This morning was brutally cold. When I headed out of the tent, the temperature was hovering around 12 degrees. After walking for about 35 minutes and getting to my stand, I prepared myself for the sit. I tried the pull-over boot warmers today, and they are worth their weight in gold. My feed stayed warm for the duration of my sit. I got up around noon and began searching for the whereabouts of the big buck. I wanted to find where he is living but came up empty-handed. This evening, Doug showed me some impressive pictures that he took while in the same area I’ve been hunting. Unfortunately, I didn’t go onto one ridge of all the ridges in the area, and that buck has been working that ridge. Doug set his stand up there for morning. I’d say he has a good shot at seeing the deer.
In the afternoon, I went to the area where I killed the buck last year. There were tracks all over in the snow, and I jumped four deer that were bedded down next to the tree I climbed. I didn’t see anything tonight, but I think I’m going back in there tomorrow morning. I’m tempted to go back to where I’ve been going since Doug is going to be in there mucking around.
Dad missed a good buck twice this morning. He left his release at the base of the tree and had to use a backup release. The trigger was set too light, and it fired before he was ready. It happened twice. The deer just wandered off without knowing it had been shot at. It was a nice 10 pointer. Overall, the deer didn’t move a lot today. We will see what tomorrow brings. I haven’t had any overly optimistic feelings yet. I’ve seen far less deer than everyone, too.