Got my Ames Report Card In

Andy S.

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Jul 26, 1999
Messages
23,617
Location
Atoka, TN
All jokes aside, it is merely a synopsis of my fall deer hunting at Ames Plantation.

2012-2013 Season

Hours hunted: 170
Shooters observed: 6 (125" or 4.5 years old)
Other bucks observed: 63
Does observed: 106
Fawns observed: 89
Unknowns observed: 27
Total deer seen: 291

I killed 4 does this season, but ate tag soup for bucks. All in all, it was a good year in the woods and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For comparison purposes, this was data from the previous year.

2011-2012 Season
Hours hunted: 132.5
Shooters observed: 3 (125" or 4.5 years old)
Other bucks observed: 49
Does observed: 98
Fawns observed: 69
Unknowns observed: 30
Total deer seen: 249

I killed 5 does and 2 bucks this season.
 

Andy S.

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Joined
Jul 26, 1999
Messages
23,617
Location
Atoka, TN
I figured that question would surface. :) In all honesty, I guessed all of the shooters I saw this year to gross score 125-130" as clean 8 points, which did not leave me much room for error, and furthermore, after the banner season I had previous year, I just opted to not push the envelope and I let them walk, the ones during rifle season that is. Another way to think about it is none of them made me think "Oh sh*%, he's a stud, get your gun up and kill him", at least not in my eyes on the days I saw them. Do not get me wrong, they were all good deer, and I even thought a few of them to be 4.5+, but I still refrained and watched them walk off. There were also a couple I saw during bow season in fields in the evening that were just too far to shoot at with a bow. Not sure I would have any ways, but that was never an issue with them feeding at 60-80 yards away from me with bow in hand.
 

Hollar Hunter

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Joined
Nov 5, 2010
Messages
2,649
Location
TN
Great info Andy... Looks like you had a good season as far as movement and sightings even though you ate tag soup... I want to start keeping info. I said I was going to this year and didn't! No excuses!
 

Bayou Buck

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Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
2,690
Location
Franklin, TN
Looks like you still had an exciting season with all those deer sightings. Almost 40 more hours on the stand this season. Must have been getting all the time you could in before you became a daddy! :)
 

Boone 58

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Jun 23, 2004
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15,991
Location
Food Plot
Yep, if i dont get the oh crap..shooter feel then usually it aint gonna catch a bullet.............no regrets.
:)
 

Mike Belt

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Joined
Mar 26, 1999
Messages
27,376
Location
Lakeland, Tn.
On average you did better than me because I logged in 217 hours. We saw the same number of shooters and the same number of does. I saw 76 other bucks to your 63 but you got me on the fawns and unknowns; your 89 to my 43 and your 27 to my 18.

I always hope to see or experience something new every year. Last year it was the buck that got down on his knees trying to wind me down in a deep draw. This year it was a buck on a dead doe. I've had that happen several times in the past but this year I had 2 does down at the same time and I had bucks working on both does at the same time. Wish I would have had my camera.
 

fairchaser

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Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Messages
8,852
Location
TN, USA
Those are great stats Andy and Mike. Much better than my experience this year. I was always in the right place at the wrong time and somebody else killed the buck. It happens. I hunted the same hours as you Andy and saw one shooter and only 35 other bucks. It shows that experience on the property can't be replaced unless its with luck. Some of the new people had it in spades this year. Bully for them. One thing I learned from my own stats is that after the third time hunting one spot, the sightings drastically declined, even with several days in between hunts. Have you guys experienced this? As I moved around more later in the season, my sightings improved.
 

Bucks & Beards

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Joined
Jan 22, 2011
Messages
630
Location
Arlington, TN
My stats:
Hours hunted - 126.5
125+ bucks sighted - 0
Other bucks sighted - 46 (5 of these had an estimated score ~120)
Does sighted - 58
Fawns sighted - 34
Unknowns sighted - 21
Sightings per hour hunted 1.26
2.75 hrs hunted for each buck sighted
Killed two mature does and one button buck

This was my fifth year at Ames and I still have not killed a buck over 125, I killed a 4.5 y.o. buck in 2011. But Ames has tested and refined my hunting skills more than any property I have ever hunted and I have been hunting whitetails in West Tenn and No. Mississippi for over 40 years. I plan to return each year as long as I can come up with the membership fee and the program is in operation. I have only killed one buck in my lifetime that has scored around 120 and I had to pass on five bucks this year at Ames that were larger than my personal best.
 

Relentless

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Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
338
Location
Shelby County, TN
Andy S. said:
I figured that question would surface. :) In all honesty, I guessed all of the shooters I saw this year to gross score 125-130" as clean 8 points, which did not leave me much room for error, and furthermore, after the banner season I had previous year, I just opted to not push the envelope and I let them walk, the ones during rifle season that is. Another way to think about it is none of them made me think "Oh sh*%, he's a stud, get your gun up and kill him", at least not in my eyes on the days I saw them. Do not get me wrong, they were all good deer, and I even thought a few of them to be 4.5+, but I still refrained and watched them walk off. There were also a couple I saw during bow season in fields in the evening that were just too far to shoot at with a bow. Not sure I would have any ways, but that was never an issue with them feeding at 60-80 yards away from me with bow in hand.

Sounds like you were recovering from a previous year's taxidermy bills! haha
 

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