ThereWillBeSpuds
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2019
- Messages
- 648
So yesterday I had an interesting hunt. The wind was light and variable, despite the forecast calling for 8 to 10mph winds from the west all day. My original plan was to show up an hour before first light walk a road behind a gate from the north and then cut east into a thicket I had previously scouted and set up over a trail through the thick stuff. Unfortunately everything went wrong.
I overslept.
Truck was almost empty.
Left my wallet and had to turn around to go get money for gas.
Leaving my house the second time, I got stopped by a freight train.
When I finally got to the spot and parked, It was grey light and rainy. Not my plan at all. So I start off down the gated road, slow, quiet, bow in hand. At this point its legal shooting light so I figure I might have an opportunity on my way into the thicket. On the right side of the road is mature forest with a healthy understory, lots of big red oaks. On the left is a clear-cut that has tall grass and short brushy plants growing in it. I see all kinds of deer activity out about 150 yds into the clear-cut. I make a mental note of that and then continue with my original plan. As soon as I cut west, toward my target thicket, the wind swirls and I have at least 3 deer blowing at me and they all crash off into the thicket making all kinds of racket. I figure my hunt is probably toast.
I creep back toward the road and a jet does a low flyover (airforce base nearby) and a pile of coyotes start yippin and yodelin. I got to the road just as the yippin stopped and I didn't get to see any yotes. What I did see was a white tail bounding out across the clear-cut and the bedding down. So I decide its time to try some spot and stalk. I get to about 40yd from where I think that deer is bedded and at this point the wind has completely died and the rain has stopped. No cover for my sound at all. Of course I break a twig and he bounds off. Little buck that I would totally shoot. I make note of where I last saw him, but he cuts behind a little patch of taller grass and I think he kept going after he was out of my field of view.
I sat up next to a patch of trees for about 30 minutes looking for tines above the grass, or movement. Didnt see anything, so I decided to creep off toward the tall patch of grass where I lost the buck and didn't find or bump him again. However, about 50yds south of that patch a much larger buck stood up and did a similar houdini act to the first buck. I couldn't figure out where he stopped running.
Anyway, at this point I have pretty much given up for the day, I'm tired and I need to crap. I head back to the road and back toward the truck. On the way out I note a pine sapling with a rub the size of a legal pad on it, almost nipple height on me, close to the field edge.
So my tentative plan for this spot is to wait for a day with strong east wind or rain or both. Sneak in before light and climb a tree on the western edge of the clear-cut and glass as the deer start bedding down, then rappel down the tree, leave my climbing stuff at the base of the tree and crawl out to where I see the bucks bed down. The question then is how do I get them to stand up and take my arrow?
Another idea: The big rub is close enough to the trees that i could set up in a tree and shoot across the road (legal because it is closed to traffic) maybe put a decoy next to the rub and do some grunting and snort wheezing? Is that more of a peak rut thing? I don't have a decoy but I probably know someone with one.
Gold is the original path I planned on
Aqua is the thicket I blew the deer out of
Red is my truck
Purple is the clear-cut (sat image is outdated)
White is approximately where the big rub is.
Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk
I overslept.
Truck was almost empty.
Left my wallet and had to turn around to go get money for gas.
Leaving my house the second time, I got stopped by a freight train.
When I finally got to the spot and parked, It was grey light and rainy. Not my plan at all. So I start off down the gated road, slow, quiet, bow in hand. At this point its legal shooting light so I figure I might have an opportunity on my way into the thicket. On the right side of the road is mature forest with a healthy understory, lots of big red oaks. On the left is a clear-cut that has tall grass and short brushy plants growing in it. I see all kinds of deer activity out about 150 yds into the clear-cut. I make a mental note of that and then continue with my original plan. As soon as I cut west, toward my target thicket, the wind swirls and I have at least 3 deer blowing at me and they all crash off into the thicket making all kinds of racket. I figure my hunt is probably toast.
I creep back toward the road and a jet does a low flyover (airforce base nearby) and a pile of coyotes start yippin and yodelin. I got to the road just as the yippin stopped and I didn't get to see any yotes. What I did see was a white tail bounding out across the clear-cut and the bedding down. So I decide its time to try some spot and stalk. I get to about 40yd from where I think that deer is bedded and at this point the wind has completely died and the rain has stopped. No cover for my sound at all. Of course I break a twig and he bounds off. Little buck that I would totally shoot. I make note of where I last saw him, but he cuts behind a little patch of taller grass and I think he kept going after he was out of my field of view.
I sat up next to a patch of trees for about 30 minutes looking for tines above the grass, or movement. Didnt see anything, so I decided to creep off toward the tall patch of grass where I lost the buck and didn't find or bump him again. However, about 50yds south of that patch a much larger buck stood up and did a similar houdini act to the first buck. I couldn't figure out where he stopped running.
Anyway, at this point I have pretty much given up for the day, I'm tired and I need to crap. I head back to the road and back toward the truck. On the way out I note a pine sapling with a rub the size of a legal pad on it, almost nipple height on me, close to the field edge.
So my tentative plan for this spot is to wait for a day with strong east wind or rain or both. Sneak in before light and climb a tree on the western edge of the clear-cut and glass as the deer start bedding down, then rappel down the tree, leave my climbing stuff at the base of the tree and crawl out to where I see the bucks bed down. The question then is how do I get them to stand up and take my arrow?
Another idea: The big rub is close enough to the trees that i could set up in a tree and shoot across the road (legal because it is closed to traffic) maybe put a decoy next to the rub and do some grunting and snort wheezing? Is that more of a peak rut thing? I don't have a decoy but I probably know someone with one.
Gold is the original path I planned on
Aqua is the thicket I blew the deer out of
Red is my truck
Purple is the clear-cut (sat image is outdated)
White is approximately where the big rub is.
Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk
