Wow. I dont even know where to start. An unbelievable day on Saturnday and I never fired a shot. I will start out like this....from 11:00 to 11:30 I didnt have any deer in sight. From 6:20pm to 6:30 pm I didnt either. The entire rest of the day, I had deer in view from my stand at less than 50 yards! I climbed up in the dark and stayed all day until dark. The whole day, I had deer bedded or loitering around me. I passed on one really big 6 pointer (I figured 15 inch inside spread) pretty much all day. He was bedded within 30 yards for hours. he crossed my shooting lanes 34 times (ayep, I counted!).
At one point, I had the big 6 at 20 yards in my NE shooting lane...at the same time a small 6 was at 40 yards....at the same time another small 6 was at 60 yards....at the same time 2 does were outside the lane but inside 40 yards...and to top it all off, all the deer and I were watching a fischer at 20 yards! I couldnt tell you how many little bucks I passed on....5? 10? 20? Depends on how many I saw twice.
I passed on a dang nice 9 pointer early. He was about 15 inches inside and had about 7 inch tines. Didnt have good mass, so I passed. he was 2.5 years old. Boy, that was really hard to do, but I am okay with it. I know he was mine if'n I would have wanted as he was in the crosshairs, safety off, broadside at 40 yards in my shooting lane. he should be something really nice next year!
The big 6 (I named him Mr. Buford) kept falling asleep and jerking awake...it was hilarious to watch. At one point, he was curled up like a dog and his head flipped all the way over and WHUMP his rack hit the ground on the other side! I laughed out loud literally. The doe he was guarding (Mrs Buford) was not so impressed. She gave him a look that said, "And you want to breed with me?". He kept running off those little bucks, man was it cool to watch. I watched 8 rubs get made.
Today, not too much activity. Watched a buck fawn get scared by a grouse in the morning and my brother shot a doe from my stand in the evening. Brought one of the twin boys out with me and for a 3.5 yr old boy, he did GREAT. I did sit in Dad's new enclosed stand so he didnt get cold. We saw about 15 does, but all too far away.
I certainly can appreciate how lucky I am to have a stand like that. for those that dont get deer, remember, it is the experience and watching nature. You can have a great hunt without shooting a deer! as I think back on it, there were two highlights that really stuck out. #1 watching Mr. Buford whack his own head on the ground and #2 seeing that fischer.
That sounds like a great day!
I'd rather have a bad day hunting than a good day working!
