit. It was definitely cooler in the afternoon as the clouds came in and the breeze picked up quite a bit. Still was no deer moving around and I had been there for 11.5 hours and not one deer sighted. Now my mind is playing games with me as to which stand should I sit in next time. I am making a plan that when I leave the next stand I am going to go work my way through a small patch of woods that I really feel that the local buck is using as he bedding area. Would be nice if we could get a few inches of snow this week but the temperatures are going to be to warm to warrant that.

2013 Archery Deer Season 11/2/13 Morning Hunt

Was really looking forward to getting into the stand this morning and after the last day or so of rain and high winds, we were greeted with cloudy skies turning to sunny skies later in the morning, no wind, and 50 degree air temperatures. Made it into the stand under the cover of darkness but upon arriving at my small trail to the tree, the previous winds had knocked a bunch of branches across os made it very difficult getting to the tree in the darkness. It felt right this morning and was hoping for a lot of animal movement and couldn't wait for the light of morning to come. The squirrels and small birds were very active at the first light of morning with big expectations of deer moving as well. As the morning went on a family of turkey's came out onto the field and the young ones came out in front of my tree stand. They were still very small and not worth taking a shot at but the parents wouldn't come off of the crest of the hill to offer a shot and they eventually went on about their business. Also had a grey fox run under the stand and not sure if I have ever seen one of these in the woods before. As the morning went on the winds started to blow a bit and decided at 10:00 am to vacate this stand and relocate to another for a little bit longer. Stayed at the second stand for an hour and there was no deer movement and at that point I needed to head out for other plans. I returned the next day to check the game cameras for the week and one of the cameras near my first stand left a good picture. There was a very nice buck that went right under my stand an hour before I had gotten there and also another deer was under that stand if I would have sat there for the evening hunt. There are definitely deer in the area and it is going to come to a waiting game and hopefully be there when they move through.

2013 Archery Deer Season 10/30/13 Evening Hunt

The clocks are going to be turning back within the next few days and that means our evening hunts will be coming to a close during the work week days. So we were able to get out for a little time this evening and see if we can see some of the deer that we keep getting pictures of. Conditions were prime with sunny skies after a rainy cold day, no wind was detected and the temperature was around 50. Instead of going to the usual stands for during the week, wanted to try a stand that we haven't been to yet and opposite side of our stand that we sat on last Saturday morning. Conditions were great and was really hoping to see some activity, but once again the sit was not going to work out and no deer movement was seen. Plenty of other wildlife were active in their search for food, but getting the feeling it is going to be hit or miss, but as long as the cameras are still getting morning and evening movement, it is only a matter of time. As darkness was setting in, the tall swamp grass you could once again hear something that was moving around in there. Almost sounded like a deer getting up from a day's nap and moving through there but also sounded like it went out the opposite side from where I was sitting. Between the last two stands, there is a long narrow strip of this tall grass and I am having a feeling that this may be the bedding area for some of these deer in the area. Time will only tell.

2013 Archery Deer Season 10/26/13 Morning Hunt

Finally the weekend has come to be able to get to our key location for an early morning sit in hopes that the cameras aren't lying to us. Was in the stand before the skies lightened up and there was no wind, clear skies and temperatures were at the freezing mark. As I situated into my stand, in the darkness I could already hear an animal moving through the tall swamp grass off to my left. It definitely sounded like a deer coming through as some branches were snapping and you could hear the grass or brush dragging on its sides. As it got lighter out this animal either went out the opposite side of the tall grass or it laid down in there for its daytime sleep as it never came out on my side. It didn't take long and the winds really started kicking up and was blowing out of the wrong direction and blowing any of my scent into the woods to the side of me. Where this stand is located, I have a field in front of me, a small creek running right behind me and bigger woods to the left of me. The camera that I have covering this location, always has animals coming and going and today just wasn't that day. There are also a number of red squirrels in this location so I am going to have to watch myself as they definitely let everyone know that something is not right in the area. Hopefully will be able to get out there a couple of evenings this week before the clocks get turned back which will take away any evening hunts during the week.

