Today was my first day in the Midwest for the 2017 hunting season. I couldn’t ask for better weather for my first day in the woods. A gentle rain welcomed me this morning when I walked outside of the tent.
Since Dad and Brian have been here for a few days, I had a little insight on a few places that might be good, so I headed to one of my favorite places, which we call the Culvert. I settled in well before daylight and waited for the darkness to gradually turn into daylight.
Within minutes of being able to see well enough to shoot, I spotted a few deer running toward me. Then, on the other side of the logging road where I was sitting, I saw two more deer racing through the woods. Instantly, I knew that they had been kicked out of somewhere. I’d assume that someone on the nearby private property was making his way to his stand.
About and hour after daylight, I had a doe and fawn sneak past me and head onto a ridge out in front of my stand. They didn’t have a clue that I was in the tree. As soon as they got out of sight, I spotted a 4-pointer making its way across the far ridge. He passed by a public hunting sign, and when he did that, I thought in my head that I should consider moving my stand to that place. When I hunted here two years ago, a lot of deer passed by the same place. I definitely need to consider moving there.
Brian put camera on a big scrape in this place when he was in there earlier in the week. I checked the card, and there were a few bucks on it, with one being a shooter. The shooter has a forked G-2 and is pretty impressive looking. By the time I got out of my stand today, I saw seven deer, and one was a buck.
This afternoon, we headed south and set up in the area where Dad shot at the big buck a few years ago. When I got into the general area that I wanted to set up in, Brian chimed in on the radio. He told me that he had just seen an Asian guy who was carrying a rifle and had blood on his hands. The guy claimed he didn’t know English when Brian began asking him questions about the blood on his hands. A short time later, I heard a boat start and head down the river. It was definitely an odd experience.
I saw two does this evening, and Brian saw a small 8-pointer. Doug shot a nice 10-pointer today. His hunt this year lasted about two hours. He’s a little down about being done so soon, but he did shoot a really nice deer. Hunting public land is tough, and every opportunity you get should be cherished.
We will see what tomorrow brings. Brian got a picture of a shooter where we hunted tonight.
We are still undecided where we are going to go tomorrow morning. I guess we will figure it out soon enough. I’m not feeling overly confident, but that could all turn around in a few minutes.