Today was a day you either sat home watching Star Trek or Mash Reruns...or you hit the woods with the rain and wind and hunted rutting bucks.
Mike and myself hit the Jersey woods from dawn to dark. Wet, cold, tired and sore...but man did we see deer! I seen 2 does on the morning sit but they offered no shot. At 10am we headed out, dried out some clothes and grabbed a quick breakfast.
Then the weather got real ugly. Northeast winds and rain pelted the area for about 1 hr. We then took off for a new area...we climbed...climbed some more and finally reached a plateau that was covered with rubs. Easing through we still hunted pausing to call and flag. We encountered 9 does just off the property we hunt. We couldn't entice them over and they slowly fed off.
The rain slowed but the wind picked up...and then the chasing started. Maybe 60 yds out front a buck was chasing 4 does. The silent carpet allowed us to follow rather quickly hoping to intercept them. Running through scrapes and dodging large rubs, the buck herded his harem down off the plateau.
Two hrs later after a calling sequence, Mike and I headed towards a nice funnel. Down the hillside runs a small buck....the much larger buck satisfied he ran off the little one, ran back up the hill and started chasing around close to 13 does! Flags were racing around everywhere!
The little buck then ran up the hill and tried to catch up. The hill was just a tad too steep for Mike and I to run up and follow. By this time it was close to 3pm. Two wet and tired bowhunters headed back the half mile to the truck. We managed to make our evening stands for the last hour. It was a great day...my clothes and backquiver are drying out...Saturday...both of us along with Southpawshooter will be at it again...