Bowhunting - Saturday 10/30/10

Dates: Saturday 10/30/2010
Location:  The Land, ECO
Morning, afternoon, evening or all day: Morning

Time: 5:15 - 9:00

Wind:  Moderate from N/NE
Temp: 45-50 degrees
Weather: Pleasant, clear, breezy 
Who: ME

Game: Whitetail
Stand Location:  Ladder stand, Sand Box 
 
Sightings: One buck.  Unusual rack with a large growth between his front legs. 

Comments:
Since Halloween time historically kicks off "prime time" bow hunting, I thought it would be a good idea to get out for a few hours and see what the Sand Box had to offer.  This is one of my favorites stands at the Land.  It's comfortable and the deer have no idea you are there.  The one challenge is being ready because the deer are literally right on top of you.  The first hour was uneventful other than the flock of ducks splashing around in the pond.  Around 8:30, I caught movement through the brush and saw a deer making its way through the Sand Box.  I noticed a decent set of antlers which peaked my interest even more.  The deer moved quickly through the stand, up the embankment, and towards the fire pit that sits a mere 14 yards from my location.  I was able to get a pretty good look at him and noticed his left side antler was shorter and missing some tines.  I also noticed a pretty good sized growth between his front legs.  It was big enough that it "hung" down and swayed when he walked.  For a brief moment, he stopped by and smelled my doe scent on a small sampling near the fire pit.  He then turned to his left and walked straight towards me closing the distance between him and I to about 6 yards.  Eventually he realized he wasn't alone.  He turned around and scurried towards directly away from me, towards the field road.  Not only did I have a cool encounter with an unusual buck, I got a picture of him sneaking through the sand pit moments before I laid eyes on him.

Bowhunting Update - September/October 2010

I haven't been very diligent in my blogging this year.  Big Surprise!!  With the addition of our second child on September 7th, I guess I am lucky to spend a few hours in the woods each week.  Overall it has been a very eventful deer season.  I've seen more deer this year than ever and the weather has cooperated quite nicely.  All of my sits in the early part of the year were in the new ladder stand by the Wood Pile that James and Danny put up right before bow season opened.  After opening morning, I sat in that stand three other times (four times total) seeing deer each time.

Sit #1:  Detailed in a previous post.  My goal was to blog ALL of my sits this way, however it just didn't happen this year.  Below are brief descriptions of my additional sits in September and October.

Sit #2:  On this evening sit I saw a young buck with a tall 8 point rack appear in the oak grove over my left shoulder.  He worked his way towards me, slipped past Mike's old platform stand and off to the bean field.  It will be a nice deer in the next few years.

Sit #3:  (morning) A different small buck appeared in the oak grove over my left shoulder.  There was an obvious pattern forming!  The deer were just pounding the acorns in that spot.  Rather than moving towards the stand, the small buck worked it's way towards the north and disappeared down the ravine.

Sit #4:  This morning sit produced my closest encounter of the season (so far).  The action started early with a deer darting behind the stand just before shooting light.  I could see the outline of the body and the white tail, but that was it.  Of course, two bucks made an appearance in the majestic "oak grove" over my left shoulder about 7:45 am.  I watched them for ~10 minutes before the disappeared into the woods.  I decided to stand up and pay most attention to the "Oak Grove" considering all the deer I've seen out of that stand, came from that area.  After a few minutes passed, my "6th sense" kicked in and I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.  I slowly turned my head to my right and, to my amazement, I see three does making their way right to me!!  While grabbing my bow, I slowly turned my entire body to get prepared for a shot, however I could tell the Momma Doe could sense something wasn't right.  I froze as she looked up at me and bobbed her head up and down trying to figure out what was going on.  She then nervously turned towards the bean field to the north as her white tail alerted her offspring of potential danger.  I knew it was now or never.  As she turned, I quickly snapped my release on the d-loop and prepared to draw.  When she pass behind two small trees, I began pulling back only to be busted!!.  Her head snapped around the tree and our eyes were locked in a 20 yard staring match.  I knew I was "pegged".  With a snort wheeze and a 180 degree turn she was gone, taking her two companions with her.  It was great to have such a close encounter, however I was kicking myself for letting them sneak up on me like that.  In addition, this was a prime opportunity to shoot a doe to earn my buck tag for the year and I had just blown it!!