Sunday the 22nd of October was a day for the diary. Just one of those adventures you will remember vividly forever, or until you lose your mind and your partner in crime will continue to retell the story to you as you sit and grin but have zero recollection. 
Here is PART ONE of our whitetail opening day (for us) adventure.
Leading into our opening day of Whitetail 2023, my boy and I had spent much time on our family property - burning, pruning, felling, pulling, studying, setting up cameras, reviewing footage, etc. Started back in January when last year's deer season was done basically. Probably as many hours doing manual labor as creeping, sitting, and watching. Our property is small, and made up of mostly steep terrain. Mostly hardwoods with pines mixed throughout. Loads of muscadine vines, too. Because of the topography and size I knew I had to focus on the one sense that deer rely on most - the sense of smell. My boy can sit stationary for hours, and coupled with his ability to be a statue he is silent when still. But how could we work on our scent control, include a cover scent, and play the wind and thermal up and down drafts with the terrain we're on? I spent some time walking every bit of our property, noting indicators (trails, rubs, scrapes, pooh, browsing, food sources, bedding locations, etc., and wrote it all down in the notebook. I decided we could have 5 potential post up locations depending on the wind and how the deer were moving come hunting season. I took some smoke bombs to each of these locations and set them off ground level and also 10 feet up in a tree. I needed to see how the wind would move our scent. Watching the smoke bombs was telling. In the notebook the data went. As whitetail season drew nearer I was more careful with my treks, but I was in search of scrapes. Found two spots, one I coined "Scrape Central" and the other "Buck Up". Maybe coincidental but both scrape hot spots were (are) atop a ridge, and both at the end of the ridge. As such, each had scent trails leading to/from on either side leading down to the bottoms below.
With a soccer match on Saturday and van charging issues still not sorted until late, we didn't get on the road until late evening on Saturday. Instead of our usual pick a tune and sing along we talked about deer and what we thought we might see or what we hoped to see the next day. When we arrived at our property I set out our hunting gear and then hopped back into the van to continue our reading of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Didn't take too long before my boy fell asleep and then I continued prep work for the next day. I double checked firearms, pack gear, and the clothing we were going to wear. Then it was time to run to the land of nod and grab some zzzzzz.
Woke up 5:15 AM Sunday morning and stepped outside. Loved the cool air temperature, and the quietness of the forest. Sadly a lone deer blew me around 5:30 AM - maybe 10 yards from our van. But it was a single blow and a slow trot off. I broke off a small bit of pine branch and rubbed my boy's shoes inside and out with it, then did the same with mine. Pine is a smart cover scent in our property as there is a pine not too far from anywhere on our land. I have been breaking off a bit of pine every trip out this past year, rubbing shoes, and carrying in pocket. In my mind at least it gives the deer a familiar scent. Sure we try to minimize our scent and the gear we wear, but I do think a cover scent local to the area is good.
Got my boy up at 5:45 AM and we were outside changing into our gear and walking in by 6 AM. Just something we do. No matter the air temperature. Last Winter one morning it was 29 degrees and out we went naked to change into our hunting clothes. I find my boy moves a little quicker the colder the temperature! We headed off into the darkness without a word and made our way to my climber. I climbed up an oak not far from what I coined "scrape central" and my boy laid a towel on the ground below me and drifted off to sleep. He did ask me though if a deer could step on a person. I replied "Sure, why not?" Telling words unknown at that time. Was in the climber for maybe 25 minutes and I heard a deer moving up the ravine to our right. Just that slow browse walk. Twilight dawn, too dark to see anything clearly other than trees. This deer continued to move in and it was eating the acorns from the tree I was in! I so wanted to snap a photo with flash to show my boy how close a deer was standing to him sleeping on the ground, but not wanting to blow our cover I just listened and grinned. The deer continue to walk on and never sniffed nor blew nor trotted. I was stupefied. And yes, it bugs me a little to not know the size of the deer that was knocking on our front door. LOL
Around 7:30 AM I heard a deer moving off to my left, coming across the ridge. It was just out of my sight when it veered off and trotted down the ravine. I wondered what caused it to trot - scent or movement? I did move my head, albeit slowly, to turn to my left and watch for movement. I figured that might have been the deal. The wind was not moving at that time. About 30 minutes later from the same direction I heard another deer. Peering down I saw my boy sound asleep. Again I looked to my left, but skunked again. Saw nothing, but heard this deer trot down the ravine, too. Now at this point 2 deer both coming in on a food trail but veering off down ... I wondered a little if my climber was in a direct line of sight or if our scent was warning. My boy woke up when a grey squirrel ran literally 3 feet from him, stopped, made his squirrel noises, and then picked up an acorn and began working on it on a log. My boy loves squirrels and he loved the front row seat to this show!
