Got a couple bars, figured I’d update while I stare at my milk weed floating every single direction. FML
Got up at 4am today, was on the road by 4:30. I arrived to the public I drove through yesterday, with a pin I dropped on a saddle in mind. I have never once set foot on this property in my life, but hey, deer like crossing saddles right? I hiked the .70 mile walk in and picked a tree based on the wind forecast and thermals. I was completely settled about 45 minutes before first shot. The climb was dead quiet, but the walk in was noisy AF due to rain all night and it being 27° this morning, sounded like walking on potato chips the whole way in. About 15 minutes before legal light, I could hear deer coming straight for me out of the bottom. I had a mature doe pop up on the saddle about 30 yards away, and start milling my direction. She must’ve seen me move a tiny bit and stopped at 20. She stomped a few times but never blew, and continued to feed around me, ultimately passing me at 5 yards. She eventually got downwind and bounded off into the adjacent bottom, and the deer that was behind her went straight north with no sighting. I did a few rattling sequences, and had a 2x2 pop up on the next ridge over. I sat until 9:30 and climbed down, packed my gear and headed towards my truck down a different trail. I saw 0 buck sign, but plenty of fresh tracks and acorn caps. Once I got to my truck, I ditched my coat, bibs, climbing sticks, etc there and planned to hike another 3/4 mile to another pin I dropped to scout. I made it maybe a 1/4 mile and found a scrape. Then another. Then another. 8 scrapes in a 50 yard stretch along this trail, and a fuck ton of rubs running 90° away from them down another trail. I figured I might as well keep going and check out the pinch I had marked, when all of a sudden a doe comes barreling down the trail straight at me. I quickly knelt down and nocked an arrow. She stopped at 15 yards facing straight at me. She immediately saw me, but was more curious than anything. After a 2 minute stare off, she bounded out to 40 and stopped. She started angling towards me again to investigate further. She stopped at 33 yards and turned broadside. Wide open. I drew, anchored and put my 35 on her, right where the brown meets the white. I shoot, arrow looks great, then she ducked. Like entire belly touching the ground ducked. She took another bound or two and started to come back towards me, but ultimately wandered off with no blowing. I spent 20 minutes looking for that stupid arrow, but shooting slightly uphill with the crest right behind her, I’d imagine it landed 300 yards away. After that I hiked back to the truck, grabbed lunch and am back down in this bottom with all the fresh sign. Wind is not really doing what I wanted it to do, but I don’t know where the deer come from here so it may work. I’m happy to have seen as many deer as I have already.
