So Close, Better Luck Next Time

I went out hunting after work on Monday night. It was beautiful out. 79 degrees, hardly any wind, seemed perfect. I arrived at my tree and used my climber, after getting settled I check my watch and it was now 5:00pm. I was hunting a new spot for the first time on Monday because of the scrapes I found. I thought I would try it and see, you never know if that buck will come back and check the scrape. So, I sat and waited for about an hour. Then, I saw some movement, but I wasn't sure what it was. I slowly slipped out of my seat and came to a standing position. As I did my climber made a noise and yes, the movement that I saw was a deer because as soon as she heard that noise, off she went. Okay, I spooked not only one but 3 because I saw 2 more following her. I thought, maybe a doe call would bring them back and just think I was another deer. I tried it and sure enough.

Here they come, back to me for another chance. I slowly tried to position myself for a shot. I noticed one deer, and then another, and then another, all walking calmly, eating, smelling etc. It was awesome. I even saw one deer grab a tree limb, shake it, and then let it go.

What a site!

As I positioned myself for the first doe, another doe came in for a better shot. Okay, I'll take this one. But then it turned so back to the first one. The whole time I tried to draw my bow and once one of the deer went behind a tree, I would look over and the other ones would be standing there with there head up sniffing the air. I couldn't draw, if I did, they would hear me or spot me and then be gone. I didn't want to take that chance, I would wait for a good opportunity to draw. I just needed to be patient. Well, they walked around for a good 15 minutes, eating and sniffing. The one doe I had my eye on decided to circle around and head away from me and the other does followed. At one point, I counted 5 doe. Wow! Great, I would get a shot at one of them. Well, I couldn't be that lucky. As it turned out the doe were heading away from me, but then one of the decided to come back. She came back at a different angle and was heading right towards me smelling the air. I had put some doe in estrus out and some doe urine. She was smelling that. As she proceeded to walk towards me at the worst possible angle, she looked straight at me in my climber. I think we actually made eye contact. As she looked at me, she stomped and then off she went, along with the other does. They were gone and so was my shot at one of them.

What a great hunt, with no success but it was exciting. My heart was ponding like you wouldn't believe, I couldn't even image if one of those deer would have been a buck. What a feeling.

Hopefully, my next hunt will be just as exciting but with a reward at the end.

One Happy Hunter,


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