I was content to enjoy the morning with the birds and squirrels. No pressing need to move. It was only past 8 AM. And then I heard that familiar deer walk through leaf litter. Only this time the deer was coming up from the ravine to the ridge I was on. I aimed my rifle and watched one eye through the scope and the other naked. A beautiful doe came over the ridge and walked in like deer do - slow, ears moving, nose twitching, and she had a direct line of sight on me. Now, I was in an oak, about 8 feet off the ground, so when she came up and over I was directly in front of her. I was in a ghillie suit so to her I looked like a big blob of nothing on the tree. And I am not broad shouldered nor tall, so my silhouette was within the width of the oak. I was still and my boy was asleep. She continued in toward me, I gave her a couple of minutes because I wanted to make certain no doe and no yearling with her. Once I confirmed she was solo I had that decision we all face - take the shot or pass? Meat in the freezer or let her walk? I had to decide quickly because she was walking her trail directly in front of me and moving slightly to my left. Within a minute she would be 12 feet beside me, and I was certain she would likely blow and blow our cover. Once the angle presented a near broadside shot I squeezed the trigger and the little .243 punched a hole in her. She did a 180, and bee lined it back toward the direction she came. But she barely made it 30 feet before going over the ridge and piling up maybe 20 feet down. The shot woke my boy up and he sat up just in time to see her turn around and run. After I ejected the case and engaged the safety I looked down at my boy and he had a big smile on his morning face We gave it a few minutes before heading toward her. Plenty of blood to follow although we didn't need a trail. She hadn't gone far. But my boy enjoys working a blood trail. We looked at her from a short distance before approaching her. We said our prayer and carried her up to an area we could process her. Never again, or so I hope, will I forget the triangle portion with the hooks of my gambrel. I didn't mind processing her on a tarp on the ground, but hanging from a tree is so much cleaner and more efficient. We processed her, cleaned up, and ate some food while we chatted about the events of the morning. It was just shy of 11 AM when we finished eating and decided it was such a beautiful day we would hang around and enjoy the woods. I told my boy I would take him over to another hot scrape area I had identified (Buck Up scrape site).
Here is my sleeping pride and joy. LOL
We were both relieved the log hung her up and kept her from sliding all the way down ...
Some of the blood my boy was following.
Here is PART ONE of our whitetail opening day (for us) adventure.Leading into our opening day of Whitetail 2023, my boy and I had spent much time on our family property - burning, pruning, felling, pulling, studying, setting up cameras, reviewing footage, etc. Started back in January when last year's deer season was done basically. Probably as many hours doing manual labor as creeping, sitting, and watching. Our property is small, and made up of mostly steep terrain. Mostly hardwoods with pines mixed throughout. Loads of muscadine vines, too. Because of the topography and size I knew I had to focus on the one sense that deer rely on most - the sense of smell. My boy can sit stationary for hours, and coupled with his ability to be a statue he is silent when still. But how could we work on our scent control, include a cover scent, and play the wind and thermal up and down drafts with the terrain we're on? I spent some time walking every bit of our property, noting indicators (trails, rubs, scrapes, pooh, browsing, food sources, bedding locations, etc., and wrote it all down in the notebook. I decided we could have 5 potential post up locations depending on the wind and how the deer were moving come hunting season. I took some smoke bombs to each of these locations and set them off ground level and also 10 feet up in a tree. I needed to see how the wind would move our scent. Watching the smoke bombs was telling. In the notebook the data went. As whitetail season drew nearer I was more careful with my treks, but I was in search of scrapes. Found two spots, one I coined "Scrape Central" and the other "Buck Up". Maybe coincidental but both scrape hot spots were (are) atop a ridge, and both at the end of the ridge. As such, each had scent trails leading to/from on either side leading down to the bottoms below.
With a soccer match on Saturday and van charging issues still not sorted until late, we didn't get on the road until late evening on Saturday. Instead of our usual pick a tune and sing along we talked about deer and what we thought we might see or what we hoped to see the next day. When we arrived at our property I set out our hunting gear and then hopped back into the van to continue our reading of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Didn't take too long before my boy fell asleep and then I continued prep work for the next day. I double checked firearms, pack gear, and the clothing we were going to wear. Then it was time to run to the land of nod and grab some zzzzzz.
