Sit #1: opening morning
I had hoped a group of public bucks would continue hitting a mock scrape in daylight hours for Sit 1, but their pattern changed (of course) a week before the opener. Instead, I hit up another public land spot where I always have good encounters in the early season. The stand setup is in a very subtle saddle in a main ridge. Multiple travel routes converge in that location near a known bedding area. I don't hunt the stand often, but I believe every sit there I have had deer inside 20 yards and have shot multiple does with trad bows in that spot. I hunted a different tree from last year, thinking it would be a better fit to shield my scent from deer if the thermals did what they are supposed to do. I only used two sticks (w/aiders) on this setup and it got me high enough. I was settled in about 30 minutes before shooting light.
The first little surprise was the weather. I had checked the night before and the forecast was clean. It started raining less than an hour after sunrise, but I stuck it out. Typically the deer move in this spot either from the oak flat to my west or down the bank from the south down an old logging road. The wind/thermals set up perfectly for the morning.
Right after the rain stopped, I had movement in front of me, which is sort of backwards for this location. Two nearly identical 2.5 year old bucks came out of the bedding area and worked towards the oak flat. They got a little squirrely when they crossed my ground scent, but they went about their business and disappeared through the brush towards the oaks. At their closest points, they were roughly 15 and 18 yards. I obviously passed on both of them.
Good luck, boys. Odds are they won't both survive the year on public ground.
I had hoped a group of public bucks would continue hitting a mock scrape in daylight hours for Sit 1, but their pattern changed (of course) a week before the opener. Instead, I hit up another public land spot where I always have good encounters in the early season. The stand setup is in a very subtle saddle in a main ridge. Multiple travel routes converge in that location near a known bedding area. I don't hunt the stand often, but I believe every sit there I have had deer inside 20 yards and have shot multiple does with trad bows in that spot. I hunted a different tree from last year, thinking it would be a better fit to shield my scent from deer if the thermals did what they are supposed to do. I only used two sticks (w/aiders) on this setup and it got me high enough. I was settled in about 30 minutes before shooting light.
The first little surprise was the weather. I had checked the night before and the forecast was clean. It started raining less than an hour after sunrise, but I stuck it out. Typically the deer move in this spot either from the oak flat to my west or down the bank from the south down an old logging road. The wind/thermals set up perfectly for the morning.
Right after the rain stopped, I had movement in front of me, which is sort of backwards for this location. Two nearly identical 2.5 year old bucks came out of the bedding area and worked towards the oak flat. They got a little squirrely when they crossed my ground scent, but they went about their business and disappeared through the brush towards the oaks. At their closest points, they were roughly 15 and 18 yards. I obviously passed on both of them.
Good luck, boys. Odds are they won't both survive the year on public ground.