Busted?
OK…scenario…
I was in one of my favorite trees, yesterday. I heard a buck grunting and glassed a buck I believe to be the “baby bull”, or….a decendent of the buck I call the bull, here. His rack is exactly the same….just a little smaller. I guess him to be 2.5yrs. Anyways…I see this buck coming my way….and I decide if he offers the shot…I’m gonna take him.
The doe and fawn he’s dogging go right past me….merely 3-4 yds from the front of my tree. When this buck gets directly downwind of me (8-9 yds)….he freezes. Now it’s 8:15 in the morning, and my thermal is going up. He can’t smell ME. He “might” be able to scent where I touched my equipment or around the tree I’m in….but he can’t smell ME. He stops there for about 30 seconds….looking around. Then…I swear…he looked right up at me. He blew and took about 2 hops backwards. HE then stands there (still in range but on alert in my opinion) and stays there for about 30 seconds. I see his tail start to swish and he just slowly walks into the woods. He even comes back kinda towards me….but never back into range.
Do I have a chance at this buck from that tree? I ask because the tree’s one of the few around there in such a great spot…..and I’d hate to abandon it. But….I’d also like to take this buck.