Woke up 5:15 AM Sunday morning and stepped outside. Loved the cool air temperature, and the quietness of the forest. Sadly a lone deer blew me around 5:30 AM - maybe 10 yards from our van. But it was a single blow and a slow trot off. I broke off a small bit of pine branch and rubbed my boy's shoes inside and out with it, then did the same with mine. Pine is a smart cover scent in our property as there is a pine not too far from anywhere on our land. I have been breaking off a bit of pine every trip out this past year, rubbing shoes, and carrying in pocket. In my mind at least it gives the deer a familiar scent. Sure we try to minimize our scent and the gear we wear, but I do think a cover scent local to the area is good.
Got my boy up at 5:45 AM and we were outside changing into our gear and walking in by 6 AM. Just something we do. No matter the air temperature. Last Winter one morning it was 29 degrees and out we went naked to change into our hunting clothes. I find my boy moves a little quicker the colder the temperature! We headed off into the darkness without a word and made our way to my climber. I climbed up an oak not far from what I coined "scrape central" and my boy laid a towel on the ground below me and drifted off to sleep. He did ask me though if a deer could step on a person. I replied "Sure, why not?" Telling words unknown at that time. Was in the climber for maybe 25 minutes and I heard a deer moving up the ravine to our right. Just that slow browse walk. Twilight dawn, too dark to see anything clearly other than trees. This deer continued to move in and it was eating the acorns from the tree I was in! I so wanted to snap a photo with flash to show my boy how close a deer was standing to him sleeping on the ground, but not wanting to blow our cover I just listened and grinned. The deer continue to walk on and never sniffed nor blew nor trotted. I was stupefied. And yes, it bugs me a little to not know the size of the deer that was knocking on our front door. LOL
Around 7:30 AM I heard a deer moving off to my left, coming across the ridge. It was just out of my sight when it veered off and trotted down the ravine. I wondered what caused it to trot - scent or movement? I did move my head, albeit slowly, to turn to my left and watch for movement. I figured that might have been the deal. The wind was not moving at that time. About 30 minutes later from the same direction I heard another deer. Peering down I saw my boy sound asleep. Again I looked to my left, but skunked again. Saw nothing, but heard this deer trot down the ravine, too. Now at this point 2 deer both coming in on a food trail but veering off down ... I wondered a little if my climber was in a direct line of sight or if our scent was warning. My boy woke up when a grey squirrel ran literally 3 feet from him, stopped, made his squirrel noises, and then picked up an acorn and began working on it on a log. My boy loves squirrels and he loved the front row seat to this show!
I was content to enjoy the morning with the birds and squirrels. No pressing need to move. It was only past 8 AM. And then I heard that familiar deer walk through leaf litter. Only this time the deer was coming up from the ravine to the ridge I was on. I aimed my rifle and watched one eye through the scope and the other naked. A beautiful doe came over the ridge and walked in like deer do - slow, ears moving, nose twitching, and she had a direct line of sight on me. Now, I was in an oak, about 8 feet off the ground, so when she came up and over I was directly in front of her. I was in a ghillie suit so to her I looked like a big blob of nothing on the tree. And I am not broad shouldered nor tall, so my silhouette was within the width of the oak. I was still and my boy was asleep. She continued in toward me, I gave her a couple of minutes because I wanted to make certain no doe and no yearling with her. Once I confirmed she was solo I had that decision we all face - take the shot or pass? Meat in the freezer or let her walk? I had to decide quickly because she was walking her trail directly in front of me and moving slightly to my left. Within a minute she would be 12 feet beside me, and I was certain she would likely blow and blow our cover. Once the angle presented a near broadside shot I squeezed the trigger and the little .243 punched a hole in her. She did a 180, and bee lined it back toward the direction she came. But she barely made it 30 feet before going over the ridge and piling up maybe 20 feet down. The shot woke my boy up and he sat up just in time to see her turn around and run. After I ejected the case and engaged the safety I looked down at my boy and he had a big smile on his morning face
We gave it a few minutes before heading toward her. Plenty of blood to follow although we didn't need a trail. She hadn't gone far. But my boy enjoys working a blood trail. We looked at her from a short distance before approaching her. We said our prayer and carried her up to an area we could process her. Never again, or so I hope, will I forget the triangle portion with the hooks of my gambrel. I didn't mind processing her on a tarp on the ground, but hanging from a tree is so much cleaner and more efficient. We processed her, cleaned up, and ate some food while we chatted about the events of the morning. It was just shy of 11 AM when we finished eating and decided it was such a beautiful day we would hang around and enjoy the woods. I told my boy I would take him over to another hot scrape area I had identified (Buck Up scrape site).Here is my sleeping pride and joy. LOL
We were both relieved the log hung her up and kept her from sliding all the way down ...
Some of the blood my boy was following.
