My buddy and I were undecided as to where we would sit today, but I told him it was going to be great because of all the action I have been seeing. We are hunting very big woods, thousands of acres. We just kept walking and along the way decided to go to a place we have not been in a while. By the time we get in the area, it is light enough to shoot.
We stop and he says, "is that a deer right in front of me?"
"I don't know about right in front of you, but I see some on the ridge about 50 yards", I say.
Then we hear deer running up through the wood right toward us! A little six point comes out of the laurels right next to us about 5 yards. We all freeze looking at each other. Then the deer takes off up the hill toward the other deer we had seen.
We hear more deer running around us but out of our view.
"Let's get settled quick", I tell my buddy.
He drops down to a ground blind just below us along the edge of a big swamp that was once a beaver pond.
I walk off the trail about 30 yards and find a good tree to sit against.
While setting up and holding my back pack in front of me, bow against a tree and quiver on the ground, a real monster come right up past me at about 10 yards!
I'm getting pretty excited at this point.
Once he passes, I get set up real quick and a day full of rutting deer continues. I never went more than 45 minutes with out seeing deer around me. At one point I had 4 bucks around me at the same time.
While setting up, I noticed a faint trail behind me and I though that is where the big one will sneak up behind me with my luck. Well, around 1:00 I hear some thing behind me. I turn my head slow and I see a buck a way up behind me in the thick, but I'm not sure how big. I switch to left hand quick thinking I might have a chance. Next thing I know, he comes around the thicket facing right at me at 8 yards. His head comes up immediately, and we are in a staring contest. This is a big 8 that I couldn't begin to score. His neck is swelled up and he is a beast. He mouth is drooling, and his ding-a-ling was dipping. I was a bit nervous now. Then he turns and drops off the ledge that is 10 yards to his right. There was nothing I could do. It was too thick, and he disappears.
All together I saw about 10 Bucks and a few Does.
I don't need to shoot a deer to have a fantastic day.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/Lastditchblind.jpg