Went to a friends' place tonight to hunt and WOW! He put me on a deer highway. To the left is a highly travelled county road. To the right is a big creek. Directly in front of me is an intermittent creek that feeds into the big creek. At 4:45 PM, a 4 pointer walked out of the creek bottom towards the intermittent creek. He stands there for 5 minutes watching the traffic along the road and then disappears into the brush. At 5:01, an 8 pointer walks out of the brush about 15 yards from where the 4 pointer went in. He's tall, but no wider than his ears. He walks by the stand. I think to myself, "4 pointer, 15 minutes later - 8 pointer, next will be a bruiser!" A few minutes later I hear movement behind me. I slowly turn around and almost laughed outloud! There, about 15 yards out was a perfect Rob Buck. Thats right, his right side had 3 points and his left a spike. I turn around again to see a spike buck has walked the trail right to the bottom of my ladder without making a sound. Then from the creek bottom, 3 does come out. Seeing the stag party going on around my stand, they stand there for a moment or two and proceed back into the creek bottom. Light is fading fast and another 8 pointer, slightly larger than the first comes out at my 4 o'clock. He stands 20 yards out looking at the other bucks. Its getting dark and I look at my pins. With the full moon I can still see each one easily. Then, from the direction of the road I see a buck about 12 yards out. I can tell he's a lot wider than his ears, but cannot make out how many points he has. I look at the pins and can still see them in the moonlight. I look to the west and not even a hint of sunlight is left. For a brief instance I consider shooting. Even though no one else would know, I would. I quietly sit down for the next 25 minutes waiting for the deer to vacate the area so I can get down. It was quite the evening and even though no arrow was released, still an amazing time!!!
Well, it's 4:00 AM 36 degrees, clear skies and no wind. Finishing my coffee and then heading out to the back of my property. Hoping to see one of those big bucks (after shooting hours begins). Good luck to all going out this AM. IT'S NOV 3RD, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR BUCKS ARE? (chuckle)
This morning was cold and crisp. Got to my stand by moonlight and 30 minutes later I could see a huge deer (too dark to see antlers) strolling around w/nose to the ground. He finally disappeared behind the dam of a dry pond. "Stick around 'til daybreak", I thought. About 20 minutes later just as the Eastern sky was starting to turn pink, I saw his silhouette proceed to the Northwest towards the West corner of my property. As day broke all was quet. The neighbors' cattle started lowing and moving towards the Southwest corner of my property. If anything will cause the deer over there to move, that will. Within minutes, 9 does appeared and travelled to the East just North of my stand. With any luck, a buck or two will be behind them. I waited another 20 minutes or so with nothing else moving. By this time, my toes were aching from the cold, so I quietly dismounted and returned home. With the proper conditions, I'll be sitting in a stand that has been left alone all season.
