A story worth sharing that even reminded this veteran hunter of a couple of things we should all remember.
It's been a tough year between an acute sinus infection in late October to the flu opening week of rifle season (and I haven't been sick in over 10 years), among some other things like work getting in the way much more than usual. On top of all this, I lost my honey hole of 15 years back in the spring because the property sold. I only bow hunted 2 days, muzzleloader one afternoon, and rifle hunted 2.5 days all season. I've tagged out before rifle season probably the last 10 years, so when December rolled around and I still had two open TN tags I was certainly struggling with deerpression and my wife was about to kick me out of the house! So, here goes...
I have a small 30-acre lease, which is part of the landowner's 80-acre farm, but he only wants me to stay on the 30 acres for understandable reasons. I've had this lease for 4 years now. I've never hunted it, though every year I put up my hang-on in the same tree (because there's really only one spot it can be effectively hunted), and keep my walk-in trail raked clean of leaves so it's ready to hunt at a moments notice. I do two mock scrapes in a pinch point and keep two cameras running on them all season. Of Course, I have a mineral lick that's camera monitored so I can inventory the bucks in the early season. Three out of the four years I have a shooter (by my standard that's a 125"+) show up but it's always late November or December and I'm already tagged out. They show up for a few days and then they're gone to never be seen again...by me anyway. I'll sneak in and check these cameras once or twice a week in midday and refresh the scrapes once per week all season. I get tons of younger buck activity and have plenty of does, but it's just not an area where mature bucks like to hang out. But...I know they're in the area and there's always a chance.
The day before this starts, I had just told my wife I'm about to throw in the towel on this season and moaning and groaning, and then she reminded me of one of the studs on the wall I killed after Christmas a long time ago. My response was "yeah, but I had been stalking that buck all season and plenty of pictures let me know he was still in the area...and I don't have that this year". So, the next day I sneak into my little 30-acre lease midday on November 30th and haven't been there since before Thanksgiving due to the stinking flu. I get home browsing through the pictures, I'm looking at the same ole bucks, and then just about fall out of my chair! OMG, what an 8pt, which my wife heard me from the other end of the house. I was nearly in tears, but at the same time my experience was reminding me of what a slim chance I have of tagging this guy...but, there's a chance! I only had him hit my scrapes twice, but it was the last two nights in a row between midnight and 2 am. So, I was literally in that stand that afternoon (which remember has been sitting ready at a moment's notice for 4 years just for a time exactly like this)...and of course, I had to carry with me a zip lock bag full of cough drops
. Hunted that afternoon and saw a ton of chasing and lots of deer, but no mega 8pt. Too sick to go the next day until the following afternoon finally got in there again. Again, lots of chasing (including 3 nice bucks chasing one doe which included the most mature one I had been seeing there all year), but no mega 8pt. Told my wife that night he probably just slipped in for a couple of days searching for a hot doe and by now back in his own territory a mile or two away. That night it was going to rain all night and into the mid-morning on Saturday. I almost decided to sit out that bad weather, but then my instinct told me, "What better time to catch an old mature bruiser off guard than during the pouring rain"...and off I went getting ready for the next morning.
The plan was to take an umbrella to my stand and take some cable ties and affix it to my shooting rail. Saturday morning arrives and it's pouring rain and breezy. I must be crazy thinking to myself, while my instinct kept saying get your butt in that stand. I arrive at the lease and it immediately stops raining. I manage to sneak into my stand, and I'm pulling up the gun and umbrella, and the rain starts pouring again...amazing timing! The umbrella gets attached and I'm dry as a bone and it's still pitch dark, so far so good! As it gets daylight deer just start appearing. Apparently, due to the cover of the rain and wind, and the fact I keep my walk-in trail raked, I had 7 does less than 70 yards from me feeding on acorns clueless of my presence. It's still pouring the rain, and at about 7:15 all the does jerk their heads around and look out the ridge. The second I laid eyes on him coming through the thicket in the pinch point I saw those 13" g-2's going to the moon! Not a care in the world, under the cover of horrible weather, he makes a badly miscalculated decision that he's free to go chase does in broad daylight!
This reminded me of two very important rules of engagement...1) Bad weather is your friend...you're the only one it bothers...the deer are still going to eat and bucks are still going to chase! I've only taken an umbrella to my stand twice, both times in December, and both times came back with a wall hanger. Maybe I'll finally learn from this
.....and 2) It's not over until it's over! I had become so accustomed to tagging out early that I guess I felt once December rolled around it was just all but over. Truths of which I needed to be reminded!
Those with open tags, wishing you the best of luck this last week...it's NOT over until it's over! And yes, for those who like to throw sticks and stones (and you know who you are), this one will also likely make the TN Deer Registry.
