Went out again this morning.
Ive been hunting the same place at least once a day for the last 9 days, sometimes two a day. First day in I saw a bruiser 8pt walk through. In my mind, Ive got him pegged as a 150 class
. But Ive only seen one other deer, a small yearling, walk through this draw. Ive seen the same Jake flock every morning coming down off the ridge or at night heading up the ridge to nest. I heard a solitary deer come walking through this morning 15 minutes before first light, Im praying its this bruiser Ive been trying to ambush. At the first crack of light I could see my pin starting to glow, so I went to town on the grunt tube & rattles. I rattled in a coyote & the Jakes within 5 minutes, but no deer.
The trail systems that run through this draw are massive. The trails are beat down from years of travel. The acorn mast is unreal. The white oaks are dropping mast the size of ping-pong balls. The paw-paw trees are bearing their soft mast & beginning to drop also, but no sign of deer droppings anywhere. No scrape lines, other than my mock scrapes, & no rubs anywhere.
My trail to the spot has been against the wind the whole way. I set my stand up in a cross wind with a high ridge behind me that is close to impassable, even for the deer. My stand setup is looking towards two trails. One looks heavily used, the other is a buck trail that looks much less defined. Im 35ft up the tree, just under the second canopy. Ive yet to bump any game coming in or going out. I havent seen sign of any other hunters in this draw either.
From a scouting perspective, this place looks like a deer haven. But sitting on point in my stand, this place is desolate.
Im as scent-free as any one man can get. Ive doused the area with doe & buck urine. What more can I do? Is this spot being used by the deer during a different season?
My game plan was to hunt this spot hard all year, but 9 days in & Im having doubts.
Should I wait & see if this place comes alive with all the new mast falling or should I move on?
The October lull is driving me nuts. But Im still having a great time just being on stand.
