Deer Day 10 - Sat 19 OCT

The rain was supposed to start Friday night but it was predicted to end my mid-morning on Saturday.  So this really made our decision to go out late pretty easy.  We decided to try something different - I mean, everything we've tried so far hasn't worked, so let's try something we hadn't.

We all slept in until about 9:30.  We ate a lazy breakfast and then I hauled the recyclables.  We bundled up and headed for the woods about 10:45.  And by then, the rain had stopped.  It was fully overcast with 16 mph gusts from the WSW.  The temperature hovered around 40 F.

We dropped Nick off at the colonel's tree farm and he hiked W to the creek.  The rest of us drove around to park on Neal and as we passed Marshall's tree farm, we saw a large doe standing within 100 yards of the road.  Kathy suggested I sneak back in there and get her.  In fact, we all hoped to have something down within 30 minutes.

Kathy walked N, then E to sit along the Marshall, Neal, Boyd property lines.  Alex walked W and then N to sit on Neal's W property line - choosing not to go into the stand, and remain out of the wind.  Alex kicked up a 6-pt buck on his walk along the fence line.

The rain has softened everything so stalking was easier.  But since we could be quiet, it meant the deer could be quiet as well.  We'd have to rely on our sight, which is about equal to a deer's.  However, their sense of smell trumps ours, hands down.  The deer definitely had the advantage today.  

I walked the road E, and then headed N on Marshall's.  I get to about where the large doe was standing and here comes a yearling, running S about two rows over. By the time I got my bow up, she was gone.  I waited in the ready position hoping that maybe a buck was chasing her.  Worse case I figured it was a coyote I could shoot.  Nothing came.  I stalked on.  I made it to about even with Bailey's house and jumped another doe in the woods.  She ran NW.

Can you imagine trying to QUIETLY stalk through these leaves if they were dry?

Horse bow with wooden arrows.  Stalking N on Marshall tree farm.  Creek at far end.

The little wind I had in the trees was from the SE.  The sun broke through and it got warm, due to the amount of clothing I was wearing.  I stalked to the top of the field to my W, then N around two fingers, and then E to Nick.

Kathy texted and said it was "blustery" where she was sitting in the wind.  She did however get to see a turkey.  Nick texted that he had seen two squirrels and six ducks.  All poor Alex got to see after jumping the buck was the neighbors to the N driving around on their 4-wheeler.

I crossed the creek onto Vice to reconnoiter with Nick.  As I climbed up the bank, a large doe jumped the creek just S of me - but within range.  She came out into the tree farm, but then headed NE - never offering a shot.  I stepped out of the woods - with my attention focused on the deer running away.  Low and behold, there were two more to the S.  They spooked and ran due E.  I told myself they were too far for a shot anyway...

We called it quits about 1:30.  No shots taken.  But, as Kathy and Alex got back to the truck, they jumped a cock pheasant.  Kathy said she ducked as it exploded out of the fence row.  Way cool.

So our experiment didn't produce any better results than what we had been doing.  We did see MORE deer this way though - well, everyone except Nick.

Three mighty deer hunters after returning from today's hunt