Last night it was nearly 1 AM and I was doing what many hunters do ... should I? Shouldn't I? Get up and hunt? Sleep? The mental debate went on as I fell asleep. Woke up 4:30 AM ... hunt? Sleep? Same debate. LOL
For - time in the woods, watch the sunrise filtered through the canopy, watch and listen to the wild things, maybe harvest a deer.
Against - I am tired not enough sleep, full moon - most deer have been eating all night safely in the dark of night - I am going to load up, drive out, hike in, and see 0 deer.
Loaded up cooler, Rifle, chainsaw, food/drink, and left the neighborhood under the bright moon that was now shining between cracks in the cloud cover. I rarely leave to go to woods without a chainsaw anymore. Almost bever need it, but when I have it has been awesome to remove the fallen tree off the road. Sort of like suspenders and a belt. Have handsaws, too.
I pulled into our property under the cover of dark just past 6 AM. Out of the van and the routine commences - strip naked, pull out hunting gear from scent free bag, start dressing. Because there are pine throughout our land and adjacent properties I have taken to breaking off a small bit and rubbing various things as a local cover scent. Rub pine on bare feet before socking up, toss that contaminated pine away! New fresh foot free pine rub rifle, some outwear, and of course footwear. Just enough not too much. Don't want to be the Old Spice guy at the bocce court!
I start my walk in no light just the morning darkness. Acorns popping, twigs cracking, creatures stirring. Then to remind me of Murphy and his Law I hear a 4 wheeler. I figure it will turn off to adjacent property but it does not. I can hear it louder and see bright light coming my way. Set rifle aside put on headlamp and turn it on. Surprise it is a trespasser I met 2 weeks back!
I remind him he is trespassing and he says he is not. Said he spoke to the game warden and he has access to the easement to get to land he is hunting. No, no you do not. The easement ends here at our property boundary. And you cannot continue onto our property. As I said 2 weeks ago. We have a dialog for 15 minutes or so with his lights on, 4 wheeler running, and I am thinking we'll there goes hunting for this morning. Eventually he turns the 4 wheeler off and kills the lights. Yet we talk in circles about the access to land beyond ours. Mind you he states this is not his land, but county land, and they have feeders and blinds and cameras set up on county land, and he could access it at the turn off I mentioned already, but that would rake 15 minutes longer. He asks for an exception to use our road to get to the county land. Again I remind him it is a flat no for everyone. Eventually he leaves the way he came in. Now I am irritated because he is still accessing our land and I find out he is baiting deer up behind us on county land. Anyways ...
I figure I am already up and here, grab my climber and get going. Off I go less quiet than normal on the heels of the 4 wheeler issue I figure my walking isn't going to make anything worse. LOL
Up an oak I go near scrape central. Twilight dawn is already here and sunrise will soon follow. I think about closing my eyes ... and do ... but the squirrels, man the squirrels! So many and just attacking the acorns. LOL. I figure my best chance now is to bleat. After the full moon, after the warm weather, after the 4 wheeler ... bleating seems like best option. I bleat and stop, bleat and stop, bleat and stop. A deer behind me off to my right comes in and down the ravine. You know that gait and leaf litter movement of a whitetail! Never saw it, only heard it. So maybe ...
Keep bleating. Stand up to move around. Hear some disturbance below the finger I am posted up on, and traditionally deer come up this ravine and onto the finger and down the opposite side. Often stopping to browse. But between falling leaves, popping acorns, and squirrel madness I have been fooled before. The sound in that ravine I hear for 15 minutes. I stand up to see if this view point reveals anything different - it does, but no deer. Sitting down I decide not to bleat, stay out, Rifle ready, then after hearing that noise for another 10 minutes I softly bleat. The disturbance is louder now and I know from experience a deer is about to pop up!
I see my morning buck and I have only a few seconds to decide whether to harvest or pass. He does come up onto the finger but quarters away from me at a good walk speed. I have 1 maybe 2 seconds to squeeze the trigger. BAM! His reaction is to continue to move forward at an angle away from me down the finger slope but at a slightly quicker pace. I rip off my head covering and listen ... listen ... I heard his steps in the leaves ... but no pile up crashing sound, so I sit for 10 minutes before I climb down. I go to point of impact and see I won't have him on trail camera I have set up. I do not see any hair nor blood ...
I picture his movement up onto the finger, my shot, and his leaving the scene ... I walk a zig zag pattern down the finger, going slow and stopping to listen. Every now and then I look backward and I see him! Down! Laid out on his side. I watch from a distance, see no movement and move in closer. No movement. Nudge him. Nothing. I say a prayer and then begin processing him. I brought a battery powered fan which helped keep some of the flies and yellow jackets away. The stinkiest deer I have ever harvested! Tarsals - WHEW!!! He was so wet down his legs just pure testosterone! Two for a ziploc bag for sure - these tarsals are potent!!!
I packed out the meat and hofed it back up to my van. Then down again for equipment, and then back up to stage it near the van. I am stoked on a full moon I managed a healthy looking harvest. My largest bodied buck to date.
Here are a few pics.