2013 Archery Deer Season 10/23/13 Evening Hunt

Have to take advantage of these first two weeks of the archery deer season for getting to the stand after work as after these two weeks then daylight savings changes the time and the evening hunts will be gone. Another very nice evening to be in a tree stand with sunny skies, little to no wind and air temperatures around 50. It is very hard to get into the woods right now as the leaves are falling and it has been very dry here so these leaves are very crispy and hide a lot of branches as well. Decided to sit on a different stand this evening and it is in a funnel location that has a small cornfield to one side and a swamp to the other and where the stand is there is a strip of woods that the deer use to move from other feeding areas to the deeper woods. Keeping me entertained once again are a number of squirrels that frequent the area and it is amazing how they sound like a bigger animal is coming through the woods. Unfortunately, there were no deer sighted but was still very nice sitting in the stand and can't wait to get to Saturday as we will be locating into our prime location that we feel will show some deer.

2013 Archery Deer Season 10/21/13 Evening Hunt

The 2013 archery deer season has officially kicked off and was a very warm time sitting in the stand on this evening. There was a slight breeze, sunny skies, air temperatures were in the upper 60's at the beginning. Has felt like a long time coming for getting this deer season underway but now that it is here, we are in full motion gear going forward in search of 2 deer that we would like to harvest this year. The first deer that we are looking for is one of 2 different spike bucks that have been frequenting one of our locations and either of those deer would be a good freezer filler for some fresh venison. Then we get to a trophy hunt that entails a couple of different bucks that we have been tracking all summer and lately they have still shown themselves to our cameras. One thing that we are not liking is that we are starting to see the better animals are starting to turn nocturnal, but this hopefully is only due to the bright evenings we have been having with the clear skies and very bright moon phases. All in all there should be a number of deer seen this season and we are really looking forward to seeing how the season unfolds. Last nights hunt yielded no deer being seen but also getting all of the little things taken care of from our equipment placement and such, so we are ready to go now.

Fishing Report June 9

We had a few hours to try and catch some fish and hit a local pond and hope to find some bigger fish as we move into the summer pattern season. Weather conditions were sunny skies, winds around 5-10 mph, water temps in the upper 60's and air temps mid 60's. There was only one boat out there and they were constantly moving around and that is not a good sign that the fish may be a bit harder to locate. Started fishing a mid lake hump and worked up and down the steep sides as well as the top flat and wasn't able to locate any bass but my son was starting to get hot with the sunfish. After leaving that area we worked the shoreline and the sunfish were very active along the shores. I left the plastic baits and started throwing a shallow running crankbait at the shoreline targets and started connecting with some smaller largemouth bass. This lake has some good fish size wise but this year we have only been able to find the smaller bass and hopefully something hasn't happened to the fish in this lake. Have seen this happen to other lakes and it takes 3-5 years to get them back to a size quality lake once again. We will keep working this lake throughout the season and hopefully start connecting with some better sized fish.

Fishing Report June 2

The heat is finally breaking as it had been so hot and muggy that fishing has been very uncomfortable. Conditions were windy, upper 80's air temps, mid 70's water temps and sunny skies. Upon arriving at the lake the boat landing parking was near 3/4 full already. Was going to be a busy day on the lake and fish are going to respond accordingly. Didn't take long and we were catching crappies on crankbaits and bass on plastics and was hoping that the day would continue as it had started. Moved around the lake trying to find an area that wasn't being blasted by the wind which was mostly impossible and along with that the boat traffic was getting unbearable so for the few hours out it was a good day of fishing, everyday is a good day when on the water.

