We got another early start. I was settled in the tree well before daylight. I chose to return to the same tree I sat in yesterday morning. There was a lot of activity and I’m still unfamiliar with everything around me. At first light I could see some deer in the CRP out in front of me. My heart raced as I waited for a big buck to appear. I identified three does. They kept looking in the direction they came from, but nothing followed and a short time later they disappeared.
Within minutes of them disappearing I heard some leaves being scuffed on the ridge above me. As I slowly turned my head I saw a nice 8-pointer cruising along a well-used runway in search of a hot doe. I could tell that he had only one thing on his mind and it gave me a gentle reminder of why big bucks get killed this time of year. Although he was a nice buck he wasn’t anything I was looking to shoot, but the sight of him filled me with optimism about the coming days.
A few minutes after things settled down a small buck chased a few does by me. He was young and stupid and they didn’t want anything to do with him. It was easy to see that he was annoying them. It’s kind of like the little brother that won’t stop flicking your ears even after mom or dad tells him to stop.
Just after he passed by me I saw the three does that had disappeared into the thick stuff come running back toward me. I grabbed my bow and got ready. I know what running does usually signifies during this time of year. I patiently waited, but nothing followed. I’m not sure if the buck took a different route or if they were just running from being spooked. I’ll never know. In the early afternoon I decided I had to explore a little bit and decided to move my stand.
On the way to an area I had previously checked out on an aerial photo I spotted a few deer in woods above me. I knelt down behind a stump, nocked an arrow and waited. Two does materialized out of the timber and then a nice buck trotted down the runway behind them. Unfortunately one side of his rack was busted up. He would have been a good 10-pointer. I let him continue on his journey before heading on my way.
Upon reaching the area I wanted to check out I found some huge rubs, very large scrapes and pounded into the dirt runways. The sign made it a no-brainer. I quickly found the perfect tree, which is sometimes hard to do. I positioned the stand and settled into it for the evening sit. Shortly before dark five does filtered down off the ridge behind me and a nice 8-pointer followed them before cutting off toward a scrape located 30 yards behind me. He did his thing in the scrape for about 5 minutes before going on his way. As darkness crept in deer began piling out of the thick stuff in front of me. It got to the point where I couldn’t count them and keep the numbers straight. When it was all said and done I positively identified 16 different does and six different bucks including a really good 8-pointer. He was a mature deer and tempted me for a few seconds before I decided to let him walk. This was my best sit so far. Although it looks extremely dark in the video it was much lighter than it appears. I could have easily shot him. Here’s the big 8-pointer that I let walk by. Brian and I found a dead deer on the way out tonight. He was a dandy. There was an arrow hole right on the front shoulder. It looked like he was probably hit on the other side of the river and decided to swim to safety and the hunters couldn’t pursue him. It’s really unfortunate. The picture below is the buck.
