(Success!!) How Would You Hunt This Area Tomorrow? I somehow managed to snag a reservation to hunt a CWMA tomorrow! Its bow-only and limited to 4 hunters per day so i'm hoping it'll be a nice sanctuary since this is opening weekend for muzzleloader in MD (season actually started yesterday). My friend and I hunted this same CWMA earlier this week in some really rainy weather and we saw a TON of does during the last 2 or 3 hours of daylight. I didn't get a shot opportunity but my buddy did get one - he just chose not to take it - the doe was pretty small. I'd estimate the area is 75% ag field and it looks like they grew corn there and just cut it down maybe a few weeks ago. Deer are still feeding in the fields. For timber there is a mix of individual pine thickets on one side and a large area of hardwoods on the other and on the other side of that is a housing development. A nice stream runs through the whole area and some of the floodplain is uncut / tall grass and low bushes / brush. There were deer bedded in the pines not too far from where we came in and we actually pushed a few out of bed - they didn't fully spook though so that's good. We saw a lot of movement right before it poured down rain at about 6:30pm How would you hunt this area in the morning? We're looking at 44-60 deg temps for the day - no clouds and winds 5mph from WNW. There's only one place to park and get in and I could get into the pines with the wind in my favor (hopefully) I'm thinking of just taking a tripod seat and finding a good spot in one of the pine thickets for a few hours then maybe still hunting to another possible bedding area (as long as the ground is still wet) I also have a hang on and some sticks that I could bring and setup somewhere but i'm not sure..
Success! Well I finally got my very first whitetail ever -and with a bow! I'll preface my story by saying that I really just wanted to get a doe down to start of the season. After a couple misses on opening day and a few days after that, I was content with getting at least something on the ground. I hunted the area I mentioned above, from the ground this past Saturday morning. I got in about 30 minutes before shooting light and setup my little area. Moved a few branches in position for some extra cover, hung two scent bombs with some Tinks doe-p about 15 yards on either side (upwind and down) and got my bow ready. I sat for about an hour and a half and then slowly stood up to have a look around with my binocs. I was in the middle of a pine plantation on the side of a hill. On my downhill side was 30 or 40 yards of trees then the open field that I entered from. On the uphill side another 30 yards of trees and then a cut cornfield. I glanced around the tree towards the field and there they were , two deer just getting ready to enter the pines from the field. I carefully kneeled slightly behind the tree and got my bow ready. After about 10 minutes they moved just out of site under a small rise near the bottom of the hill, but I knew they were heading my direction. I slowly inched my way up looking through my binocs and sure enough they had moved to within 35 yards feeding slowly on some sort of berries along their trail. I once again got my bow ready and knelt down again. I decided I was going to take the first one that gave me a good shot since they both looked about the same size and I believed both of them to be does. The lead deer started to move from my left to my right on the trail - which now put it at 20 yards. I double checked my range estimation and was confident that it was 20 yards and no more. The deer stopped and started to feed on some berries on the trail again and was perfectly broadside and I figured this was my chance. I slowly stood up behind the cover of the tree once I was sure both deer couldn't see me move. I took a half step to my left (i'm left handed), just enough to clear the tree for the shot. I drew and held my 20 yard pin just above the white of the belly. I made myself pick a spot rather than aiming for the pie-plate "area" on the deer and squeezed off the arrow and 100 grain rage 2-blade broadhead. The green nockturnal lit up and streaked towards the deer. I was almost certain I missed over the back but the hollow thud reassured me that my arrow had hit. The deer took off and I heard it crash just over the hill out of sight. I waited a few minutes and went down to check the arrow. Full pass through and it was covered in blood. I was pretty excited - finally hadn't missed! I was pretty confident that the shot wasn't bad but I was also pretty sure it hit a little far back. Replaying it in my head I remember holding a little far back for whatever reason and I think that the deer started to drop and run just as the arrow reached it. I packed up and headed to my car. I waited about 20 minutes then got my gear and headed back in. I picked up the trail with some ok blood - nothing spectacular but still followable. The blood thinned out a bit which worried me a little that my shot was indeed very far back. I crested the small hill where I heard the crash and saw the white tail of the deer lying motionless on the ground. He had ran no more than 75 yards. I say he because after getting to him I realized it was a buttonbuck and a very small one at that. I'm a little disappointed because I really just wanted a doe for the freezer and probably would have passed on him had I spent a little more time glassing those two. Nonetheless, its my very first deer and i'm happy I got a semi-decent shot and a quick recovery