End of blood trail.
Start of blood trail.
My Sunday morning buck, tapping out my 2 buck 2023 Whitetail Season.
For - time in the woods, watch the sunrise filtered through the canopy, watch and listen to the wild things, maybe harvest a deer.
Against - I am tired not enough sleep, full moon - most deer have been eating all night safely in the dark of night - I am going to load up, drive out, hike in, and see 0 deer.
Loaded up cooler, Rifle, chainsaw, food/drink, and left the neighborhood under the bright moon that was now shining between cracks in the cloud cover. I rarely leave to go to woods without a chainsaw anymore. Almost bever need it, but when I have it has been awesome to remove the fallen tree off the road. Sort of like suspenders and a belt. Have handsaws, too.
I pulled into our property under the cover of dark just past 6 AM. Out of the van and the routine commences - strip naked, pull out hunting gear from scent free bag, start dressing. Because there are pine throughout our land and adjacent properties I have taken to breaking off a small bit and rubbing various things as a local cover scent. Rub pine on bare feet before socking up, toss that contaminated pine away! New fresh foot free pine rub rifle, some outwear, and of course footwear. Just enough not too much. Don't want to be the Old Spice guy at the bocce court!
I start my walk in no light just the morning darkness. Acorns popping, twigs cracking, creatures stirring. Then to remind me of Murphy and his Law I hear a 4 wheeler. I figure it will turn off to adjacent property but it does not. I can hear it louder and see bright light coming my way. Set rifle aside put on headlamp and turn it on. Surprise it is a trespasser I met 2 weeks back!
I remind him he is trespassing and he says he is not. Said he spoke to the game warden and he has access to the easement to get to land he is hunting. No, no you do not. The easement ends here at our property boundary. And you cannot continue onto our property. As I said 2 weeks ago. We have a dialog for 15 minutes or so with his lights on, 4 wheeler running, and I am thinking we'll there goes hunting for this morning. Eventually he turns the 4 wheeler off and kills the lights. Yet we talk in circles about the access to land beyond ours. Mind you he states this is not his land, but county land, and they have feeders and blinds and cameras set up on county land, and he could access it at the turn off I mentioned already, but that would rake 15 minutes longer. He asks for an exception to use our road to get to the county land. Again I remind him it is a flat no for everyone. Eventually he leaves the way he came in. Now I am irritated because he is still accessing our land and I find out he is baiting deer up behind us on county land. Anyways ...
I figure I am already up and here, grab my climber and get going. Off I go less quiet than normal on the heels of the 4 wheeler issue I figure my walking isn't going to make anything worse. LOL
Up an oak I go near scrape central. Twilight dawn is already here and sunrise will soon follow. I think about closing my eyes ... and do ... but the squirrels, man the squirrels! So many and just attacking the acorns. LOL. I figure my best chance now is to bleat. After the full moon, after the warm weather, after the 4 wheeler ... bleating seems like best option. I bleat and stop, bleat and stop, bleat and stop. A deer behind me off to my right comes in and down the ravine. You know that gait and leaf litter movement of a whitetail! Never saw it, only heard it. So maybe ...
Keep bleating. Stand up to move around. Hear some disturbance below the finger I am posted up on, and traditionally deer come up this ravine and onto the finger and down the opposite side. Often stopping to browse. But between falling leaves, popping acorns, and squirrel madness I have been fooled before. The sound in that ravine I hear for 15 minutes. I stand up to see if this view point reveals anything different - it does, but no deer. Sitting down I decide not to bleat, stay out, Rifle ready, then after hearing that noise for another 10 minutes I softly bleat. The disturbance is louder now and I know from experience a deer is about to pop up!
I see my morning buck and I have only a few seconds to decide whether to harvest or pass. He does come up onto the finger but quarters away from me at a good walk speed. I have 1 maybe 2 seconds to squeeze the trigger. BAM! His reaction is to continue to move forward at an angle away from me down the finger slope but at a slightly quicker pace. I rip off my head covering and listen ... listen ... I heard his steps in the leaves ... but no pile up crashing sound, so I sit for 10 minutes before I climb down. I go to point of impact and see I won't have him on trail camera I have set up. I do not see any hair nor blood ...
I picture his movement up onto the finger, my shot, and his leaving the scene ... I walk a zig zag pattern down the finger, going slow and stopping to listen. Every now and then I look backward and I see him! Down! Laid out on his side. I watch from a distance, see no movement and move in closer. No movement. Nudge him. Nothing. I say a prayer and then begin processing him. I brought a battery powered fan which helped keep some of the flies and yellow jackets away. The stinkiest deer I have ever harvested! Tarsals - WHEW!!! He was so wet down his legs just pure testosterone! Two for a ziploc bag for sure - these tarsals are potent!!!
I packed out the meat and hofed it back up to my van. Then down again for equipment, and then back up to stage it near the van. I am stoked on a full moon I managed a healthy looking harvest. My largest bodied buck to date.
Here are a few pics.
End of blood trail.
Start of blood trail.
My Sunday morning buck, tapping out my 2 buck 2023 Whitetail Season.
