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I don't know if I'm lucky for getting so much time in the trees this year or unlucky for getting a fat goose egg to show for it but ...
Boss let me take a few comp hours this morning so I went to sit in the woods to see what I could see. Didn't make the usual trek through knee deep (head high probably today) water to my favorite spot but took the short route to the first stand.
Tie the gun in to start the climb, double check the harness and ready to get. For some reason I feel I'm being watched. Probably because I was being watched.
Turned over my right shoulder to see a spike -- maybe 3 inches of antler -- just eyeballing me. FREEZE. We stare for a bit and I figured I might as well get to climbing. He didn't spook till three steps up! Odd, I thought.
I also thought I heard something in the other direction (probably running away) so I chose to sit under the tree instead of getting caught midair. Nothing else, out at 8:30.
Wrap up work at 3 and the wife said we had a surprise babysitter (kid at a friend's house) and she was going grocery shopping. ME TOO!
Same spot, about 4:15. Didn't bother dragging the harness, hoist rope et al in so I was planning to sit on the ground again.
Sit, sit, sit.
5 o'clock I hear movement to my left (opposite of the spike in the a.m.) and glimpse something resembling a deer in the brush circling the area and moving away.
Five minutes later I hear stomping about 20 yards back over my left shoulder and ease my glance that way. All I could see was a broken pine tree and a deer butt facing the other way. Well, the butt was facing me but the deer, not so much.
Not really a great shot. Try to ease over to get the scope on the head side of the pine in case he/she (I still don't know at this point) moved into view.
I didn't creek, squeak or whistle but this deer heard something and blew louder than hell and bolted out of there in a hurry. Honking the whole way too. Never could ID it except for fast and brown. It's thick cover in there.
My question is what's worse: Spooking one but it having no clue what was going on or getting winded after the deer circles you and is probably leaving the area?
Or, the obvious one, getting it handed to you twice in one day under the same tree?
Boss let me take a few comp hours this morning so I went to sit in the woods to see what I could see. Didn't make the usual trek through knee deep (head high probably today) water to my favorite spot but took the short route to the first stand.
Tie the gun in to start the climb, double check the harness and ready to get. For some reason I feel I'm being watched. Probably because I was being watched.
Turned over my right shoulder to see a spike -- maybe 3 inches of antler -- just eyeballing me. FREEZE. We stare for a bit and I figured I might as well get to climbing. He didn't spook till three steps up! Odd, I thought.
I also thought I heard something in the other direction (probably running away) so I chose to sit under the tree instead of getting caught midair. Nothing else, out at 8:30.
Wrap up work at 3 and the wife said we had a surprise babysitter (kid at a friend's house) and she was going grocery shopping. ME TOO!
Same spot, about 4:15. Didn't bother dragging the harness, hoist rope et al in so I was planning to sit on the ground again.
Sit, sit, sit.
5 o'clock I hear movement to my left (opposite of the spike in the a.m.) and glimpse something resembling a deer in the brush circling the area and moving away.
Five minutes later I hear stomping about 20 yards back over my left shoulder and ease my glance that way. All I could see was a broken pine tree and a deer butt facing the other way. Well, the butt was facing me but the deer, not so much.
Not really a great shot. Try to ease over to get the scope on the head side of the pine in case he/she (I still don't know at this point) moved into view.
I didn't creek, squeak or whistle but this deer heard something and blew louder than hell and bolted out of there in a hurry. Honking the whole way too. Never could ID it except for fast and brown. It's thick cover in there.
My question is what's worse: Spooking one but it having no clue what was going on or getting winded after the deer circles you and is probably leaving the area?
Or, the obvious one, getting it handed to you twice in one day under the same tree?
