There is something about hunting a new set up. Is it the new scenery, or the different topography, or is it just because you have gotten tired of the view in the previous stand site? Well a couple of days ago I moved my stand around the hill from the ravine. I found a few worn trails low on the hillside that paralleled the road, so I cleared a couple of shooting lanes and locked my climber to the base of a tree above them.
Wednesday morning the wind was right, that is, blowing from the road and up the hill. I got in around 7:00 and had positioned the stand facing north with the trails and the road below me to my left, or west. Now in the past month or more the only deer that I have seen while hunting the ravine came from this hillside. If they showed up it was usually between 8:30 and 9:30 and they would end up in the bedding area above me where the hillside makes a 90 degree bend.
Well sure enough, around 9:30, I catch movement in front of me about 50 yards away. I eventually make out through the young saplings a small 4-pointer easing his way towards me but higher up the hill. A short time later I see another youngster, a spike, slowly moving my way in front of me. As I grabbed my Horton off the hook on the tree next to me I see a little antlerless deer lower on the hillside. Soon I could make out anther deer behind that one. The third deer is on one of the trails and should pass below me while the fourth one is bring up the rear about 20 yards behind.
Meanwhile the first deer, the 4-pointer, picks up the pace and starts across the hillside about 80 yards above me. He is paralleling the top of the hill and is soon to catch my wind. I turn my attention back to the third and fourth deer, which are now closer, and notice that the antlerless deer is a button buck. The fourth is hidden in the saplings but I could make out what looks like an 8.
Then it happened, the buck above me snorts and trots back along the top of the hillside. The second buck, the spike, slowly slips up the hill and follows him. The other two froze and were just staring up hill. After a few minutes the button buck turns back towards the eight and they both start slowly up the hill and then stop after a few paces. The eight takes a few more steps and stops, exposing his vitals through a small window in the tops of the saplings. I sat there scanning the hillside in front of him looking for a clearer shot. There wasn’t going to be any, it was now or never.
I put the 20 yard pin low on him and sent the Spitfire tipped Easton his way. I saw the red Lumenok fly right towards his vitals, only to drop right below his chest! The young buck scampered up the hill about 10 yards and stopped. The button buck moved a few steps and also stopped. They both stood there for three or four minutes before slowly moving up the hill on the trail that the other two took.
I could see the red nock glowing, sticking in the ground just beyond where the buck had stood. I pulled out my range finder and took a reading on where I thought he was standing and it read 27 yards. My arrow drops 5 inches between 20 and 30 yards. When I got down and retrieved my arrow I did not find any sign of blood or hair on it; a clean miss. You bet I’ll be back a few more times before the season ends.