Wednesday, 9/14/2011 Everything was rushed. I wanted to avoid making the same mistake that my son and I had made Sunday afternoon. We had gotten to the woods just a little later than I like, and ran a deer off of the persimmon tree when we walked in.
I was pushing it now. As I was nearing the spot where I parked my truck, I was running options through my mind. Take all my usual gear with me, or go in light and quick taking only what I needed to climb and kill, and get it on video. If I got a shot and made good on it, I would have to walk back to the truck for my “after kill” stuff. With the wind forecasted out of the South, I decided I needed to go up a different tree than the one I had been climbing. Rather than take the time to drill the tree, I decided to climb with my gaffs.
Light and quick it was. I threw everything I had to have into my cargo pockets: pull-up cord; insect repellent; headlight; video camera; couple of bow hangers; safety rope. I stuck my monopod down through my belt. I slung my Loc-On Limit on my back, grabbed my bow, and headed out.
The walk in was a short one. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to kill deer on public land close to the truck. It was still, however, plenty of distance for me to work up a sweat. As soon as I hit the swamp, I started slipping, looking ahead to see if I might catch a glimpse of any deer feeding under the persimmon. Luckily, it was vacant. I swung out wide to approach the tree I would climb from the backside.
When I reached the tree, I hurriedly attached my bow to my pull-up cord and tied it to the D-ring on my climbing belt. After strapping on my gaffs, I simply walked up the tree. I got about as high as I could and hung my stand. This was a very small tree, no more than 6 inches in diameter at the height of my stand, but it was in the best location for the wind, and for available cover. The size of the tree was another reason I didn’t want to bring my “Monster” pack with me. Just extra bulk up in the tree that might draw attention, and give me away. I stepped onto the stand, got strapped in, and screwed in my bow hangers. I removed my gaffs and hung them from one hanger, then removed my bow quiver and hung it from the other. After attaching my monopod to my stand, and affixing my camera, I was set. I glanced at my watch, and it was 5:10. I sat back and began to wait. It seemed like I would never stop sweating. There was a gentle breeze, which felt nice and cool, but the perspiration just kept pouring.
About 20 minutes into my sit, I heard the familiar cadence of footfalls in the parched leaves. The commotion stopped at the edge of the swamp. Undoubtedly, the deer was surveying the situation from the safety of the thicket before breaking out into the open.. My pulse quickened, and I strained my eyes in the direction of the noise. Just then I caught movement, and tried to piece together the tiny bits and pieces of the form I was glimpsing through the brush. It finally hit a hole where I could see plainly, and it was………………a dang turkey! I couldn’t help but laugh at how easily I had been fooled. It at length made its way down into the swamp, and headed for parts unknown. I settled back down, glad to have had a little excitement.
Maybe 15 minutes went by. It was about 5:50, and once again I heard some noise coming from the thicket. I figured it was probably more turkeys. The flicker of a tail changed my mind.
I started scrambling, in that “as fast as I can without blowing this” sort of way, to get stood up, get the camera turned on, and get turned and in position to shoot. I had plenty of time. I don’t know why I rush is, but I always do. The deer was pointed in my general direction, so I had no doubt as to her destination. That’s the great thing about hunting hot food trees. When you see a deer, even if it’s 100 yards out, if it seems to be moving in your general direction, there’s no questioning their intentions. They’re coming right to you.
About 15 yards away from me, there was a spot of bare ground on the downhill side of a fallen tree. It was a slight depression, nothing but a landing spot where deer had jumped the log. She was heading straight for it. I lost sight of her for several moments as she passed behind some very dense foliage. She appeared again, and paused momentarily at the downed tree, then hopped over it as she had done, no doubt, countless times before. Upon landing, she turned and walked under the persimmon, and began sniffing out the fallen fruit. She was on the opposite side of the persimmon from me, with limbs, and the trunk of the persimmon itself blocking any shot. About this time, I heard another deer starting to come off the hill. The doe looked in that direction briefly, then resumed her search. She began to circle around the persimmon, and walked within 2 yards of the base of the tree I was perched in! I was holding my breath, hoping she wouldn’t smell me. She didn’t. She completed her loop, making her way back around, and under the feed tree. For the past several minutes, I had the faint sense of a draft on the back of my neck. I felt I was pushing my luck, and decided I needed to shoot her as soon as I was given an opportunity. I was tracking her with the camera, but needed her to pause long enough for me to get off the video and onto the bowstring. She wasn’t cooperating. When I saw her approaching an opening at a pretty good angle, I shoved the camera on ahead of her and concentrated on the shot. I could only hope she would be in the field of view when I dropped the string. She took a couple more steps before coming to a stop. My movements coincided with hers, and as she came to a rest, I hit full draw. I bore down, as best I could, on the hair I wanted to hit, and the arrow was away. The yellow feathers flashed across the scant 6 yards in a quick blur.
She made that high-leg kick, which usually indicates you’ve done something right. She ran off, not in a “tail on fire” sort of way as they often do when center-punched, but more of a “what the heck just happened?” sort of way. 35 yards out, I saw her stop and look back. Her tail was going crazy. If you ever see ones tail twitching back and forth impulsively, they’re done. She had no idea what had happened. She got a little wobbly, and went down. Gone in 30 seconds.
And the video for anyone who would like to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/landshark160#p/u/6/mDsjbtz6jAg
Topic: Deer #2-Bullard Creek WMA (Read 380 times)
