I am out of vacation time so I am limited to the weekends for hunting. I have been in stand at least 12-16 hours each weekend (weather permitting) since the end of October and like most people on here, my encounters have been way down from previous years. I have tried to adapt and move locations but I can only do so much with the property that I hunt, especially when my wife is in the woods with me.
Quick Saturday recap...
Hunting by myself, nice pinch point where deer travel through when moving through the valley.
7:20 - single doe comes flying in, flipping her tail up and down looking over her shoulder. I let her pass expecting to see something chasing her. Nothing showed up. She lolly gagged around down wind in my shooting lane for 5 minutes before wandering off.
10:50 AM- No more action so I decide to get down a bit early to meet my wife and check the cams on the way out. I typically leave the bow in the tree but I was considered changing stands so I lowered my bow down and dropped the rope (BIG MISTAKE) at 10:50. As I am hooking into my lifeline for the 25ft descent, I hear crunching and turn to find a young 8 point moving in with purpose. He had his nose to the ground grunting. I would not have shot him since he is pretty young and doesn't have a lot of mass so I watch him putz around in front of me whee the doe was earlier in the day. He ends up walking off grunting and as soon as he is out of sight, I make my move to climb down. As I pivot to my left to start down yet again, I see another buck coming in from the opposite direction. His nose down, swollen necked, grunting approach was very cool. He was a very nice, symmetrical 8 point that I would have seriously considered shooting, had my bow not been on the ground! He proceeds to taunt me by stopping broadside, three times, in each of my shooting lanes. and then.
I ended up not having any other deer within bow range but ended the day with 5 bucks and 1 doe in the woods. This was the most deer that I have seen in a single sit all season. That evening, my wife saw a nice buck cruising the opposite side of the property and had a nice doe come in on her but it got TOO dark to shoot.
I thought that you all could enjoy my misery and learn not to ever get down TOO early, ever.
Quick Saturday recap...
Hunting by myself, nice pinch point where deer travel through when moving through the valley.
7:20 - single doe comes flying in, flipping her tail up and down looking over her shoulder. I let her pass expecting to see something chasing her. Nothing showed up. She lolly gagged around down wind in my shooting lane for 5 minutes before wandering off.
10:50 AM- No more action so I decide to get down a bit early to meet my wife and check the cams on the way out. I typically leave the bow in the tree but I was considered changing stands so I lowered my bow down and dropped the rope (BIG MISTAKE) at 10:50. As I am hooking into my lifeline for the 25ft descent, I hear crunching and turn to find a young 8 point moving in with purpose. He had his nose to the ground grunting. I would not have shot him since he is pretty young and doesn't have a lot of mass so I watch him putz around in front of me whee the doe was earlier in the day. He ends up walking off grunting and as soon as he is out of sight, I make my move to climb down. As I pivot to my left to start down yet again, I see another buck coming in from the opposite direction. His nose down, swollen necked, grunting approach was very cool. He was a very nice, symmetrical 8 point that I would have seriously considered shooting, had my bow not been on the ground! He proceeds to taunt me by stopping broadside, three times, in each of my shooting lanes. and then.
I ended up not having any other deer within bow range but ended the day with 5 bucks and 1 doe in the woods. This was the most deer that I have seen in a single sit all season. That evening, my wife saw a nice buck cruising the opposite side of the property and had a nice doe come in on her but it got TOO dark to shoot.
I thought that you all could enjoy my misery and learn not to ever get down TOO early, ever.