It's been a tough year between an acute sinus infection in late October to the flu opening week of rifle season (and I haven't been sick in over 10 years), among some other things like work getting in the way much more than usual. On top of all this, I lost my honey hole of 15 years back in the spring because the property sold. I only bow hunted 2 days, muzzleloader one afternoon, and rifle hunted 2.5 days all season. I've tagged out before rifle season probably the last 10 years, so when December rolled around and I still had two open TN tags I was certainly struggling with deerpression and my wife was about to kick me out of the house! So, here goes...
I have a small 30-acre lease, which is part of the landowner's 80-acre farm, but he only wants me to stay on the 30 acres for understandable reasons. I've had this lease for 4 years now. I've never hunted it, though every year I put up my hang-on in the same tree (because there's really only one spot it can be effectively hunted), and keep my walk-in trail raked clean of leaves so it's ready to hunt at a moments notice. I do two mock scrapes in a pinch point and keep two cameras running on them all season. Of Course, I have a mineral lick that's camera monitored so I can inventory the bucks in the early season. Three out of the four years I have a shooter (by my standard that's a 125"+) show up but it's always late November or December and I'm already tagged out. They show up for a few days and then they're gone to never be seen again...by me anyway. I'll sneak in and check these cameras once or twice a week in midday and refresh the scrapes once per week all season. I get tons of younger buck activity and have plenty of does, but it's just not an area where mature bucks like to hang out. But...I know they're in the area and there's always a chance.
The day before this starts, I had just told my wife I'm about to throw in the towel on this season and moaning and groaning, and then she reminded me of one of the studs on the wall I killed after Christmas a long time ago. My response was "yeah, but I had been stalking that buck all season and plenty of pictures let me know he was still in the area...and I don't have that this year". So, the next day I sneak into my little 30-acre lease midday on November 30th and haven't been there since before Thanksgiving due to the stinking flu. I get home browsing through the pictures, I'm looking at the same ole bucks, and then just about fall out of my chair! OMG, what an 8pt, which my wife heard me from the other end of the house. I was nearly in tears, but at the same time my experience was reminding me of what a slim chance I have of tagging this guy...but, there's a chance! I only had him hit my scrapes twice, but it was the last two nights in a row between midnight and 2 am. So, I was literally in that stand that afternoon (which remember has been sitting ready at a moment's notice for 4 years just for a time exactly like this)...and of course, I had to carry with me a zip lock bag full of cough drops
. Hunted that afternoon and saw a ton of chasing and lots of deer, but no mega 8pt. Too sick to go the next day until the following afternoon finally got in there again. Again, lots of chasing (including 3 nice bucks chasing one doe which included the most mature one I had been seeing there all year), but no mega 8pt. Told my wife that night he probably just slipped in for a couple of days searching for a hot doe and by now back in his own territory a mile or two away. That night it was going to rain all night and into the mid-morning on Saturday. I almost decided to sit out that bad weather, but then my instinct told me, "What better time to catch an old mature bruiser off guard than during the pouring rain"...and off I went getting ready for the next morning.The plan was to take an umbrella to my stand and take some cable ties and affix it to my shooting rail. Saturday morning arrives and it's pouring rain and breezy. I must be crazy thinking to myself, while my instinct kept saying get your butt in that stand. I arrive at the lease and it immediately stops raining. I manage to sneak into my stand, and I'm pulling up the gun and umbrella, and the rain starts pouring again...amazing timing! The umbrella gets attached and I'm dry as a bone and it's still pitch dark, so far so good! As it gets daylight deer just start appearing. Apparently, due to the cover of the rain and wind, and the fact I keep my walk-in trail raked, I had 7 does less than 70 yards from me feeding on acorns clueless of my presence. It's still pouring the rain, and at about 7:15 all the does jerk their heads around and look out the ridge. The second I laid eyes on him coming through the thicket in the pinch point I saw those 13" g-2's going to the moon! Not a care in the world, under the cover of horrible weather, he makes a badly miscalculated decision that he's free to go chase does in broad daylight!
This reminded me of two very important rules of engagement...1) Bad weather is your friend...you're the only one it bothers...the deer are still going to eat and bucks are still going to chase! I've only taken an umbrella to my stand twice, both times in December, and both times came back with a wall hanger. Maybe I'll finally learn from this
.....and 2) It's not over until it's over! I had become so accustomed to tagging out early that I guess I felt once December rolled around it was just all but over. Truths of which I needed to be reminded!Those with open tags, wishing you the best of luck this last week...it's NOT over until it's over! And yes, for those who like to throw sticks and stones (and you know who you are), this one will also likely make the TN Deer Registry
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