Bass Fishing 5/27/13

Been out a few times as the season was very late getting going this year with the late winter that we have had here in New England. Small fish have been caught and nothing really to write home about hence the lack of reports but now that the season is in full swing the reports will be coming regularly. There is one lake that I like to visit in the spring and fall that can give up some good fish and during the summer months, this lake becomes fairly difficult to fish as the pleasure boaters and water skiers really take over the lake. Weather was clear skies, light winds, air temps in the low 40's and water temps in the low 60's. Other lakes have been warmer but the bigger fish generally are still in the spawn phase and that was the agenda of finding them today. Started in a cove that generally offers bed locations but water clarity doesn't allow seeing them and within 15 minutes was rewarded with a nice 3 pound largemouth. Caught this fish of the side of a dock in less than 12 inches of water using a black/blue jig and trailer. Felt good getting a good fish finally this season and continued through this cove with no other fish. I continued all around the lake in the typical locations and as the wind got stronger and stronger, was not able to locate another fish. Tried a variety of baits, jigs, worms, jerkbait, deep diving crankbait and shallow crankbait. Covered a lot of water with all of the baits and while watching numbers of other anglers continually moving around, looked like it was the way the bites were going to be, tight.

Turkey Hunt 5/18/13

Was able to get into the woods in the dark and planned on setting up on the edge of the corn field where the previous hunt there was a active Tom working. The setup is perfect as can be with an open field that I placed 4 decoys at 20 yards away, behind me a tuff of brush to conceal me and in front to my left, another tuff of brush that conceals me from the birds as they would approach the decoy spread. As the morning light came around, the coyotes were yipping across the swamp, and the wildlife starting to come to life. For the few hours that I was there, there wasn't one turkey response to what i was hoping to be a great morning hunt. The last week of the season is ahead and one more chance to fill a tag and hopefully the weather will allow the hunt to happen.

Turkey Hunt 5/11/13

Went back to the same area as the previous hunt and the same bird was in the same location so the plan was to get in and closer to where he is at. Was able to get within 70 yards of where the bird was roosted and found an open in the woods to setup the decoy display. Once situated, started calling and the bird definitely was interested and very vocal as the morning light increased. Once the light got brighter, he did the same thing as the previous hunt and clammed up after he flew down. Kept calling in hopes that I could draw him from his location as he seems to be stuck where he is and seems very tough to get him out of there. As i was working that bird another bird got very loud and came in fast and hot across a bigger corn field to my right. I was just in the woods to far that I couldn't seem him and there was something in between us that he was not going to come through to get to me. Not sure if the weather change or may be a predator came onto the field, but after a long talk session he clammed up and disappeared. That was fun to have such a hot bird working the area but frustrating in the same breath as it makes you work your brain in trying to figure out what you can do differently to make things work.

5/4/13 Turkey hunt

The morning of a new season was kicking off at day break and with high anticipation, couldn't wait to get the new season off to a great start. Upon getting out of the truck in the twightlight hours, was surprised to hear a gobble very close and went into action to get setup before it gets to light out. Being the light was getting to much, didn't want to venture to far into the woods to alert the bird that I am in the area. Decoys were setup in a small clearing in hopes that the bird will come out and check out what is going on with the sweet calling to draw him out. After working this bird for 3 hours and he was very reluctant to leave the quarters that he was in, he finally clammed up and didn't give me an idea as to where he was anymore. He was very vocal when making calls but apparently the sweet music I was trying to create was not enough to bring him in. Made a long walk around the property that I hunt in search of any other flocks that may be around but was not able to find any active birds. Generally there is a good flock that lives on this property but of course this year they have decided to vacate the premises.

