Re: DEER HUNTERS !!! Got buck fever yet? Maybe we should post pics ?
Thanks for the support guys! It's been tough and this morning I was actually thinking of calling it quits for the season. It's been a grind for me and I was getting pretty dragged down about it... until something happened this morning that gave me a boost again.
Yesterday I had refreshed my "attractant tree" in the afternoon with a rag drenched in doe-in-estrus urine. The tree is 98 yards from my stand at about the 12 o'clock position. The wind was about 5-10mph from that direction for most of the day yesterday. I honestly half expected a buck to walk underneath my stand on his way to the scent, but nothing happened. Which brings us to todays report.
Got to my stand in the gloom of the pre-dawn and settled in for the morning. The wind had shifted slightly and was from about my 11:30 position at maybe 2-3mph. Nothing was really happening for awhile, then about 0730 I saw two hunters park their vehicle and walk into the woods on the other side of the road... more than 600 yards away and not headed in my direction, but at my 12 o'clock.
At 0830 I'd been in the stand for nearly 2 1/2 hours and had been sitting completely, totally still for 20-30 minutes, just using my eyes alone to scan the hill and field in front of me. Then, completely unexpectedly, I heard a LOUD KEE-RASHH!!... KA-THUMP... Ka-Bump.... ka-bump.... diminishing in strength very quickly but DIRECTLY behind my tree stand!!! I tellya, that sent a HUGE
Zing! up my spine! I remained frozen and motionless, but my heart was pounding and my mind racing... I was positive that a buck had indeed followed the doe scent and just walked up to my stand, got a whiff of me or saw me and immediately and rapidly un-assed the area of operations!
I sat completely still for 5-6 minutes, then s-l-o-w-l-y started turning my head to see if I could see what I was sure was a deer. Nope. It was long gone. However, the zip it had added to my nerves stayed with me for the rest of the day. About 1/2 hour after the event, the gun range opened and I left for the morning.
Went back this afternoon and along my walk back to the stand, I put out some fresh "regular" doe urine, creating a trail the last 200-300 yards ending about 80 yards from my stand. I sat in the stand for nearly 3 hours, but the wind had shifted all around and wasn't steady. Shortly after sunset I climbed down from the stand and went to investigate the commotion this morning. I found a broken sapling with a fresh cut in it, as though stomped on my a sharp hoof. There were marks in the pine needle covered forest floor like hooves had been bounding away from my tree. There was another sapling knocked sideways and the tops of palmetto bushes were smashed down, along with a "path" of weeds/saplings/scrub that looked freshly smooshed. Methinks there was a deer near!!
How close was all this stuff? Try THREE FEET from the back, left side of my tree! That sucker was plenty close, that's for sure. I am much more motivated today!
Here's a view from my the right side of my stand, at the rear. That palmetto bush at the bottom of the pic is about 7 feet wide.
And here's a pic of the trampled tree with the fresh cut on the trunk.
Muzzleloader next week .... c'mon deer, cooperate!
