It was 14 F and the wind was still this am . I hiked up to the Squirrel's Tail stand and settled in just before sunrise. It was one of those mornings when you could hear a stick crack at 400 yards. Just after first light there was a roar and then the clash of antlers from the opposite side of the valley. If you have never heard a very agitated pissed off buck roar then you haven't experience the rut at it's fullest.
I grabbed the bino's and searched the opposing hillside for the source. The sun was just coming over the bluff behind me and the opposite side of the valley was flooded in sunlight. Another roar and the smash of antlers and brush breaking and I caught the sunlight on the sides of two titans smashing it out over a doe standing in the tall grass a few yard down from them. Then I caught the sun reflecting off yet another bruiser working his way thru the open timber below them .
Throwing caution to the wind , I descended my ladder ( ST) and moved slowly along a deer trail to the Birthday stand (BD) which was about 80 yards below where the deer were fighting .
the blue circle is where the two buck were fighting.