Ice Fishing February 20

Now that the snow storms have stopped for a while and the snow and ice are settling, this has helped some ponds and lakes and has hurt others. It had rained the night before and then froze so the pond we went to fish was very slick on top for walking and you had to be very careful not to take a fall. We were able to get out in the morning with low 30's for temps, cloudy skies and of course a good breeze blowing once again. The rains and warmer weather has definitely helped this pond in creating more ice compared to what was there before. The top layer of frozen snow was 4-5 inches thick and the black ice underneath was 4-5 inches as well. We had fished this pond a couple of times before in different locations and decided to stay close to the entry point and fish some shallower water. Set the traps out in different water depths from 6 to 15 feet of water. Of the eight lines out only half of them had activity and a couple had more than the others. We only had 4 lines in the water when the first fish hit and was a nice 2 pound largemouth bass. Throughout the morning other bass were caught but they seemed to get smaller as the time went on. Before packing it in we had a flag and caught a nice 3 pound fat pickerel that gave my son a very nice fight. All in all the day was a success and the action was spread out enough that about the time you were getting bored, a flag would go up. Did try some jigging for panfish but have been having a tough time this year as Massachusetts has banned lead head jigs and I haven't been able to find any non-lead jigs that work like the lead heads that I use to use. The search will continue on and hopefully find some that will start producing.

Ice fishing February 3

When you get warm weather in the winter and the ice has not totally firmed up, warmth, wind and rain can wreak havoc on the ice that we had. We had a pond targeted for going after large crappies and when we approached the pond, we were greeted with open water in the main location we wanted to fish. There are two other ponds in the same vicinity and upon viewing them we were greeted with the same results, open water. Headed the truck off to another location as we have a pond that typically is a reliable one for ice conditions and when we arrived we were relieved that we could finally get onto the ice. The conditions were cloudy skies, stiff breeze and mid 20's for temps with snow flakes falling. We setup our lines along the shallows of the shorelines, along an underwater point and a couple in deep water. While the shiners were soaking we drilled a number of holes in the deeper water to look for crappies and sunfish and do some jigging to coax them into biting. After drilling many holes and fishing them all with electronics, was a very rare sight to seeing them void of fish. We had the traps with some action with a small largemouth bass coming from shallow water and also a small pickerel on top of the underwater point. One trap on the point edge had a couple of flags and the line was being spooled off with something making long runs but when time come to setting the hook, nothing was there as the fish must have had the minnow by the head. We have a major snow storm coming in for the latter half of the week so not sure if we will be getting out there, time will tell.

Ice fishing January 27 2013

With a cold week for temperatures this is getting the ice on its way for a much needed kick start to get our ice season going this year. Weather today was sunny skies, mid 20's for air temperature and still can't get rid of the strong winter winds. We went back to the same lake that we fished last weekend as we had heard reports that there were some big fish in a different area of the lake. So we made the walk to the other end of the lake to give it a try and with the little snow on top of the ice, made for some fun walking to getting there. The far side of the lake depth wise is a lot different then where you get onto the lake. The shorelines are deep and isn't much for weed structure as well, but usually these are the areas that bigger fish live in and no one usually bothers them there. We setup in a cove in water depths from 6 feet out to 20 plus. Tried for an hour or so and had no takers and we also tried some jigging for panfish and that didn't pan out either. Packed up that location and went across the lake into another cove that had a small island to the one side. Started punching holes around the island and the water depths ranged from 4 feet out to 18 feet so we setup our traps in a variety of depths to cover all of the water depths. The winds were howling much stronger onto this side and as the afternoon went on, the shadows from the trees definitely made it feel a lot cooler than it actually was. We did catch a few fish in this cove but all of them were smaller pickerels. We weren't able to find any bass on this trip but if we come back to this lake again, we are ruling out waters that we don't need to fish. Warm temps moving in this coming week with rain and this will mess with the ice a bit, but we already have a game plan fir fishing this weekend and will be chasing some large crappies.

Ice Fishing Jan 20 2013

The ice season has finally come around and since there was no ice last season, is a very welcome sight and can't wait to get this season underway. The ice had formed very nicely with a few inches of clear solid ice but then a very warm spell came through and for most ponds and lakes, this created very unsafe if not open water once again. We have a few places that the access points are consistently in the shade so this allows for no ice degradation to occur. This first pond we wanted to explore the local town’s fire and rescue departments decided to use it as a ice rescue practice site not allowing us access to the ice. So we moved on to another pond a bit further away to finding access was good as well. We had the ice to ourselves and setup not to far from the access point. This is a cove with a outlet so there is a bit of moving water going through this area. The winds had picked up considerably and made it a bit tough for fishing as everything was blowing around and actually the wind blew some of the traps out of the holes. We weren't able to do any jigging because of this but had our allotted number of traps in and this allowed us to catch bass and pickerel. The fish were fairly active and with the warm mid 40's weather, made for enjoyable afternoon of fishing. The last half hour slowed way down as a major cold front was moving in with higher winds and dropping temperatures. But all in all was a very productive and fun day for once again getting out on the ice as we never had an ice season last year.

