Last week I realized I had not been to our deer lease since April and had no idea what the deer population looked like down there this year so Tuesday I went down and was pleasantly surprised that the camper was in good shape with no mice issues whatsoever and the only problem was a wasp infestation that I took care of quickly. I then went down to my mountain and went up on the ridge and realized maple and ash seedlings had really taken off and I had to use my chainsaw to cut a couple shooting lanes near my stand where I expected to see deer. Some areas were open but not all and a few oaks were dropping. I then put a cellular trail cam in place in front of some rice bran and I checked a nearby ladder and left. I got a few photos during the week and it looked kind of promising even though we were forecast upper 80’s with winds up to 40 mph.
I returned Friday night and spent the night and I decided to carry my old side hammer TC New Englander the first couple days in the high wind and heat. As it lightened up I saw a doe who got into my wind swirl and got jittery and left. A few minutes later I had a small buck and a doe come from my left headed toward the rice bran. You can see them in the following photo.
I watched them until they left about 5 minutes later and then about 20 minutes later I had a small buck come from the hillside in front of me and travel down the hill to my right. 15 minutes after that another small buck came up the hill on my left and just went right on up. At 9:53 I glanced to my right and saw a shooter coming down the hill and he was going to pass me on the right at about 60 yards so I moved my body to get the awkward shot that always comes when shooting to the right when you are right handed. The buck was working his way downhill and his tall, thick 8 point rack was moving through the trees and I saw a small opening he would pass through so I readied myself and when he entered the opening I squeezed off and through the smoke I saw a decent sized maple limb hinge down from the tree between me and the deers vitals. The buck turned and ran back up the hill and stopped once an looked back and trotted off. I hope to see him again later this week...
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I returned Friday night and spent the night and I decided to carry my old side hammer TC New Englander the first couple days in the high wind and heat. As it lightened up I saw a doe who got into my wind swirl and got jittery and left. A few minutes later I had a small buck and a doe come from my left headed toward the rice bran. You can see them in the following photo.
I watched them until they left about 5 minutes later and then about 20 minutes later I had a small buck come from the hillside in front of me and travel down the hill to my right. 15 minutes after that another small buck came up the hill on my left and just went right on up. At 9:53 I glanced to my right and saw a shooter coming down the hill and he was going to pass me on the right at about 60 yards so I moved my body to get the awkward shot that always comes when shooting to the right when you are right handed. The buck was working his way downhill and his tall, thick 8 point rack was moving through the trees and I saw a small opening he would pass through so I readied myself and when he entered the opening I squeezed off and through the smoke I saw a decent sized maple limb hinge down from the tree between me and the deers vitals. The buck turned and ran back up the hill and stopped once an looked back and trotted off. I hope to see him again later this week...
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Always disappointing when you see a sapling fall after your shot !
