The forecast was favorable for Thursday morning, but a front was to be moving through and bringing strong winds. It had rained overnight, so everything was dripping wet Thursday morning. I went to my stand in the thicket, but decided to change tactics when I saw the sun shining on the ridge well above me. As I broke out of the pines, I neglected to glass the upper ridge first, so was reminded of the mistake when I saw deer running. The group heading west had a big shooter buck in it. :cursing: I moved east about 75 yards and found a spot on a log. There were deer moving above me, both east and west, and my thought that
the late rut was ON ! I didin't bother to try and count how many deer I saw, but there was plenty of activity. Most were does and young, but several spikes were seen. Notable was a "head" that I could clearly see that had no antlers, but a boradside body just in front. I watched, trying to get a look, hoping for a big shooter, but saw the antlerless deer mount the (apparently) doe. As noon approached, the clouds appeared, sky darkened, and wind blew. Light rain started to fall, so I made my way back to the house before I got soaked.
The wind howled the remainder of the day, all night and all day Friday. Despite the wind, I WANTED to hunt, so made my way up through the pines again. The wind had been forecast from the WNW, but was coming from the SE, so not ideal for where I was hunting. :cursing: I DID see a group of does feeding just at the edge of where the laurel breaks into big timber (oaks), and a single spike, but the wind kept them close to their cover. Around noon I headed back in.
My friend Richard stopped by Friday evening with the rack from his buck taken a couple of weeks earlier. I recognized it as the "big six" that I had seen on my cameras in October, and one that was on my "hit list". It was dark horned, 18" inside spread, and looked like the offspring of my heavy 8pt.
I showed him what was
notable on my cameras over the past couple of weeks, discussed what the solunar tables had suggested, the previous days weather, and the fat that it was to get cold overnight. My thought was that Saturday morning should be good!
It was a crisp 26F with a trace of snow when I headed out in the morning. Instead of going up on the the ridge I decided to sit in another stand in the thicket in the bottom of a hollow. My though was that deer up on the ridge might try to sneak through the thicket since I had watched them in the big timber the 2 days prior. The ravens were already talking before daylight, and the squirrels were scurrying around just as it was almost shooting light. How is it that a couple of 1# squirrels can make more noise than a couple of 150# deer?
As the sun hit the upper ridge, I could see deer moving across. :haha: Apparently my logic was incorrect, but I decided to stay put. I wanted to see if the
other shooter bucks
might be moving through the thick stuff. I had a doe approach me from the west, but winded me as she was withing 10 yards of the stand. :hmm: I broke out the cover scent and sprayed a bit on. At times there were as many as 5 :cursing: squirrels chasing each other at the same time. I simply tuned them out and kept looking for deer. My plan had been to head back in around 10am, but that was when the deer began to move through the thicket. I saw a head, and then another and another poking through the pines and laurel. 4 of them passed to my east within 25 yards and disappeared without winding me. A bit later I saw deer moving back across the saddle towards the ridge, and counted 6. I watched as they appeared and disappeared through the thick stuff, and apparently were joined by others from up on the ridge. Hoping that they would be trailed by bucks, I remained until almost 11am. When I got back to the house, Richard was there. He had a small 6 pointer in the truck, but relayed that it was the 3rd buck that he had seen. The first had already shed its antlers, the 2nd was a nice sized deer with "cow horns", but didn't present a shot in the thick stuff, and then the 6 point. We agreed that it
would be tender, and that it had been a good season. :thumbsup:
With a bit of luck the 11pt (forked G2s on both sides), wide and heavy 8pts, and others will be around and nicer next season. There was a heavy acorn crop, and the deer should be well fed for the winter.
