We got a thorough drenching today. It rained the entire day and was still raining when I went to bed. We did catch a few breaks, and the rain tapered off to a drizzle. That’s when I decided to stay close to home and hunt an area that I usually only hunt once or twice a year. I figured there wouldn’t be many people out in the crappy weather, so it might just end up being a good time to take a chance.
As I made my way down the hill, I began sneaking into an area that has a small field with an apple tree in it. Looking closely, I spotted a big deer laying down under the apple tree. Knowing it didn’t see me, I looked it over closely and determined that it was a big doe. Since I’ve seen a lot of bucks in this area, I figured a buck might be nearby. Scanning the area around the doe, I tried my hardest to make a buck appear but had no luck. Eventually, the doe stood up but wasn’t too nervous. I slowly backed up and decided to leave her alone. As I walked away, I could see that she was watching me. I’d assume she probably laid down after I was gone, but I’ll never truly know.
As I crept along an old fence-line and through an oak grove, I watched closely for any deer that might be feeding. It wasn’t long before I spotted one. I ducked behind a tree and watched it. It was a small doe. I watched her for a half hour before she finally wandered away. I stayed in the area until shortly before dark and decided to head out of the woods. On my way out, I spotted two more does together just a short distance from where I had been standing against the tree for the last hour. At first look, I though one had a nice rack on top if its head, but I quickly realized it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Between the fog, bad lighting and light drizzle, it might clarity an issue.
After watching the deer for a few minutes, I continued my journey. Just before getting out of the woods, I spotted two more deer, but they disappeared before I could identify them. Although they didn’t run, they went over a rise, and I never got a good look at them.
My buddy Jacob arrowed a nice 6-pointer tonight. Big 6-pointers are unique. There’s something special about them, and I love seeing them when my friends get them.
Recently, I downloaded the DeerCast app from the Drurys. I wanted to see how it worked in this area as compared to the Midwest. Everything I’ve read about it says it is spot on for deer movement. People are praising it like crazy. It made me a little excited. It tells you what kind of day it will be for hunting and gives them times of day the hunting will be the best.
Well, today was an absolute dud. It said that the hunting would be poor the entire day. I saw a lot of deer, and they were all on their feet and feeding. Brian saw a few deer, and Jacob shot his deer while it was running around chasing some does. I know it’s a small sample size, but we all had good activity around us. I’m going to keep track of the days and see how they play out as the year goes by, especially different people’s trail cameras. The cameras should be a telltale sign.