December 15 AM Hunt

After taking off time during the shotgun season, headed back into the field to hopefully find some whitetail deer once again. Weather was cool in the mid 20's, light breeze and sunny clear skies. Started the morning in a stand that typically has good morning activity with views of a small corn field, necked down area of woods and overlooking a salt marsh. Typically the deer come down the edge of the swamp, through the necked down woods and head towards the bigger woods. But once again this day was not going to show that scenario and no deer sighted at this location. Did have an owl sitting in a tree directly behind me and had a fisher cat scamper through the area. After 3 hours of sitting decided to move to my other stand that is deeper in the woods to see if anything was milling around that area. Only thing that was milling around there were 3 different hunters that skirted around me. With wearing blaze orange and standing out, one would think that once another hunter is spotted, you would make an effort to stay clear of the sitting hunter. Not these guys as they all skirted not more than 50 yards around me. If I were to be walking through the woods and came upon another hunter, I would either turn around and go back or change total direction and would stay clear of the other hunter. After these walked past, I got down and took a slow walk around myself as I headed back to the truck and called it a day.

November 23 PM Hunt

The weather continues to be fairly nice and the rain is non existent which is nice for a change, sun shining, 40's for temps and light winds. Went to my farther deeper stand in hopes of seeing deer on the move heading to their evening feeding locations. The squirrels are always very active at this location and the red squirrels in particular are some of the noisiest animals in these woods. There would be the leaves russling sounds as well as twigs breaking and to find out all it is are the red squirrels rummaging around. Never realized either that these red squirrels are very mean to other animals and particularly for the gray squirrels. As the evening progressed on and squirrel watching continued, the deer once again were not going to be making a showing this evening. Even other hunters that are hunting these woods are not seeing any deer as well and hopefully with the upcoming gun season and more hunters in the woods, this will get these deer moving around more during the daylight hours. Always seeing fresh sign that they are always there during the evening hours but gone once daylight comes.

November 22 AM Hunt

Thanksgiving morning hunts have also been pretty productive in seeing very decent deer. Not really sure why, but hopefully it will continue again this year. Weather was nice, sunny skies, light breeze and cooler temps was a nice way to start the day out. Decided to go back to the stand from the previous night and see if anything was going to move through while doing the rattling and bleat calling. Got to be around 9:30 AM and still had no activity what so ever so decided to take a walk to another stand that is deeper into the woods and hope to see some late morning activity. After sitting there for another 2 plus hours and no activity, decided to call it a day and go enjoy a turkey dinner. This season is not becoming very fruitful what so ever and just another day of trying to figure out what is going on out here. Did walk back along the marsh swamp just to look at anything I could see and came across a flock of wild turkey's. Where there was tall swamp grass in a couple of areas there was a well beaten deer trail through both of them heading into the marsh and crossing the farther river. Across the river there is a good chunk of land and have a feeling that they are bedding down across over there but the river is to big to get across and when the tide comes in, you could be trapped there for quite a while. Hopefully with a couple of more days to hunt, I can figure out something and get some action going on. Been a long season already and something has got to change from what is going on right now.

