September 24th was a day that we had been looking forward to with anxiety and high hopes since December 31st.  From the time archery season closed last year, we have been working feverishly shed hunting, establishing new food plots, running trail cameras and getting new stands hung.  This was the first year that we had been given permission to plant food plots on this particular property and we couldn't wait to get setup on the newly established, green, cereal grain food plot. 

However, the minute we pulled into the property, our anticipation quickly turned into frustration.  The first thing we saw when we pulled in was the land managers truck and empty four wheeler trailer.  Come to find out, the land manager had been spraying the CRP for an invasive weed that the DNR has asked him to control on the property.  It was something that needed to be done, but the timing couldn't have been worse.  But we were there to hunt, so we hunted and just made the best of the situation.

The first evening was pretty uneventful.  One lone doe made her way towards one of the food plots we were overlooking, but slowly disappeared into the 7' tall CRP and never actually entered the plot.  That night, as we were walking through the CRP back to the truck, we actually had to shade our eyes from the bright moon.  It was a cloudless sky and the moon provided plenty of light for some heavy nighttime feeding.  The high pressure system extended into the next morning and movement was much slower than expected.  About 30 minutes after a half rack spike left the plot, a mature doe and yearling entered and started feeding on the newly sprouted sunflowers.  The doe got within 5 yards of our ground blind and never had an idea that we were there - what an awesome experience.  As she turned to feed into the plot, Bo drew on her but she caught the slight movement and jumped further into the food plot.  When the arrow was released, she dropped about 8"-12" and the arrow unfortunately missed it's mark as it flew just over her shoulder.

The evening sit brought again no deer into the food plot.  A strong cold front moved through at about 6PM and brought with it a temperature drop of nearly 10 degrees.  One would think the deer would have been on their feet, but nothing entered the plot we were hunting. 

When checking cameras, we noticed that during the full moon phase, all of our buck and the majority of the doe pictures were taken after midnight.  We were starting to get some movement right around dusk as well.  When we entered the food plot for our final sit of the weekend, the skys were overcast and the winds were blowing out of the north - the perfect morning!  However, when we checked the camera pointed on a fresh scrape not 10 yards from our stand, we found out that we had missed the #2 buck on our list by 45 minutes.  Crab Claw had been in this very plot at 530 and we were there shortly after 600.  At least we know he's close and likes the food plot!  We did had five does enter the food plot that morning, but they all fed on the further side of the plot and never got within 50 yards so no shots were taken.

Here is the picture of Crab Claw as he's standing 10 yards away from the camera. 

We know that him and Potato Digger are still running their same routes, it just seems that they are slowly becoming more nocturnal.  This could simply be from the full moon or the current weather patterns.  We have not pressured them in anyway so we know that we haven't pushed them to become nocturnal.  Hopefully the next time we're at the property the moon won't be so bright and the deer will be back to the typical patterns.  If that's the case, a tag or two should be filled!