Archery Day 1 - Sat 13 OCT

Deer Season in Indiana opened on 01 OCT for archery for the general public.  It has been way too warm to go sit and swat mosquitos, hoping for deer to be traveling around during the day.  So instead, we have been mowing the yards - plural.

Finally, it has gotten cold enough to keep the bugs down and get the deer up, but Mother Nature also brought about 1.5" of rain.  Oh well, time to get into the woods.

Alex came home from the high school volleyball sectional at CP Friday night and saw 8 deer feeding on Marshall's N woods.  We got up and rolled at 6:40 to head that way.

Alex sat on Neal and I went to the bottom ground on Marshall's N woods.  Sunrise was at 7:54, so legal light was 7:24.  We were well on our way into the woods when it got to legal light.


Yep, it was a bit chilly, but fortunately the wind was not blowing hard.

I watched a nice-sized deer head E across a row of trees.  I snuck E to cut it off.  I waited for what seemed like enough time for it to get to me.  I got up to move back W and there it was, 50 yards ahead of me, coming right down the path next to me.  It ran N.

I headed to the middle of the trees and found another good ambush spot.  We sat until 9:30, when I texted Alex to find out what he had seen.  He had a smaller buck come from the NE to him.  Got to within 75 yards before it winded him.  It ran off.

We decided to head back to the truck.  Again, as I got up to leave, I jumped another deer coming right down the path to me, this one about 30 yards away.  Damn, I guess the Good Lord is trying to teach me to be a little more patient.  I texted Alex that I jumped deer #2.  As he was checking his phone, he jumped two doe in the fence row about 5 yards in front of him.

We saw deer.  It was a good day.  With a little more patience, we could have put deer in the freezer.  What is the definition of a vegetarian - a poor hunter.  That we were on this day...

The birds were out in full force:  geese, ducks, crows, hawks, sparrows, black birds, pileated woodpeckers, cardinals, finches, and more.  Of course I could have limited out on squirrels too.


So just how could a deer get to within 30 yards of me without me seeing it?
Take a look.  It is THICK in the bottoms.  And due to the rain, it was REALLY quiet.
You had to rely on your eyes and not your ears.  Of course the deer still have smell on their side.


One of the scrapes Alex passed on his way to the woods today.


Fresh tracks in the field.  How do I know they are fresh?
It rained last night.  There is no water inside those deer prints.
Thus, they were made after the rain and are less than 12 hours old.


Comments

  1. Dave PorrillOctober 16, 2018 at 8:57 AM

    With a little more patience and honing those observation skills it looks like it could be a successful season yet!

    ReplyDelete

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