As you might remember from my questions over the summer I've returned to traditional archery after 20 years away. So far this season I've spent a total of just over 30 hours on stand and while I haven't loosed an arrow as of yet I HAVE had a blast enjoying the woods and the wildlife. I have had a couple VERY close encounters including the hunt described below....here is a paste from the email I sent my brother about the hunt:
Well....I hadn't planned on hunting this evening. Got up at 0315 this morning and went to work a 12 hour overtime shift which means I was supposed to get off work at 415. Early in the afternoon I got a phone call from my buddy Steve:
He says...."I saw a big buck at the public ground spot we hunt part of the time and YOU need to get down there and kill him".
I say: "You found him why don't you go kill him?"
He says: "I can't I have to go to a wedding".
"So why dont' you go kill him later in the week" I say.
"He'll be gone" he says.
Ok...so he tells me exactly where and what time he saw him...where he was coming from and where he was going....heck he even told me where to build my hidey hole. I wasn't going to go....would have to leave work a bit early, miss the Cardinals game...ditch my family for the evening....oh heck with it I say, you don't get a scouting report THIS good every day. So I left work at 315 and hightailed it out to the property and was settled in by 523. At 540 or so I hear the unmistakeable sound of a bird flitting around in the brush...I was intent on finding that bird to see what kind it was when the bird turned out to be a nice fat doe with two fawns. I can't believe how quiet they were on that dry crunchy ground. When I first spotted the does they were about 5 yards from my first shooting lane and on a track to enter it at a whopping distance of 4 yards to my left. I started working to get my bow in position....I was kinda caught off guard....and before I could get ready the doe's head entered the opening and she stopped..with only her head visible. I sat perfectly still with the doe only 4 yards away and all I could see out of the corner of my eye was her BIG BROWN EYES looking right at me. I didn't make eye contact and I held my breath for a bit then she seemed to relax...put her head down and started walking again. I lifted my bow and in one motion swung toward her and begun to draw and when I did my lower limb hit some weeds and that doe FLAT EXPLODED into motion blowing and bounding away taking her babies with her. DANG.
Well....I went ahead and stayed put and at about 630 I had 3 more does show up by they went by out of range.
Fun evening...even though the buck that had my buddy so fired up didn't show. Heckuva good scouting report just the same since it was enough to get my rear out of work and hunting. Darn near killed one too!!
Now for a few pictures from various hunts so far this season:
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/10-10-113_jpg-thumb.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/10-10-11_jpg-thumb.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/10-6-11_jpg-thumb.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/10-10-112_jpg-thumb.jpg) (http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/9-27-111_jpg-thumb.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/9-16-111_jpg-thumb.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/10-11-111_jpg-thumb.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb27/critifer/10-5-111_jpg-thumb.jpg)
:thumbsup: Cool stuff.
Very good report,thanks for sharing.
Great thread, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing!!!
nice pics anyway! sounds like your having a fine season...
Nice work great pictures.
Beautiful
Awesome!
Thank you for sharing.
God bless,Mudd
Great story man.
Nice pics. I love fall...
Feels like we were there with you, excellent report and pics
Real nice photos. Hope you bag a deer.
Nice! :thumbsup:
:clapper: