James Daughtrey WMA Bow Hunt 12/31-1/3 LIVE!

[tellewis]

Magic time! Good luck sir and enjoyed following along!

I can **** sure go to bed either way knowing this is the hardest I’ve ever worked for a deer. 8-9 hrs a day in the stand is tough seeing hardly anything. I even walked to my game cameras at 5am this morning to see which stand I should sit at. Hopefully all of this work will pay off!


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[brokeno]

Dang. Any other deer brought in? It's only takes a few seconds for it all to change. Hang in there.

[tellewis]

Dang. Any other deer brought in? It's only takes a few seconds for it all to change. Hang in there.

For the trip so far there have been 2 wounded/not recovered bucks (one trophy and one 8), 1 doe, 1 javi, and one hog. It’s been a tough one! Been in the blind about 45 mins and nothing yet. I put out 100 lbs of corn [emoji23][emoji1787] and put plenty of blood effort brushing in my popup. I’ll for sure be able to say I tried if I don’t get one tonight! The wind is blowing pretty hard and it’s very warm but I’ve seen a few deer running around so they’re moving somewhat. Cross y’all’s fingers...


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[bps3040]

Good luck

[DUKFVR]

Good Luck!

[tellewis]

Finished up with a great evening and passed up a 3.5 yr old 8 point. He was a great deer that’ll be a beast next year. Had an awesome time and can’t wait to come back and try it again! Thank y’all for tagging along. Should be home by 1am so I’m gonna hit the highway!


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[brokeno]

Have a safe trip.

[TXOUTLAW]

Thanks for sharing


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[TexasAggie04]

Thanks for sharing with us.

[T-roy66]

Thanks for sharing your hunt with us.

[tellewis]

I’m going to do a conclusive write up on Monday with all of the things I learned and tips for any of y’all heading to a public hunt. Sorry none of us at the daughtrey could deliver! All the mature bucks were moving at night (multiple compartment game cameras). Even the biologists couldn’t believe how few deer we all saw. Y’all know how it goes though! That’s why it’s called huntin’ and not killin’!


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[tellewis]

Conclusion

Well it was definitely a tough hunt overall. I learned a ton while out there and can most definitely attest to the effort that all of the hunters put in. There were a couple of wounded bucks that weren't recovered and the shooters said they were trophies so I guess there were a couple of strokes of luck throughout, but what we all noticed is that the deer were nocturnal (evidenced by our game cameras). One of the things I would've done differently is to not underestimate hunting near blinds if the hunt follows a youth hunt. For those youth hunts the biologists had been corning those two tracks/senderos routinely. Find out where the main trails are coming to those spots and set up there with a pop up. When you think you're brushed in enough.... brush in some more. Set up as far from the roads as you're comfortable shooting and make sure you're only looking at your shooting lane. Granted: those deer are looking at those TPWD blinds like crazy so I would keep some distance, but they serve as a great distraction to the deer coming in. Another thing... I packed in my corn in 4 one gallon ziplocks each trip out in order to be as quiet as possible. Mistake IMO. They have already begun associating the sound of a pickup with corn from prior hunts so I'd say stick with that. These deer were beyond educated (as most public hunting locations go) but don't overthink everything. Make sure you're hidden and your wind is right. Outside of that if you try calling in any form and don't see success after a couple of attempts then ABANDON SHIP. We all came to the conclusion early on that the previous hunters had rattled up a storm the week prior and educated the deer. Excluding the first morning, rattling seemed to completely ruin a sit. The deer were cruising at random times but had no interest in horns. I think the rattling was letting the deer know our locations and to steer clear. All in all we all had a great time and I can't wait to get back out there. If we would've been out there for the rifle hunt I am confident a few trophies would've come in. bowhuntnman and I both got great deer on a trail cams and the ability to be out mobile with a rifle could've given us the chance at spotting them out on the prowl during light.

Hopefully this helps future people out some. I hope to go back soon! If anyone every gets compartment 4 in the future let me know. I kept detailed records in OnX and would be happy to share to give anyone a head start.

Thanks for following along and sorry I couldn't deliver! Until next time!~

[tellewis]

Here was another good buck I got a pic of. Ignore the wrong date I forgot to set it when I set the cameras out.

[TXOUTLAW]

Here was another good buck I got a pic of. Ignore the wrong date I forgot to set it when I set the cameras out.

Thanks for sharing


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