Foiled again! Arrrrrg!
 

Well, I decided to go out this morning, first day after shotgun season(it ended yesterday)
I have stuff to do today including cutting up a deer a friend shot Sat with his shotgun.
Soo, I'm thinking I'll just go to my closest hunting spot and hunt a couple hours.
Now, the only way I can access this 8 acre spot,that is surrounded by woods that another person owns is to wade the creek. I throw my hip waders in the truck with the rest of my gear and head out at 5:30 am
I get out there, put the waders on and walk down to the creek. Now normally, you can wade the creek with knee high rubber boots. Not today!
I enter the water and it is up past my knees, no problem, that's why I bought hip waders. I get to the middle of the stream and the water is about 6 inches above my knees. Now, I have to tell you, at 22 degrees out this morning, that water is COLD. I can feel it through the waders.
I go a little farther and the water goes above the tops of the waders and starts running down both legs, CRAP. I back up to get out of the deepest part of the stream, backtrack to where I came into it and climb out. I then head downstream, more directly across from my stand and try again. Same result, the water is too deep.
I do not want to get my feet and legs any wetter than they already are so I go back up the bank and set up in a small deadfall.
I change back into my regular hunting boots, my feet are soaked and my legs are pretty damp too. I figure I'll just sit there for a couple hours and see if anything comes across the creek or from the field and woods on my side.
At 7:30 I see movement, yep you guessed it, 4 does on the other side of the creek(the side I can't reach because of the water) and they all, single file, walkwithin 10 yards of my stand!
Just my luck[:o]I guess I should've just slogged thru the water anyway and got in my stand. I think I need some chest waders.
I did get to watch them for about 15 minutes so the morning wasn't a total wash. That, and it felt REALLY good to be back in the woods with my bow!

RE: Foiled again! Arrrrrg!
 

That's usually my luck too so your not alone.;) I cross a creek too to one of my stands. I can do with just knee highs but I've been close a couple times. The path I've created to the stand over the last 10 years the deer adopted and now use too. What get's me is when I leave at night and come back the next day, there will be deer tracks in my tracks.[&:]

RE: Foiled again! Arrrrrg!
 

Thanks Rob, glad I'm not the only one that these things happen to.

RE: Foiled again! Arrrrrg!
 

The same thing kinda happened to me last year. I was scouting a couple of days earlier and seen a very impressive buck back by the river. I planned on hunting this spot two days later. Got out there and the dry river channel was completely full after the mouth of the lake iced over and backed everything up. I couldn't cross (no waders at all) so I had to find somewhere else to hunt and never did see anything.

RE: Foiled again! Arrrrrg!
 

You would have been shivering so bad that the deer would have run off anyway. In the cold staying dry is key.

At least you were in the woods.

Tom