Report from the field (Elkhart County...that's the very northern edge of IN): My father went out (last night) and hunted a spot that is located between 5 acres of standing corn and a well known bedding area, the spot he was hunting has a swampy, thick marsh spot in the middle and he set up on the side closest to the bedding area with the corn on the other side of the marsh (we're talking a 10 acre parcel he's on in the middle). Anyways he decided to just do a little still hunting on the ground in some ground cover/dead fall to see the movement on the property. Entered teh property at 4:30 and jumped 3 bedded does...he got to his spot, cleared the leaves, put his chair down and started getting situated and bam buck 20 yards from him. It wasn't a shooter, a great young 6 that we are hoping makes it (our personal property is a mere 1/4 mile away). The 6 had come out of the bedding area when the does he'd jumped ran into it...obviously he was looking to see if other bucks were present or if a hot doe was out there getting pushed. The buck went and inspected the beds (mere 15yards from my pops) and then decided to go back into the bedding area on the other side of the fence to the north where the does went. He hadn't even got his release on yet, and was just putting his ground bow holder in when a doe came out around the edge of the marsh from the corn...needless to say he had deer moving all around him all night. He had that same 6 and a small 4 or 5 come out and push does all around for what seemed like an hour. He never got a good shot at any of the does (except for the moment he was peeing and Limo, nickname we coined her, walked out)haha! Needless to say boys the pre-rut is here! I gotta live it through you guys and my dad as I'm tagged out already, but man it looks like it's heating up. Gonna be freshening up some scrapes and making some mocks this weekend to hopefully up my pop's chances at a big boy! *On his way into work this morning he(dad) saw a great solid 8 pointer pushing a doe hard in a just picked corn field...nose down and mere 5 feet behind here on a rope.......IT'S HERE FELLAS!
