November 5 Bow Hunt
I had a great hunt Saturday morning. I hunted my favorite stand, the one in a travel corridor between bedding areas. I got in to the stand at about 5:30AM.
Deer were already moving when I got to my stand. In fact, one spooked and snorted while I was pulling up my bow. The action was almost nonstop. I saw lots of chasing, and deer were generally on the move.
I saw lots of antlerless deer (more than 15), and 5 different bucks. All of the bucks but one were in bow range (20 yards or less) at one time or another. At one point, a small buck was chasing a doe in front of my stand while a larger buck chased a doe behind my stand.
I kept waiting for a mature buck to show up. About 9:30, I saw a shooter buck but he never got closer than 40 yards. He chased a doe around, then chased her away from me. I didn't get a great look at his rack, but he had a long main beam visible from the side that curved past his nose. The beam had decent mass and was very white. With a gun, that would have been all I needed to see.
At one point while a large number of deer were all around me, I spotted a large deer that was very dark in color moving about 30 yards away. I couldn't get a look at the deer's head, though. My view was obscured by trees. I was about to draw my bow if it started walking again, as it was heading right for my shooting lane. If it was a buck, I wanted to be ready. The deer was upwind of me and could not see me, but suddenly spooked and ran away from me. I couldn't tell if it was a buck or not.
Later a basket-racked six pointer came through my shooting lane. This was about 11AM. I decided to draw on him for practice. I drew and he didn't see me. But I was standing and there was a tree limb blocking his vitals. I crouched slightly to get a clear shot angle, and he spotted that movement. He spooked (but not badly). He ran about 40 yards, then slowly came back. His curiosity got the better of him. When he got close (about 25 yards), he was really looking hard, trying to spot whatever had spooked him. I was watching him, entertanied by his curiousity. Then I looked to his left and, to my great surprise, there stood the dark-colored deer. And it was a buck with a very nice rack. Don't know how many points, but long beams and a nice wide spread. (20 inches or so) I am guessing he has a ten point typical frame. But even though he was 15 yards away, I had no shot. And he walked directly away from me. The saddest part is that I think he walked through a ten yard shooting lane I have while I was paying attention to the other buck. He almost had to pass through that lane to get where he was standing, facing the direction he was facing. But I didn't notice him until it was too late. He was slightly behind me. I hunted until noon, then left the woods.
Oh well, at least I know there are a couple of decent bucks around. If the neighbors don't tag the dark buck, I may get another shot at him next weekend. He is on my mind a lot right now. I would love to tag a Pope & Young buck this year. Not much time left, though. Gun season is right around the corner.
Deer were already moving when I got to my stand. In fact, one spooked and snorted while I was pulling up my bow. The action was almost nonstop. I saw lots of chasing, and deer were generally on the move.
I saw lots of antlerless deer (more than 15), and 5 different bucks. All of the bucks but one were in bow range (20 yards or less) at one time or another. At one point, a small buck was chasing a doe in front of my stand while a larger buck chased a doe behind my stand.
I kept waiting for a mature buck to show up. About 9:30, I saw a shooter buck but he never got closer than 40 yards. He chased a doe around, then chased her away from me. I didn't get a great look at his rack, but he had a long main beam visible from the side that curved past his nose. The beam had decent mass and was very white. With a gun, that would have been all I needed to see.
At one point while a large number of deer were all around me, I spotted a large deer that was very dark in color moving about 30 yards away. I couldn't get a look at the deer's head, though. My view was obscured by trees. I was about to draw my bow if it started walking again, as it was heading right for my shooting lane. If it was a buck, I wanted to be ready. The deer was upwind of me and could not see me, but suddenly spooked and ran away from me. I couldn't tell if it was a buck or not.
Later a basket-racked six pointer came through my shooting lane. This was about 11AM. I decided to draw on him for practice. I drew and he didn't see me. But I was standing and there was a tree limb blocking his vitals. I crouched slightly to get a clear shot angle, and he spotted that movement. He spooked (but not badly). He ran about 40 yards, then slowly came back. His curiosity got the better of him. When he got close (about 25 yards), he was really looking hard, trying to spot whatever had spooked him. I was watching him, entertanied by his curiousity. Then I looked to his left and, to my great surprise, there stood the dark-colored deer. And it was a buck with a very nice rack. Don't know how many points, but long beams and a nice wide spread. (20 inches or so) I am guessing he has a ten point typical frame. But even though he was 15 yards away, I had no shot. And he walked directly away from me. The saddest part is that I think he walked through a ten yard shooting lane I have while I was paying attention to the other buck. He almost had to pass through that lane to get where he was standing, facing the direction he was facing. But I didn't notice him until it was too late. He was slightly behind me. I hunted until noon, then left the woods.
Oh well, at least I know there are a couple of decent bucks around. If the neighbors don't tag the dark buck, I may get another shot at him next weekend. He is on my mind a lot right now. I would love to tag a Pope & Young buck this year. Not much time left, though. Gun season is right around the corner.
posted by Zarathustra | 8:17 PM
2 Comments:
Very interesting blog... I am a hunter myself (deer, wild hogs, turkey, and dove) in North Central Texas. Not a bow hunter (yet!) but rifle season opened here last Saturday. Opening weekend was ruined by oil and gas workers - they are exploring our lease to determine if they want to drill. Bad timing... But they departed the lease on Monday. The peak of our rut is next Tuesday, and I will be in the woods all week long.
Keep up the good blogging...
Thanks Richard. I appreciate the comments. You should try bow hunting some time. It forces you to be more patient. I know that it has made me a better deer hunter.
I have seen areas that were being logged during deer season. Surprisingly, the deer didn't seem to mind that much. In fact, I talked to the loggers and they told me about some nice bucks they were seeing. Seems like deer have a knack for knowing when a person means them harm and when they don't. Maybe it is the same with your oil and gas workers. They may not bother the deer as much as you might expect. The deer may just alter their patterns slightly to move around them. Good luck. When the rut is on, a big one could be by any time..
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