It seemed like the alarm was going off early on this second day of deer season.. and it was! We had to turn our clocks back the night before so we ended up with one hour less sleep but the expectations of this mornings hunt made it all that much easier to get up and get going!
Same as the morning before, we get up and brush our teeth, have some coffee and toast.. and get the game plan set for the morning. My mother makes home made brown bread and this went into the toaster! I love that bread with peanut butter and pickles! 🙂 So we are off-everyone else on ATV’s and me on foot. Into the black star filled morning. On my walk I could hear Coyotes barking in t he distance which kind of made my hair stand on end and of course make me walk faster.
Once in the stand, it was so relaxing to just sit back and listen to nature in the night. There are a few cattle farmers in the area and the cattle were making plenty of noise to keep me awake. After in the stand for maybe 45 minutes I have something walk by me in the darkness. It was probably within 20 yards of me and sounded like a deer to me.. I could hear it walking through the water and tall grass. It was way to early to be able to see what it was and of course to early to take a shot. It did get my heart pumping though!
It wasn’t long and the sun began to rise and things began to lighten up a bit. I started using my buck call.. it basically makes sounds that mimic the sound of a female deer (doe) that is in heat. The bucks if within hearing distance usually come looking. This morning wouldn’t be any different, I had one small 6 point buck do two laps around my stand looking for his mate.. and another small 4 point walk right by me. It was awesome. But, pretty soon it was 8:45am time to head in for breakfast and feed our bellies! Everyone had deer close to them but nothing big enough to harvest. We ate like kings again and had to nap afterwords. That was tough work 🙂
After nap time, it was time to head to the stands early and spend all afternoon looking for the big trophy. I packed enough halloween candy and sunflower seeds in my pockets to last a year. Oh, and a thermos of coffee. I was ready. It was like 60 degrees and sunny with no wind.. again, way to nice for hunting but nice for this old fart to sit and watch the outdoor world. Well, same result. I had the same bucks walk by and also a couple small calves (last Summers babies) walk by… they are fun to watch! They are just like a couple small kids! It was a great day in the stand and loved every minute of it!! It was time to head back into the dark and go make supper!! This night we had canned venison over toast! It was awesome! Nothing better than a full belly of great food! WE all had seen deer all weekend and couldn’t wait for the second weekend to see what that would bring… we packed up and headed back home to work and go to school for a few days.. stay tuned for weekend number two of deer camp.. Shannon
Handy Grandpa 