Recently I noticed deer were crossing a road (from where I can't hunt) and into a big field (that I can hunt) right before dark. I actually have a stand in one of the far corners of this field, but the time that these deer are moving doesn't allow them to reach that stand until after dark.
I realized this year that someone needs to take some does on this property.
So today I grabbed my saddle and headed to where the deer seem to cross. There is a tree line right there that they pass through, so I parked where I usually do when I hunt that stand....I went about 80 yards down the tree line to where it looked like they cross through and I picked an "easy" tree with good cover. There were some better trees, but they would have been a little more complicated to climb and I didn't have a lot of time since it was already about 3:30.
So I started drilling my bolt holes and soon realized my drill was pretty weak. In my haste, I forgot my hand drill. I was able to drill 8 bolts high before it really started to die. I was able to get 2 more for my platform by switching torque settings back and forth...but I was basically spinning the drill by hand by the end. This put me at about 10-12' to my platform. Being this low is obviously not ideal, but I have pretty good cover for this time of year, so I'm confident.
About 15 minutes after I settled in, I heard a fox barking in the distance. He ended up running around the field a bunch of times barking but didn't find a mate. The closest he came to me was about 30 yards. I heard and saw him (or her) most of the hunt including screaming downwind of my kill later.
Finally around 5:10 I look behind me and here come the deer.
They literally walked right past my truck and into the field behind me, angling towards me. To my surprise, the lead buck is a shooter, followed by another nice buck. All together seven or more deer are making their way to me. The shooter buck actually comes within 20 yards but the way he angles through the tree line and away never gives me a good shot. Finally I have a small deer (I think it was a button) and a large doe come by me at 5 yards. It's not all that dark in the field, but I only have 5 minutes of legal shooting time left, so I draw back and as the doe gets to about 10 yards quartering away, I settle the pin and shoot. My lumenok disappears perfect and she takes off on fire.
She runs about 40 yards and piles up in the field.
Nice short drag since she angled towards the truck.
I'll have to see if I can get a shot at that buck now.
I realized this year that someone needs to take some does on this property.
So today I grabbed my saddle and headed to where the deer seem to cross. There is a tree line right there that they pass through, so I parked where I usually do when I hunt that stand....I went about 80 yards down the tree line to where it looked like they cross through and I picked an "easy" tree with good cover. There were some better trees, but they would have been a little more complicated to climb and I didn't have a lot of time since it was already about 3:30.
So I started drilling my bolt holes and soon realized my drill was pretty weak. In my haste, I forgot my hand drill. I was able to drill 8 bolts high before it really started to die. I was able to get 2 more for my platform by switching torque settings back and forth...but I was basically spinning the drill by hand by the end. This put me at about 10-12' to my platform. Being this low is obviously not ideal, but I have pretty good cover for this time of year, so I'm confident.
About 15 minutes after I settled in, I heard a fox barking in the distance. He ended up running around the field a bunch of times barking but didn't find a mate. The closest he came to me was about 30 yards. I heard and saw him (or her) most of the hunt including screaming downwind of my kill later.
Finally around 5:10 I look behind me and here come the deer.
They literally walked right past my truck and into the field behind me, angling towards me. To my surprise, the lead buck is a shooter, followed by another nice buck. All together seven or more deer are making their way to me. The shooter buck actually comes within 20 yards but the way he angles through the tree line and away never gives me a good shot. Finally I have a small deer (I think it was a button) and a large doe come by me at 5 yards. It's not all that dark in the field, but I only have 5 minutes of legal shooting time left, so I draw back and as the doe gets to about 10 yards quartering away, I settle the pin and shoot. My lumenok disappears perfect and she takes off on fire.
She runs about 40 yards and piles up in the field.
Nice short drag since she angled towards the truck.
I'll have to see if I can get a shot at that buck now.
