Northeast 

November 18th:

Missouri Rifle Season

November 6th - (Morning) Hunted a third farm along a fence in the trimber, kicked up two deer going in, no deer while on the stand.  On the way out saw a mature buck in a bean field. (Evening) Hunted over the bean field where we saw the shooter buck that morning, saw one doe. ~Joe Knochel~

November 5th - (Morning) Rick and Ben (older brother) saw a handful of deer.  Dad and I got skunked.  (Evening) I saw eight antlerless and a small buck.  Rick and Ben saw a mature buck. ~Joe Knochel~

November 4th - Hunted the morning in the tiber on a ridge, saw five antlerless and three small bucks.  Hunted a different farm that evening again in the tiber on a ridge, saw six antlerless and two bucks one was a shooter ten point.  Awesome day of hunting! ~Joe Knochel~

November 3rd - Hunted T-bone our best stand. Saw a nice 8-point trailing a doe one hour before dark. ~Joe Knochel~

November 1st - Checked the Trail cameras today.  Lots of mature bucks, mainly at night.  Did catch mature bucks during daylight on the evening of Oct. 20th and the morning of Oct. 29th!        

~Rick Knochel~

October 31th - Hunted in a ground blind over a Frigid Forage food plot.  No deer, but the trail camera showed a few different bucks using the area. ~Joe Knochel~

October 30th - Hunted an funnel in the evening. Saw two small bucks, both moving quickly. ~Joe Knochel~

October 29th - Hunted an acorn flat in the morning. Watched 8 does feed on the acorns all morning, no casing activity. Rick hunted a soybean food plot in the evening. Saw a two year old buck and a couple does. ~Joe Knochel~

October 28th - Hunted a clover food plot near standing corn. Saw two bucks, one was a potential shooter, no casing activity. ~Joe Knochel

October 23rd

If you have not been seeing deer lately, you’re not alone.   I have been skunked for 5 straight hunts from 5 different stands on four different farms.  To top it off last night Rick and I split up (he filmed our dad, and I filmed my wife) and we both got skunked.  I was ready to scream “UNCLE”.  Then last night driving home from my hunt I saw a giant buck standing in the road ditch, and I remembered the rut is approaching! 
Success for me this year may depend on timing the rut movement properly. 
One of the best indicators that the rut has started is an increase in deer-vehicle accidents.  I drive 20 mile to work and typically see a couple new road kills each week.  But, during the start of the rut I may see two a day.  I like using this indicator because in my experience the deer movement picks up at night first (when most vehicle incidents occur), and the daylight movement is not far behind. 

The second key is stand placement.  I look for two things when I set up a stand for rut movement:

Doe bedding areas:  I like to hunt the downwind side of these areas to catch a buck scent checking the bedding area.

Pinch points, inside corners, and funnels:  I like to hunt any terrain feature that will concentrate deer movement to within bow range.

Picture caption:  In a slump I found a sure way to see some deer.  My daughter pets a buck at the Deer Park.

~Joe Knochel~

Northwest
     

November 10th

"Big Buck Down!"

After the storm passed through on November 8th the deer were really on the move. My good friend Joe Knobbe came up to film me for a couple of days while my dad was not able to join me in the tree. We had action nearly non-stop over the next two days and I saw my first lunchtime buck that first day. On November the 10th it would all come together.

   At 4pm I clashed the Knight and Hale Pack Rack Magnum together and it would prove to be monumental this time around. Out of nowhere appeared a buck headed down the funnel and was coming toward the stand, it was Big Buck our number 3 hit list buck.  He came to 40 yards when he turned and walked back to the north. I thought he was about to walk away and go north toward our open gate set and crush any hopes I had of getting a shot. He stood about 50 yards away nosing around in the timber. I felt helpless and asked my friend Joe what I should do. He wanted me to call to the deer, but I already knew the buck was not an aggressive deer. Whenever we would get pictures of him with other mature bucks at the mineral or baited camera sites he would always stand in the background.   

