My brother and I came across something special in the woods last year. We found some large nut husks that were all over an area. I took one home to look it up as I had never seen one before. Turns out they were Chestnuts.
All the nuts were gone at that time so I resolved to get back in there the following year in the early season. This year found us in there for a scout and sure enough they were coming down and the deer were all over them.
If you look carefully in the picture (taken from stand) you can see the grove of trees as there are two parallel rows. I am not sure if they were planted on an old farm or if it was done for wildlife long ago. Either way this grove is in the middle of a several hundred acre woodlot.
My brother and I had made one mistake when we were scouting though. We did not mark or bright eye our way to the stand
.
As you can see in this picture it is very thick and a long walk from where we park to get to this area. I was very fortunate to not only to find this area again but to also find the exact tree that we thought would be good. This picture is taken from the stand facing the direction the deer would hopefully approach from.
I thought it would take me a long time to find my way in the dark so I was setup pretty early. It was a nice early fall morning with 50 degree temps and clear skies.
At around 7:25 I was able to make out the body of a deer about 40 yards away. I watched as it meandered through the grove in my direction. As it cleared the brush I could see that is was a forkhorn. I knew I was not interested in shooting a forkie so I hoped he would wander off without getting my wind. There would be no such luck and he ended up 12-15 away over my left shoulder exactly in the spot in this picture.
He was okay there but eventually ended up too close to my tree and got my wind. He bounded away and proceeded to blow for a couple minutes warning everybody about the guy in the tree.
About 20 minutes later I picked out another body and hoped that it would follow the same path that the forkhorn did. Sure enough it slowly meandered its way through the trees and wound up in the same spot as the forkhorn just off my left shoulder.
I picked a spot and let the string fall from my fingers. The arrow hit just where I was looking and I listened as the deer crashed through the brush and came to a stop.
I called my hunting partners who also happen to be my brothers. Neither were hunting at the time but both graciously came out to help with the dragging and transport.
Good ol long nose. Great way to start a season!
Bob Lee Hunter 47@27 28" 1916s with 145 gr Bear Razorheads. (Love the Razorheads - Fred was a genius)
Topic: Daily Hunt Pics and Stories 2007 (Read 44353 times)
