Pulled up to new field number one around 1pm and the farmer was out working on his combine. I went up and talked to him and he mentioned that the guy that had been hunting new field number two hadn't been there in a week and that I might as well try it. He didn't have to tell me twice. I had walked it during spring turkey season and just prior to deer season, but really wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to set up. Ended up picking a corner of the field that sits up on a hill where I could watch the entire field. This corner sits on the back side of the only wooded part of the property, which is 5-7 acres of timber that has been logged a little. It is THICK in there, so I haven't gone in but I knew there were trails coming out of it into the field near where I set up. In the far northwest corner (roughly 120 yard shot from where I was) I was expecting to see the deer coming from. There are two big trails coming out there and a highway of tracks, not to mention that every time I have been on the property I have jumped deer out of there. Roughly 150 yards in front of me is the center of the field and a small ditch. This ditch is absolutely beat down with deer tracks. The wind is still howling, but it is drifting into the far northeast corner and even if anything came out of there it was out of range for me. About an hour before sunset I look across the field and two yearlings are hauling butt straight at me. When they hit about 75 yards I threw the gun up and grunted at them.....nothing. Just before the lead deer hit the treeline I grunted again as it hopped into the treeline and slammed on the brakes. The trailing deer stopped just in the high grass on the edge of the field. My crosshairs finally found the deers head just as it flipped up its tail and continued on. Neither deer had any idea I was there....I was hoping that a big boy was trailing them but nothing ever popped out. Just before sunset all hell broke loose. The wind had settled and squirrels were barking everywhere. Behind me, to my left, and to my right I had deer crunching through the leaves. My head was on a swivel waiting for one to walk out into the field for an open shot. To my right was the most promising. The way I was sitting, I was turned more toward my right and a deer popping out there would be the easiest, plus this deer was moving the fastest. It was probably about 50 yards from breaking into the open of the field. Apparently it was not moving as fast as its companion....that had made it to the edge of the field and caught me leaning over to try and see through the woods....needless to say it didn't end well. I continued to hear deer moving around me until after shooting light ended, but nothing ever made it out into the field. The amount of shooting from an hour before sunset until the end was insane.....it sounded like opening morning again.
Now some might say that this was a crappy hunting story because I didn't kill anything. But I enjoyed every second of it. It has been a rough season so far and getting a chance to have that many deer around me was a big step in the right direction. I also gained some knowledge of how the deer move in the evenings that will come in handy next weekend when the boys are back in town.....I am calling tonight a big win with or without a picture of a deer!