  Everything changed in an instant when he turned and started walking right toward us and that’s when I knew I was going to get a shot. He got to the edge of the shelf we were facing, turned broadside and started walking along the shelf at eye level headed west. As he approached my first shooting lane I drew my bow. He stopped under a hickory tree and made a scrape. I contemplated letting down, but reminded myself to stay focused. He started walking toward my first shooting lane and I bleated softly for him to stop, but he didn’t hear me so I did it louder. He stopped right behind two trees and I had no shot. Still at full draw for what seemed like forever he shrugged it off and started toward my last shooting lane when Joe said to stop him. I bleated loud again and he stopped perfectly in the lane 30 yards away. I settled the 30-yard pin a little low and released the arrow. I remember the moment of aiming and releasing the arrow like it was in slow motion. The arrow buried just behind the front leg perfectly and he sprinted off low. He ran about 30 yards, stopped and tipped over. I couldn’t believe it, this was precisely how I envisioned killing this buck almost exactly the way I wanted it to happen on film. I just thought it was going to be from the stand we had passed him the two previous years.  The 3-year quest to shoot a buck with my bow while the camera was rolling is over. I could now say Big Buck Down in more ways than one. I called my dad, wife and then my youngest son who had named the deer just as he was getting off the school bus. I told him I had just shot Big Buck and he said, COOL!!!!!!!!!! What a day in the woods, one I will never soon forget.

~Andy Yost~
  

November 4th

The first deer to make an appearance was a doe and a yearling. Then at the corner of the corn field I saw a large white antlered buck with ten points appear, he didn’t want any part of the grunt call or the bleat can and left shortly after arriving.

After a few minutes of seeing nothing, I decided to rattle a large set of antlers I carry around the woods with me.  I finished and followed up with several grunts and a few bleats. After about twenty minutes I heard a sound behind me and turned to see a mature buck coming up the hill toward my stand.

I reached up and took my bow from the hanger, at thirty yards I stopped the buck and released my arrow, it was a good hit and the buck leaped off to the left and went back down the hill to the logging road that he had come from and started up the other hillside where he was met by another mature buck who hit my buck head on and locked antlers.

There was quite a fight until my buck expired, the two bucks were still locked together and the other buck proceeded to drag my buck around the woods and kick and paw him until he finally broke free and went on his way.

After collecting myself I texted my son Stephen who was filming a couple farms away to give me a hand. After arriving Stephen and his partner Matt Owen came to help me retrieve the deer, this was when Stephen and Matt started whispering to each other. Stephen asked me if I knew who I had shot, I said no! Stephen then told me that I had shot there #1 hit list buck,” Strike One” the deer was on camera at 7:30 A.M. about a mile south of where I shot him at 10:15. I felt bad about shooting Stephen and Matts deer that they had worked so hard for but that’s why they call it hunting, beautiful day!

~Steve Stockman~

                                                                                                                                                           
October 29
   
Well ladies and gentelmen the rut is around the corner. Up here in the Northwest we have been noticing some changes in the deer behavior. We have been hunting often and the past week the deer have been gearing up for what could be a very interesting next couple weeks. Our favorite morning stand we have been seeing at least 10 to 14 does and a couple good young bucks.  Our corn was just harvested out of the bottom and we took advantage of it. We had 10 does and 3 buck come out only a matter of 4 hours after the corn was taken out. On two of the bucks went into a light sparring session and the other buck checked every doe in the field. 

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October 15

Well we are getting into the middle of October and the pre rut is right around the corner.  We have been in the stand as much

as possible and have noticed alot of changes. The foliage has fallen and the temps are starting to dip into the low 40s and upper 30s. We have been seeing alot of does and small bucks. This morning we had 14 does and 3 bucks travel by-two that were pope and young.   
We hope everyone is having a great season and good luck. The rut is fast aproaching in our area and the bone is soon to hit the ground.        
                      
~David Sherrill and Jacob Dye~

October 19th

Those magical days of the hunting season are just around the corner. It has been a long two weeks (Sept 30th) since my dad and I have climbed into a stand. We’ve had a lot of things going on in recent weeks, but that’s not to say we haven’t had the time to hunt. We went into this season with a whole new outlook on how we hunt our farm. We have goals and strategies just like all of you. We wanted to kill a buck the first week of the season, shoot a few does and stay on the fringes of the farm away from our best spots. Not only will this keep from impacting the area, it gives us the element of surprise when the best hunting time comes. We have made the mistake of burning out some of our best spots on the farm in recent years in the early season and the sightings decreased as time went on.  We were spooking deer on stand and entering and exiting those stand locations. I also feel like as a father of two young boys who are soaking up the sport that I owe them some fantastic hunting opportunities when their time afield is limited because of school and activities. They will get to hunt THE best spots when the early portion of the youth season starts. I think they will see some exciting action that creates some fantastic memories for them! This season I will focus on hunting with my youngest son trying to punch his first buck tag.