November 21 PM Hunt

Long weekend ahead with many opportunities to fill a deer tag before the upcoming gun season of the next week. Weather wise was a very nice sunny day, upper 50's for temps and a light breeze. Wanted to spend more time at the camera location that has been the most productive with the pictures and hope to see one of these bad boys that frequent these woods. Did do some rattling as well as brought along a doe bleat call to try and entice Mr. Buck into my lair. After countless efforts to try and fool one of these beauties, my efforts went un rewarded once again and nothing was going to show itself once again. Seems to be the trend in this particular woods this year that the deer are definitely only moving at night and just have vacated the area during the daylight hours. Still trying to figure out what is going on in these woods as I have never seen this happening here before and another hunter that has been here for quite sometime, is saying the same thing. Something has changed but no one can seem to figure it out.

November 17 PM Hunt

Headed back to the woods after a quick lunch and the weather temps were in the mid 40's, clear sunny skies and virtually little to no wind. Went back to the same stand that I spent the morning in hoping that the deer will be roaming around and tried once again with the rattling and doe bleating. The area that this stand location is in, there are so many red squirrels there and it is amazing how much noise these little creatures can produce. It was always sounding as if a deer was coming and then the tell tale chirping sound put a stop to that thinking. My other locations have some red squirrels but this place is rediculous with them. As the evening progressed on and countless times of rattling to entice a buck, nothing appeared and once again made for a long evening sit.

Checking cameras on Sunday morning revealed once again that the deer are definitely in all locations but their movements are staying nocturnal. The Does are moving consistently after 6:30 PM and all Buck activity starts at 10:30 PM. Getting repeat pictures of a few bucks and definitely are some shooter deer. Not sure when this nocturnal pattern is going to break, if it even breaks, but with gun season only a week away, will be hoping that this long weekend coming up, they decide to come out into the daylight hours.

November 17 AM Hunt

Back to the woods in search of Whitetail Deer once again, cooler temps in the mid 20's, no wind at all and clear skies once the sun rose. With last Sunday's venture of seeing so many deer, set up a new stand location that looked promising as it is deeper into the woods and inbetween a couple of ridges. Plan is that the deer will travel between these ridges and hopefully I can rattle one in as well. Took a bit to find the stand because it is fairly thick and you could almost walk past it if you didn't see it. Guess that is good as maybe the deer won't see it as well. Was situated in the stand as the skies brightened in hopes that they would be walking around. Started doing some rattling and also added some fawn bleats in there to try and entice a buck to show itself. As I was looking behind I noticed some movement through the brush and as the animal got closer, it was a coyote. It didn't know I was there and got to within 40 yards of me but never offered a shot at it. It was just far enough away that I couldn't tell if it had mange or not as the coat looked a little odd. Sat in this location for 5 hours and between the rattling and calling, was not able to bring anything into this location. Not getting a good feeling this year as I have been out every weekend and the deer that are in the area, are staying to their nocturnal travels and are just not moving during the day.

November 10 PM Hunt

After taking a couple of hours off for lunch, headed back into the woods and decided to sit in the more active camera stand once again. Air temps were around 50, light breeze and sunny clear skies. Never knowing what the deer are going to be doing, especially this year, was in the stand earlier than usual. We are approaching the rut season so working between rattling and doing some grunting and fawn bleating, wanted to see if I could get some attention from the local bucks. But once again after a long sit, there was nothing going to show itself and a fellow hunter that I talked with upon leaving the woods, he was having the same issues. Plenty of sign but the deer are nocturnal and making for this hunting season very tough to say the least.

Update Sunday:

Sunday mornings, being in MA we are not allowed to hunt, I generally run my cameras to see what the week shows for deer activity. Upon nearing my first location, there was a fresh scrape near this stand and was not there the night previous as I walked past there and it was not there. So upon seeing that I decided to take a walk through the woods to see what was going on if anything. By the time I got to where I wanted to walk, I had counted 12 fresh scrapes, seen 12 deer while checking all cameras and decided to put another stand up in a totally different location. Sunday was the most productive day that I have seen for the whole season so far. So it is looking like the rut is kicking into gear and this coming weekend, hopefully, will produce seeing some deer. I have a new stand location and plan on spending the whole day sitting there and time will tell if this pans off.

November 10 AM Hunt

Another weekend has come and time to hit the woods once again in hopes of finding that trophy Whitetail deer. The week coming up to this day has been much cooler than the whole fall season has been and hopefully once and for all this will get the deer moving during the daylight hours. Morning came with little breeze and a crisp mid 30's. Picked a stand that generally has good morning traffic as it is a funnel area that they travel on their way to their bedding areas. As usual there are always fresh tracks around while walking to the stand. Once again met with an onslaught of squirrels that make every little noise that sounds like a deer walking towards my tree. A few times there really sounded like finally a deer would make an appearance for all of the time that has been spent in the tree. But after sitting for 5 hours and not one showing itself, made for another day without sighting a deer once again. Was really disappointing as I really thought that it was finally time that they were going to start traveling during daylight hours but was mistaken. Other hunters that I talked with on the way out were having the same thing of not seeing any deer, one of these days it will change and the season will finally get started.

November 3 PM Hunt

Today turned out as a great day weather wise as the temps were mild, wind was moderately strong and the sun was shining. Decided to sit at the most active camera in hopes once again that maybe tonight would be the night that something finally happened. The woods were fairly quiet once again and little movement of any creatures as well. With the coming rut, I have been doing some rattling to see if I could peak any interest in anything that may be around this location but to no avail. I have no idea as to what is going on and can't seem to figure anything out this year. There are 3 other hunters in the area that I am hunting and they all are saying the same thing. I know the deer are there as there are always fresh tracks and the cameras are taking pictures as well. Still thinking that the warm fall weather has these animals a little messed up and hopefully this week coming with the very much cooler weather changes things up a little bit. Guess it can't get much worse than it is right now anyway.

November 2 PM Hunt

Is this season ever going to get going as we are continuing exactly where we left off from the last hunt. Weather was consistent with a light breeze, cloudy conditions, a bit cooler temps and the last 45 minutes before dark was rain. Was hoping that since the storm had been gone for a few days now, the animals would be getting back to normal feeding. There was a fair amount of squirrel activity and I generally use that as a guide to other animals moving around. A couple of times there was the sound that there was breaking twigs thinking that a deer was coming, but to no avail nothing came through. Made for a long sit especially when the rain came and just made it miserable sitting there. Hopefully with the cooler weather coming things will start turning around.

Hunting PM October 27

The day continued on similar to what the morning hunt has entailed. Storm still approaching and animals other than deer very active searching and storing food. Weather was still clear skies, little wind but still fairly warm temps for this time of year. Decided to sit in the stand with the most buck activity in hopes that tonight they would start moving around before the sun sets and darkness takes over the landscape. Unfortunately, it was the same as all of the other sits that I have done so far this season. Starting to question my locations but then when I make my rounds of checking the cameras, they are always showing that these animals are here, but traveling totally at night. Hopefully with this cooler weather coming in this coming weekend, we can only hope that this will kick that magical time of year, the RUT, into gear.

Hunting October 27 AM

Hurricane still approaching and animals should be gearing up and feeding heavily before it hits. Conditions were perfect for an early morning sit and sat in a previous active morning stand from the previous season. Sun rose to clear skies, little to no wind and cooler but moderate temperatures. Really felt that this morning was going to be the morning that there would be some very active deer in the area. Every animal in the woods was busily seeking food but the deer just were not going to show themselves once again today. Squirrels were busily working and had a couple come face to face with me trying to figure out what I was sitting in their trees. Really felt that I would see something this morning but once again, that was not the case so the saga continues of the warm fall weather still not getting the deer into their patterns for the fall and other hunters are telling me the same thing as well in different locations.

