Wow, I finally had a good hunt!
12-15-2006, 03:44 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Monroe County, NY / Mercer County, NJ
Posts: 225
Wow, I finally had a good hunt!
Alright, so I have no dead deer to show for it, but there's a good reason for that! Since I'm at college right now I can't hunt with a gun, so a few times a week I'll go out in camo with my camera. At 1:30 this morning I was rudely awoken by some people loudly playing poker with the windows open across the quad. After I determined that they were drunk and I wasn't going to try asking a bunch of drunks to be quiet, I decided at around 3:30 that I wasn't going to get any sleep and I'd waste my time in the woods. Heck, maybe I'd get some sleep there!
So I dressed in my mossy oak pants and shirt that were sitting ready on my chair, threw my camera, flashlight, and knife on my belt, and as an afterthought slung my TrueTalker around my neck. For December 15th at four in the morning, it was surprisingly warm and I didn't bother with thermals or anything else. A few minutes later I was in the woods on campus, heading for the swamp that I always see doe in. During the rut I sat near some huge rubs I'd coerced a buck into making when I made a couple mocks. I only saw the guy once. At least I think it was him, as I only lit up his eyes from eighty or so yards with my Mag Lite. That group of rubs and a nearby scrape were the only buck signs I'd seen all year.
I did not want to bother with trying to cross a set of logs and high points to get into where the doe were probably bedded down, so I looked for a spot to settle down myself. I eventually settled on a tree near the "deer superhighway" trail maybe twenty yards into the woods from the swamp. It didn't have anything low down to prod my back, and was high enough above the marsh that I wouldn't end up with my pants wet and muddy. By now it was probably 4:15.
I decided I'd try and nod off and then I heard the one thing I didn't expect. Footsteps heading from the swamp off to my left (to the east). For once in a long time, the wind wasn't blowing that way, so I quietly got my camera and flashlight out and tucked them with my now cold hands under my shirt. The footsteps were definitely deer, stopping every few steps. However, the doe I frequently came across always came in a group of three (except a couple times I spotted the whole herd). This was a single deer moving. I thought it might be the buck so I waited and strained against the excessive parking lot lights in the background to spot him. Eventually I did get a vague idea of where his body was, near the trail perhaps thirty yards off. I usually am far better at spotting deer, but that's usually during shooting light or with my flashlight. He gradually moved toward me, fortunately not downwind as I have no cover scent up at school, until about twenty yards. Then he got tired of me and headed on away from the swamp. He was still close and I decided to try a young buck call on the TrueTalker. The first time he turned around and moved in a bit. He lost interest quickly and turned back away, but the second time I stopped him and the third time he headed back in with apparent interest. I hadn't been this close to an unsuspecting deer ever. He got about ten yards away, still off to the east. By now I could clearly see his body, but unfortunately not his antlers due to the still very low light. He snorted five times, grunted once very softly, and licked himself twice before heading off. Unfortunately I was unable to call him back in to try and get a picture, but now I know where he is! That was the best waste of two hours ever!
So I dressed in my mossy oak pants and shirt that were sitting ready on my chair, threw my camera, flashlight, and knife on my belt, and as an afterthought slung my TrueTalker around my neck. For December 15th at four in the morning, it was surprisingly warm and I didn't bother with thermals or anything else. A few minutes later I was in the woods on campus, heading for the swamp that I always see doe in. During the rut I sat near some huge rubs I'd coerced a buck into making when I made a couple mocks. I only saw the guy once. At least I think it was him, as I only lit up his eyes from eighty or so yards with my Mag Lite. That group of rubs and a nearby scrape were the only buck signs I'd seen all year.
I did not want to bother with trying to cross a set of logs and high points to get into where the doe were probably bedded down, so I looked for a spot to settle down myself. I eventually settled on a tree near the "deer superhighway" trail maybe twenty yards into the woods from the swamp. It didn't have anything low down to prod my back, and was high enough above the marsh that I wouldn't end up with my pants wet and muddy. By now it was probably 4:15.
I decided I'd try and nod off and then I heard the one thing I didn't expect. Footsteps heading from the swamp off to my left (to the east). For once in a long time, the wind wasn't blowing that way, so I quietly got my camera and flashlight out and tucked them with my now cold hands under my shirt. The footsteps were definitely deer, stopping every few steps. However, the doe I frequently came across always came in a group of three (except a couple times I spotted the whole herd). This was a single deer moving. I thought it might be the buck so I waited and strained against the excessive parking lot lights in the background to spot him. Eventually I did get a vague idea of where his body was, near the trail perhaps thirty yards off. I usually am far better at spotting deer, but that's usually during shooting light or with my flashlight. He gradually moved toward me, fortunately not downwind as I have no cover scent up at school, until about twenty yards. Then he got tired of me and headed on away from the swamp. He was still close and I decided to try a young buck call on the TrueTalker. The first time he turned around and moved in a bit. He lost interest quickly and turned back away, but the second time I stopped him and the third time he headed back in with apparent interest. I hadn't been this close to an unsuspecting deer ever. He got about ten yards away, still off to the east. By now I could clearly see his body, but unfortunately not his antlers due to the still very low light. He snorted five times, grunted once very softly, and licked himself twice before heading off. Unfortunately I was unable to call him back in to try and get a picture, but now I know where he is! That was the best waste of two hours ever!
