After helping a friend hang sheet-rock in the new mudroom of his house, I headed home showered, put on my hunting clothes and ran for the woods. I moved a stand to a new spot this morning and wanted to hunt from it in the afternoon.
This is a special time of year for deer hunting. The full moon on Thursday evening (also known as the "hunter's moon)normally initiates the estrus cycle for does. Testosterone charged bucks begin "chasing" the does--or looking for a wife as we tell our kids. This cycle increases the animals' movement during daylight hours, which provides hunters with better opportunities for harvesting a deer. Nonetheless, it is the best time of year for deer hunting.
During this time of year I use scent lures combined with a simulated doe bleat in an attempt to attract the deer to my location. I have always have great success with this combination. Immediately after hanging my stand in its new location I saturated a few cotton scent wicks and hung them on tree limbs and squirted doe scent on the ground.
At 3:15pm I was comfortably seated in my stand. I am about 15ft. off the ground at the top of a East-West slopping finger ridge looking down into a brook bottom. The sound of running water and warm temperature provided me a great place to read my litany, reflect and unwind.
After letting out a series of bleats, it finally happened! I saw a deer walking towards me about 120 yards from where I was sitting. This season has been really slow up to this point.
The deer continues walking toward me and then I lose him in some tall scrub-oak. After about 15mins he emerges (from behind a tree) at what I think is about 30 yards. Now he is standing directly in front of me, broadside, oblivious to my presence. This deer has one thing on his mind, he smells a familiar (annual) smell and is fervently searching for the source of such an exhilarating and attractive scent.
I draw my bow and settle my 30 yard pin right behind his shoulder. I let the arrow fly, and to my shock the arrow sails clear over the deer's back. A clean miss! The deer is a little startled and runs off a few steps trying to figure out what just happened. What's amazing is that he did not leave the area. He stayed there and put his nose right back to the ground looking for the source of his desire. I knock another arrow and get ready to shoot. I am following him as he meanders up the ridge towards me. I take out my laser range finder and (range him) he is standing 20 yards from me. I settle my pin directly behind his shoulder and let a second arrow fly. I watch the arrow leave my bow seeking its mark. However, it never reaches the deer! The arrow hits a limb and is deflected up and away from the deer. The deer jumps at the sound and bounds off a few steps, again still remaining in the area. I knock a third arrow and leave him alone for few minutes; he scans the area trying to figure out what is happening.
The deer has now walked past me and is directly behind my stand. I turn all the way around (this is unheard of and I am not writing fiction) and range him again. He's now 30 yards from me, and is still oblivious to my presence. I wait for another opportunity and slowly draw my bow. The deer's head and neck are protruding from behind a large oak tree, but I can not see the rest of his body. At this point I've been holding my shot for a few minutes and the tension in my bow is getting the better of me. I am beginning to shake as the lactic acid builds up in my arms and shoulders. Now, the deer is looking right at me(or at least in my direction) he takes two steps forward and I let my arrow fly. It is deflected by the oak tree and the deer is saved again. It is my opinion that Divine protection is preventing me from taking this deer. The deer still does not run off. Rather he calmly walks directly into the group of small Hemlock pines where I sat Friday evening and disappears. I knock my fourth and final arrow!
I wait a few minutes, but the deer never emerges. I give a few bleats knowing that he will come running to the call of female companionship. However, it was not to be. He had an exit strategy that was perfectly executed. He must have slipped out the back door. How? I have no idea, my eyes were fixed on his point of entry and any movement would have been immediately detected. He was gone, and with him went my first chance of taking a deer this season.
Please excuse me while finish up the last few pieces of this very bitter humble pie.
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