The time is winding down quickly. It doesn’t look like we’ll punch a tag this year in this location. The amount of hunting pressure can’t even be explained to someone. I never imagined to see this many people, especially no matter how far into the woods I walked. I haven’t been able to get away from hunters. It’s getting very discouraging.
I saw a buck chase a doe past me around 8 a.m., and I saw another 8-pointer cruising around 11:30 a.m. I feel really good about the spot. It’s the same place I saw the big buck last night. Something tells me we should share this stand through the rest of the week. It gives me good vibes.
This afternoon Brian and I went north to the place where we found the really big buck sign last week. We waited to come back for the perfect day. We walked for more than two miles to get to the place we wanted to hang stands. We marked the trees the other day, so we wouldn’t have to waste any time when we were ready to go back there.
Unfortunately, we found two stands that weren’t there a few days ago. I just can’t believe the number of hunters in this area. It’s surprising that we’re actually seeing deer with all of the pressure.
At this point, I’m unsure about what to do in the morning. I’ll have to decide when I wake up. Something tells me to go back to where we were tonight, but something else tells me to sit in the stand that I sat in this morning. I’m confused. The choice would be easy if I didn’t see the two new stands this evening. Since nobody was in either one of them, I’m pretty sure someone will be in one of them in the morning.
Dad saw a shooter this evening out of the stand I sat in this morning. One of us should sit there tomorrow. Doug and Jeff saw some deer today. Doug kicked one up and a guy shot it. Doug was going to a place I showed him on the map. Since he didn’t want to blast through the woods in the dark without knowing where he was going, he waited for it to get light, so he could more easily find the spot. Upon doing so, he kicked up a deer. A few minutes later, he could see a guy dressing it out. The hunter hit the buck right in the spine, killing it on the spot. It was a main-frame 10-pointer scoring in the 160s. At least Doug saw a good buck, even though it was dead.
Maybe one of us will get lucky in the morning. Deer seem to be moving a little better than they were a few days ago.
Here’s a picture of the buck I saw this morning, which was chasing a doe.