Hunting October 26

With the approaching hurricane Sandy, thought that would get the animals into the feeding mode as they can sense when conditions are going to change and they will adapt accordingly. Day was setting up nicely weather wise with little wind, sunny skies and moderate temperatures. Picked a stand that is deeper in the woods that I haven't been to yet this season in hopes of intercepting deer moving through the area. This location is ending the same as the other areas with stands and a big contributor to that is the weather. Been talking with a number of other hunters and they are telling the same stories that animals are not moving much if any during the daylight hours. Every week when I go to check the trail cameras, there are always bucks and does on there and they are showing that movement doesn't start until after 7 PM. Hopefully the cooler weather will come and stay for the rest of the year as that is what is needed to get things moving in the right direction.

Hunting Blog October 22

Another beautiful day here in New England and what a way to end the day but to sit in a tree stand waiting for a whitetail deer to come along. Today's conditions were sunny skies, temps around low 60's, steady barometer and winds up to 20 mph. One thing that I have noticed over our hunting is that when the winds are blowing fairly good, the deer just don't seem to want to move. That was the case once again and even sitting in a stand that I haven't been in yet, seems to be the trend of lately. The warming weather is not contributing at all to the cause as that is another factor that is coming forward is that if the temps are on the warm side, the animals just aren't moving. It was feeling like it was going to be a good hunting day setting up as the birds and squirrels were very active but the bigger game was not. Cameras are still showing plenty of deer activity but that usually doesn't start until after 7 PM. Hopefully as the weather cools and stays more consistent, that will get the deer moving more during the daylight hours. One thing that I can't wait to try is that I have not been in a stand in the morning hours and cant wait for that to happen. A little rain is forecasted this week again and hopefully cooler weather as well.

Hunting Blog October 20

We have been having quite the fall this year with the way the weather has been playing games with us, cold, rain, hot, wind and seems every day is something of a great variety. Was not able to get out for a AM hunt as the rains were coming down very hard and heavy. But then as the day progressed, humidity and hot temps set in for a very warm hunt in the afternoon. Things we have noticed over time pertaining to weather is that when it is vary warm out the deer just don't seem to move much at all. Today was another chapter in that book as we took the stand at our most active camera in hopes that something would come through. The woods are getting very scarce of leaves now and most of the underbrush is basically leaf free and the trees are dropping them very quickly with the winds. Today's hunt was sunny clear skies, noticable winds and very warm temperatures reaching almost 70 degrees. As mentioned before, with the warm temperatures there was little activity of any animals at all, with one lone squirrel as the sun was setting. While sitting on stand I did take the binoculars and scanned the area and did notice that the bucks are very active here and have recently been making numerous rubs on the trees all around this whole area. Since the action was non-existent, decided to try a little rattling just to see if I could peek the curiosity of any local bucks in the area but none had showed themselves.

Hunting Blog October 17

A beautiful night was setting up nicely with clear sunny skies, light to no winds, rising barometer and comfortable 60 degree temps. My first location once again was occupied by another hunter so I opted to walk into my stand where the most active camera is located. I wanted to wait another couple of weeks before starting to use this stand as I feel that this location could harbor some nice bucks come the rutting season. Was a fairly quiet night until the hundreds of starlings perch over my head and created such a ruckus that nothing could be heard. After a while they finally flew off and then to my left I could hear a deer breathing and coming my way. To my left there is a line of pine trees and this deer didn't make its way through there and either lay done in the thicket or went a different direction. As the sun was setting, straight out in front of me it looked as if a doe was waking up from a day's nap. I could just make out her head and see her ears twitching as she laid there but as it gotten dark she never stood up. I snuck out of there and didn't hear her getting up so hopefully I didn't spook her and she will be comfortable with the area going forward.

Hunting Blog October 16

The season has opened on Monday October 15 with a typical rain that we have been having lately. Unfortunately, our time is limited as to days that we are able to get into the field so we were not able to get out on opening day. October 16: Was able to get out for an evening sit in one of our stands. The stand location that we wanted to concentrate on had been occupied by another hunter and to not disturb him, we chose a different location. We had clear sunny skies, rising barometer and very gusty winds. With the high winds the woods were loud and any movement from any animals was not able to hear at all. Sat until the sun set and the woods got to dark to see, but didn't have any deer movement on this evenings sit.