Our decision not to hunt has been based on the information we have. Our trail cameras let us know what is going on at the farm at all times of the season. Lately, they have shown very little movement. It has been hot, windy and dry. I’m sure the deer have been staying in the timber eating acorns near a water source, moving very little. It looks like rain and a cold front is in the forecast this next week (19th-22nd) and that happens to fall on the days I am off work and can hunt. I’m excited to get back out there and see what the cameras have captured, hang one last rut stand and hope we catch that first mini rut that comes in before everything breaks wide open at the end of the month. If you have the opportunity to get out and hunt Thursday the 20th or Friday the 21st I’d suggest you get in a stand, it may be the best action you’ve seen yet this season.

Good luck and shoot straight!

~Andy Yost~

South

November 14th
 
 
 
This is my rifle kill from yesterday. 21 score-able point's, gross-green score of 190 (unofficial).

 We have trail cam pic's and shed horns from this buck, but he was still much larger than we thought, which is fine with us. We killed this buck by sneaking into our stand just after shooting light, and hunting along the way. It was very windy and that helped cover our noise and movement. This buck was following a doe right across the path we were taking to the stand. Darren had the camera ready, and captured this quick hunt on video. I can't put into word's how incredible it was to kill a buck of this size, so I won't try! I'm a very fortunate person!
 
 
 
~ Ben Hampton ~


October 29, 2011,

The past weekend we hit the woods early Saturday morning and had great deer movement all morning. We sat up on a great funnel that has produced some great hunts during the pre-rut and rut in the past. As soon as we were set up a doe fed on the post oak acorns that have been falling for the past week or so. Later in the morning we had three different bucks move past our location. Lucky for one, a small branch was in between me and the buck and my arrow didn’t make its mark! But nevertheless the buck daytime movement has really picked up in the past week.

October 30, 2011

The morning hunt was the best hunt for Sunday as well. Ben and Darren set up back on an oak flat that has produced some great hunts in the past during the pre-rut and rut. They had an encounter with two different bucks and a doe. The evening hunts both days didn’t produce the deer movement that we had hoped for.
We had good luck with bucks responding to grunt calls this weekend and after talking to some of the local people, grunting worked well for them as well. 

All in all it was a great weekend to be in the woods and after talking with my girlfriend and her dad, they also had the best luck in the mornings as well. They both saw buck activity from daylight till almost noon both days. From what we saw and have heard from other people, things are looking really good for this coming weekend. All of the southern Missouri team will be in the woods this weekend and hopefully we will have a great story to tell next week. 
If you haven’t had any luck yet, don’t be discouraged. Talk with some other hunters around you and see how they are doing and when they have been seeing deer on their feet. This information may be all it takes for you to change your setup and put you on a big buck. Hunt safe and good luck!

 ~Andrew Hampton~ 

I think it's finally here! We've made it to Oct. 25! The bucks on our farm have made a large number of scrapes and rubs in the last week, and there is a cold front approaching! The conditions should be just about right for our hit list bucks to be in seeking phase by the end of this week! I don't expect to see a lot of full on chasing this weekend, but the big boy's should be on their feet during day light checking for the first does, and establishing dominance. So, don't forget your rattling horns/calls, last year we had 2 different buck fights witnessed on the last weekend of October. Also, we've added a new buck to our hit list. He keeps showing up on the trail cams, and at time's closer to daylight. So, we think he is kill-able buck. We haven't decided what to call him, either  "The Forked 9 Pt." or "The Forked G3 Buck".  Anyway, after this cold front pushes through it should be a great time to be in a tree stand.

One last thing, the post oak acorns should start falling any day, if they haven't already. If you can find a good stand of post oaks, dropping acorns, set up on the down wind side, it's a great place to ambush a seeking phase buck that's scent checking doe groups while they're eating acorns. As always, good luck and safe hunting!
 
~ Ben Hampton ~   

Central
 
October 28, 2011
 
Trail camera photos have played a major factor in determining which stands to hunt this late October.  Our cameras are set primarily over scrapes or interior food plots with scrapes nearby.  Very simply, if the cameras indicate one of our hit list bucks showing up during daylight to work the scrape, we hunt a nearby stand.  As the activity picks up in early November we tend to be in the woods hunting and therefore rely less on what the cameras are telling us and more on our observations.  We still use the data that our cameras collect during this period, but we mostly hunt our best pinch points and rut funnels unless otherwise indicated.