The heat just won’t let up. We can’t escape it. It’s beginning to wear on me. When I headed to the stand this morning, it was 71 degrees. It didn’t seem too bad when I began my journey into the woods, but that feeling of optimism quickly dissipated. By the time I got to the tree I wanted to put my stand in, I was drenched in sweat. The whole morning was a little bit of a disaster, but I still ended up getting the stand up and being ready before daylight. I almost impressed myself with that alone. Brian and I tried a new spot this morning. It was one of the spots that we found yesterday near a body of water that some might call a pond, and others might call it a lake. When I found the place yesterday, I instantly knew that I should return there to hunt.
Shortly after daylight, a massive thunderstorm ripped through the area a little to the north of us. Although we got wet, it wasn’t too bad. When the rain stopped, the deer started moving a little bit. I saw a shooter buck come out of the thick stuff. He was coming right toward me, but the wind hit the back of my neck, and he was gone. He didn’t bolt or anything. Instead, he just turned around and walked down the hill. I was very disappointed. He was 25 yards away and closing in quickly, but I never got a shot.
Brian didn’t see anything this morning. We covered a lot of ground. We found a good place, but it just wasn’t looking that good for this year. I’m sure it probably depends on what they plant for crops in the nearby fields.
Dad hunted in the swamp behind camp this morning. He had a four pointer go under him just after the rain stopped. At 10 a.m., he got down to go to the bathroom and had a doe come down the runway under his stand. Unable to move, he patiently waited. A few minutes later, a buck came along behind her. It was a broken-racked 8-pointer. He was about a 90-inch deer.
Tonight we all went down the road and hunted where we have been hunting the last few days. We waited for a really bad thunderstorm to pass and quickly headed into the woods. Dad saw a no-doubt shooter at 5:00 p.m. It was following a doe. Unfortunately, the doe either spotted dad or winded him and trotted up the hill. The buck followed. He was only 15 yards from dad at the time, but it was too thick to get an arrow in him. He had another doe come down the hill right before dark. Brian and I didn’t see anything.
Although the deer aren’t moving too much, and it has been hot as hell, we are still seeing some decent bucks. I feel like we are on the edge. Maybe one of us will get lucky and get a shot in the next few days before it’s time to leave.
It topped out around 78 degrees today. As I’m typing this it’s still 65 degrees. I’d do anything to get some decent weather. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.