12/26  12:04 pm.  As in 2014, and again in 2016, I will be running a daily blog of the Late Muzzleloader hunt.  This year, my daughter Lily has a tag and has traveled down from Wisconsin with my son Forest to try her chances on a late season hunt.  I will try (we’ll see what happens) to do video blog posts this year instead of all written updates.  Tonight will be her first night out and strangely enough is identical to Forest’s 2016 start to his hunt…warm, rainy, and SE winds.  Once again, we’ll find ourselves sitting in the blind watching that same corn field on the old farm.  

I won’t be in camp yet today as Amy and I are traveling home to Iowa from Christmas in Wisconsin.  Forest will be taking Lily out.  

This year there are a bunch of mature bucks that Lily will be targeting but the one we are really trying to get is a beautiful 10 pointer I call “Blind Side”.  Also ironically, this is the buck Forest let walk on his late season hunt in 2016 because we believed he was 3 years old then.  Now 5, he is an absolute specimen.  I saw this buck several times bow hunting this year, and actually passed on him twice…not because he wasn’t big enough but because he is such a local deer and with Lily having a late season tag I was just hoping he’d still be around for her hunt.  Well, the last camera pull showed he’s still around so we are going after him.  

Forecast showing warm and rain for the next 2 days but then colder and dry temps coming in Friday!  It’s ON!!

Update 12/26 12:05pm   Interested in an overview of late season hunting strategy…check out a podcast I did for Iowa Sportsman on the Sportsman’s Nation.   Click   HERE FOR PODCAST

Update 12/26 8:02pm

Lily and Forest sat the 2 acre corn plot tonight. Saw a dozen does and fawns and one yearling buck. They pulled cameras just before their hunt and “Blind Side” is still in the area! Weather tonight was 40 ish for temps with rain. Tomorrow looks like 50’s for temps and rain. I’m thinking the hunting won’t get good until Friday and Saturday.

Update 12/27 6:35pm

Today it was warm, about 56 degrees when we were walking out to our blind. Winds gusting, thunderstorms on their way in. Last night, it rained a lot with heavy winds. Everything tonight was saturated. Lily, Forest, and I all agreed that we just weren’t feeling it based on the weather, but we went anyhow. Saw 2 bucks, both small, and a handful of does and fawns…maybe 12 or so. Most of the deer were traveling to or on green tonight. That will all change as the weather is forecast to turn cold…Tomorrow and Saturday should be great late season days.

Update 12/28 6:30pm

Tonight was a full 36 degrees colder going in on stand that last night. It was 20 degrees out when going to our blind tonight. Winds were heavy out of the NW, and it was cloudy. For late season hunting, this is pretty good. I would have liked it a tad lighter winds and maybe some sun…but it was pretty good. Totals…23 does and fawns, and 6 bucks. We saw one full mature shooter but 4 of the six bucks, including the mature buck came out at quitting time. Between the heavy winds and dark, Lily couldn’t quite get on him steady enough for a shot. We also saw a very nice 3 year old that would be Lily’s biggest buck to date…but with as many mature bucks as we have going into this hunt, we are still waiting a bit. Tomorrow should be another great hunt!

Update 12/29 6:30pm Tonight was that night when you just know it’s going to be good. Temps were at 20 degrees when walking in, a slight west wind, and the sun was shining. It just felt good. We started seeing deer around 3:30 and they just kept coming. The deer were spread out eating winter rye, left over soybeans, and the corn we were sitting. All told we saw about 12-15 bucks, and maybe 20-30 does and fawns. It was very hard to keep track of all the deer. Then, about 4:30, with a dozen deer in the corn in front of us…there he was “Blind Side”. Lily got on him. He was about 100 yards. Forest filming, I’m watching with binoculars. It was a solid slightly quartering away shot…then capowww.

This is where it gets snaky. With all the smoke, I didn’t see anything after the shot. Forest and Lily both saw him run off the field to our right and no other deer left the field. We looked until dark and didn’t find any blood and any sign of a hit. I’m still not convinced she missed but at this point I just don’t know. We are going back to look in the morning? Stay tuned. If she did miss, I think there’s still a good chance he stays around?

Update 12/30 7:00pm

So…we went back this morning and checked for blood/hair around the area of the shot and as far as we watched the buck run…nothing. We then walked the draw and switch grass on both sides for about 2 hours, again nothing. At this point, our thought and hope is that she clean missed.

Tonight we once again sat the corn/soybean/winter rye plot. Weather was warmer, about 36 when we walked in. We saw 20 or so does and fawns and 4 bucks, no shooters. Movement was more lethargic and was up against quitting time. Tomorrow its looking slightly cooler. A low pressure system will be moving through tonight and tomorrow morning bringing some light rain, then by noon it’s supposed to switch wind directions out of the NW and high pressure and cold is coming in for Tuesday. Tomorrow night and Tuesday should be great days.

Update 12/31 6:30pm

Overnight and all day today it rained. This afternoon for a brief period the rain turned to snow and then it all stopped around 3 this afternoon. The night remained dreary and breezy. The temps did start to drop and the winds were out of the NW. We saw about 20 does and fawns and 4 small bucks. It just seemed like any of the older class bucks weren’t moving tonight, and they didn’t…at least not till after quitting time. Tomorrow looks like a great day…cold, sunny! It is also likely Lily’s last day hunting so it’s tomorrow or maybe nothing?

Update 1/1 8:10pm

Well, tonight was Lily’s last night to hunt. She was heading home with Forest after the evening hunt. Tonight was very cold, only a slight breeze, but for some reason just didn’t seem quite right…at least for me.

The night was very cold. I think by quitting time the temps were approaching single digits…maybe not but it felt like it. A bunch of groups of does and fawns like usual fed in the winter rye and many made their way into the corn. Not a single buck. My gut told me it wasn’t going to happen but in all reality, it was a good night. Not a single buck showed…and then Forest made the comment, “well, according to the book we have a half hour left”. You see, it’s been so cloudy that every night save one it was too dark before quitting time. Again tonight, it felt like it was getting dark fast. Then, Forest picked up his optics and scanned the bottom of the field…”A nice buck!” “Seriously”. I got on him with my optics as well and instantly recognized the buck as the same mature back we had seen a few days ago with no shot.

It was now on. The buck fed quickly up to our right, getting closer as he did. Lily was on him out the front window, but he wouldn’t give a good shot. To not rush it like I fear we did on “Blind Side”, we slowed the process down…”Take your time, stay on him, wait for a broadside”. The buck would walk then turn, walk then turn, then finally broadside…”There’s your shot”…Capooowww. That familiar muzzleloader blast. Buck Down!