Thanks BB! I do TOO!
Well, I finally got to get out for my first hunt this morning. Granted it was a struggle for me with just 1.5 hours of shut eye. Anyway, I got up at 6:10 and got my shower and talked to my wife and girls as they were getting ready for work and school. Then headed out to the garage to load up my truck and head to the farm. I arrived at my stand about 7 and took my time setting up as to not make any noise as I'm just off a beanfield about 35 yards.
After I settled in I took a pic of my bow hanging as the suns glow was beginning its arrival off to the east. At about 7:34 I saw a doe and a young one slip into the small hollow off to my west at a distance of 25 yards. They milled around and eventually walked right down in front of me at 13-15 yards on the opposite bank giving me numerous shots.
Then the doe and little one met up with her other little one and the young ones began to play, running around the creek bottom. Then they worked their way down below me directly DW to the NNE and browsed awhile and not once did they smell me or see me. They eventually walked out of my sight.
Then while checking out TOO and texting back and forth with JohnR and Chris(Woody333) two of my teammates who were also hunting I looked down to my DW side to the N and saw a small 4 pt. crossing the hollow and making his way up the same path the doe walked down earlier but going the opposite direction. I took a few pics of him as well and he gave me numerous shots at distances between 13-23 yards. Here are a few of his pics:
Shortly afterwards I had a nice fox squirrel shimmy down a maple tree right in front of me at just 4 feet with a nut in his mouth. As slowly as I could I took a few pics but he kept moving causing my pics to be a touch blurry but here they are. He was a boar btw...lol
Then what really made my day was my oldest daughter Karissa went hunting with me for our very first hunt together. We didn't see any deer but had a great time together. I covered the basics of treestand safety and yardages with her. Also how and where to aim if a shooter was to stroll by. We bailed out a tad early just so we both can see the steps on our descent and not get trapped up in the tree with late arrivals. Here are a few pics:
These are our two best shooting lanes off the the west:
It was very hot this evening but well worth the experience together. After we got back to the truck and filled up on fluids and loaded up our gear I turned to her and asked what she thought about her first hunt. She smiled and said, I loved it! I'm officially a "deer hunter!"
I smiled and gave her a tater and we headed home. I'm one proud dad!
Hours hunted - 5
Deer seen - 4
Bucks seen - 1
Does seen - 1
bb/ yearlings seen - 2
Yotes seen - 0
Turkeys seen - 0
Shot ops - 3