This Past Weekend
Well I really didn't do a lot of hunting this past weekend. When I got up to the property Friday afternoon I found that my feeder was jammed up and it took a while to get it straightened out. There wasn't any signs of corn under the feeder and it had been two weeks since I'd been there. Judging from the amount of corn still in it, it must have jammed shortly after we had left so I had little hopes of seeing any deer on that stand this weekend. Because my son was with us on this trip I decided to hunt his stand Saturday morning, but that didn't last very long as these ole bones and my back just couldn't sit in that ladder stand past 7:30. It was a killer cause I saw the deer making their way to that feeder about 8:30. Oh well.............
After breakfast the wife and I got an earlier start working on the cabin. Was able to get the studding and outer wall up for the bathroom, sealed up some of the cold air drafts and got blinds on the windows. Made a trip to Lufkin for some lumber to build ladders for the lofts and by the time all was said and done it was too late to hunt the afternoon.
Sunday morning found me up at O-Dark thirty making coffee and getting my hunting gear in order. I knew I couldn't sit in that ladder stand so I decided to go ahead and give my stand a shot. The bucks are chasing the does hard up there so I wanted to put out some doe-in-heat that morning, but forgot to put it in my backpack, little did I know that might have made a difference in my morning hunt.
After my coffee and some oatmeal I was off to my stand. After finding I had forgotten the doe-in-heat, I just climbed into my stand and settled in about 5:30. The moon was so bright that at 5:30 I could almost make a shot as I could make out the pin on my sight. After about 30 minutes or so there was a lot of movement in the woods around me. Nothing came into my clearing so I don't know what was moving about, but it did have the heart pumping and kept me from taking a short nap.
At 7:15 when the feeder went off, all had become quiet except for the birds that were singing in the new morning. 15 minutes had past since the feeder had gone off when the first rabbit showed up in the clearing. It eased its way towards the feeder checking the air and the clearing for danger. This was one of the biggest rabbits I've seen in a long time and thoughts of rabbit stew started entering my thoughts. As Mr. Bunny moved up on the feeder and started to eat, I was trying to decide if I really wanted to shoot him so early in the morning. Before I had made my decision a second rabbit showed up and they started to play chase around the clearing.
The two rabbits were having a grand time chasing and eating. I had pretty much ruled out trying to shoot one as I enjoyed the show they were unknowing performing for me. Then all of a sudden they both stood up and looked towards the treeline to the right of the clearing and a second later they were hightailing it for safety. I've seen this in the past, and most of the time this meant that deer were coming to the feeder, sometimes it's coyote but most of the time it is deer, so I got myself ready.
A minute or so later I saw the deer in the treeline right where the rabbits had been looking. It didn't take long for me to also see horns, but at first I could tell the size of these horns. A minute or two passed (at times like that it is so hard to judge time) before Bucky fully stepped into the clearing and as soon as his head came out of the trees I could see it was a big spike. His spikes were at least 7-8 inches long and he was at least 3.5 years old. This really didn't matter much as there is almost no vension in the freezer, so if he gave me the chance he was gonna develop a nasty leak.
When he came into the clearing he was at 20 yards but quartered to me so I waited. He never once checked the air for danger, but I wasn't worried as the light breeze was quartering away from him so he wasn't going to catch my secent. He took three steps towards the feeder, and at his current line of travel, he would be perfectly broadside when he reached the feeder. He stood there for a moment or two just looking around in all directions. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but soon found out he wasn't there for the corn because his next two steps was to his right away from me and the feeder. Had I been a full draw that would have been my shot, but he didn't give me a chance to draw as he stood there broadside and looking right in my direction. Though he wasn't looking at me, if I had moved he would have seen me for sure. In my mind I kept thinking, Ok look away, please just look away, but it didn't happen. When he turned his head, he also started to turn and walk straight away from me.
Dang, was all I could think. He walked for about 15 yards before stopping again and looking around, then reaching back to scratch his butt. Then he moved on off to check the scrap at the far end of my clearing. He messed around at the scrap for a few minutes the whole time standing broadside to me, but it is 60 yards to the scrap. I was just hoping that after he was done there he would come back for some breakfast, but it wasn't to be. He moved off into the treeline and was soon out of sight. I tried a few grunts to see if I could get him back, but either I didn't grunt good enough, or he wasn't interested. I truly believe if I had put out some doe-in-heat at the tree next to my feeder, we would have been eating backstrap that night.
Man I love hunting and when you are using a bow it is really hunting. I could have killed him over and over again with a gun without even blinking. I guess that's why even the next time I get up to hunt I'll still be carrying my bow. If I do hunt with a gun this year it will be with my ole smokepole during the muzzleloader season.
Last edited by bountyhunter; 10-30-2007 at 09:27 AM..
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