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December 4th Update
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I arrived at our hunting property on Friday afternoon on a cool but sunny day. I went out to put up our blind and retrieve our digital scouting camera to see what bucks had survived the rifle season.
The scouting camera had taken 210 pictures in one week. I took the camera back to the house to download the pictures and see what we had.
I was glad to see the biggest 8 point and the wide 9 point that we had been watching all fall. There was also the normal cast of spikes and a 5 and 8 point.
Of particular interest was a short tined young 8 point that showed up on our pictures for the first time all fall. This is really neat. Why did this deer just now show up? Has he been on our property all along but had just never been caught by the camera or seen by us, or did he come from across the hollow, maybe pushed by hunting pressure? We don't know but we'll take him. He doesn't have much tine length but he looks like he could grow into a wide one.
On Friday evening I put the camera at the other feeder and caught the short tined 8 point there on both Friday evening and Saturday morning. Hopefully he has found a home.
Back to deer hunting.
I arrived back at the blind at about 3:00PM. Within a half an hour or so a 5 point and a button buck arrived and began milling around.
The next deer to show up was the wide 9 point. It was interesting to watch as the 5 point walk up to the 9 point and start licking him on the forehead between his antlers. After a short time the 5 point put his head and antlers on the 9 points neck and began pushing. The nine point put his head down and they locked antlers and sparred rather playfully.
After a few minutes of light sparring both deer turned to look into the woods at an approaching deer. The 9 point moved off and the large 8 point emerged out of the woods into the edge of the clover plot. It has been my experience that the 9 point definitely gives way to the larger 8 point whenever I have seen them at the same time.
The button buck and the 5 point continued feeding in the clover patch and ended up right next to my blind. They were close enough that I could hear one of them actually eating the clover. Since I didn't have a flap unzipped on the side I could not see them. The large 8 point came to within about 30 yards right in front of me.
In the last journal update I had said that I had not seen the deer feeding in the food plots much while hunting over the fall hunting season. Now one week after saying this, three deer mingle all around me eating in the oldhouse food plot. Leave it to a deer to make you look stupid just when you think you know something.
I had my digital camera and took several pictures but the sun was shining right at me and the pictures were not as sharp as I would have liked.
Eventually they all moved down toward the feeder where a doe and a couple of spikes also showed up before dark.
This was a fantastic evening in the deer woods.
I'll have to admit that we slept in on Saturday morning. In hindsight we or I should have gotten up and tried my hand at taking a doe in the morning. I have had enough of the after dark deer tracking for the year.
Saturday evening Ryan and I sat up our blind at the middle clearing and thought that we would have a pretty good chance at a doe.
We were right for once as a small 4 point, a young doe and a mature doe came in at about 3:45PM. Ryan took the shot at which the doe turned and headed back over the hill. Ryan said that he saw something spraying or splash as she left. We scrambled out of the blind to the edge of the hill where we expected to see her lying within sight. Just as last week we were quickly disappointed. After examining the spot where she was standing at the shot we could not find any blood or hair. There wasn't any sign of a hit deer.
We decided to start over the hill and take a look around. After descending a couple of flats I spotted a deer below us. We finally realized that it was the small 4 point. We stood and watched as he turned and started back in below us. We then saw the young doe and the mature doe as well on the same flat walking below us. Now, I had my rifle and was in a perfect position to take a shot at the doe but if you have read the November 27th Journal Update you will remember the doe that I had to drag up the steep hill. This doe that I was now looking at was not a lot higher on the hillside than last weeks. With just a couple of leaps and possibly a roll she would be in the same position. It wasn't hard for me to just stand there and watch. I'm still a little sore from last week.
We walked back up the hill and returned to our blind.
Before dark we were able to see a spike and another doe. The small 4 point, young doe and mature doe that Ryan had shot at also returned but were a little fidgety.
The sunset was well worth the price of admission. Ryan pointed it out to me and we took a couple of pictures. Shooting a deer isn't always the trophy.
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