Week Two

Looking north. It is 18 yards to the first row of beans.

Week two has seen many of my friends around the country having success in the woods. A couple of nice bucks have been taken along with a bunch of does. There was an albino doe taken (@ChrisChicoLopez ), at least one turkey (@EasTnHunting), a coyote (@SoleAdventure) and our buddy @Ryan5bass got his first deer ever and with a bow at that. All of these are Twitter handles if you want to follow them.

I am still trying to get close enough to turkey to get one with a bow but it is tough in the fall since they see evil in anything and everything. Hard to fool 10-20 sets of eyes at 20 yards. Having had enough of those stupid things I went to a new spot I had scouted on the south side of a soy bean field which looked like the spot to be for a deer. Turns out I was right.

This spot has just about everything you could want for a deer spot. Several tree lines and 20-30 yard wide travel corridors come together in a small patch of woods which form a hidden pocket in the field. There is a point of trees where two huge oaks are dropping acorns and luckily the tree I wanted to climb is right between them. Maybe 70 yards away to the west is a small pond and about that far to the east is a large wood lot with a bedding area.

Over my right shoulder under 20 yards to the edge of the trees.

Looking over left shoulder toward the small pond where fence rows meet.


I went in the first afternoon to find a 6 pt standing in the field about 40 yards in front of my tree. I watched where he left the field and it was where I had thought they would be coming in. I cut some lanes then got set up in my climber. I had planned to get higher but the canopy was too thick and I wound up only about 8-9 feet up. Not the best but I hoped it was enough since I was back in the woods several yards.

5 o’clock rolled around as I sat tweeting with friends when I looked up to see a cowhorn spike walk out. A minute later a small 4 pt followed him into the field. They fed toward me then stopped broadside at 40 yards. Since I had seen the better buck I let these guys walk hoping he would come back out. Not today. The next morning I was back in but the only thing moving was turkeys which made me think that this might be an afternoon stand. I packed up planning to be back around 3:00.

Back in the stand in 80 degree heat wasn’t fun but I wanted to see what came out. At 5:15 in the same spot they used before I see a deer trot into the field and make the turn toward my stand. He fed along in a row that would put him 20 yards in front of me but just as he got to 22 yards facing me he turned to go back. He was at 24 yards quartering away giving me a good look at his ribs. I shot, heard the hit then watched as he took two jumps, walked about 10 yards and laid down. Good but not what I wanted to see after opening weekend. After a couple of minutes he stood up and wobbled off.

I couldn’t believe it, not again. I took a few minutes to get everything packed up to get down so I could slip out and look for sign. Just as I stepped into the field I saw something move, an ear, then the deer. He was bedded about 60 yards away. I was texting my buddy Scott (@Teamstt) and he was telling me to hang on, wait, give him time. I had slipped back into the woods so I could watch him. Soon he couldn’t get his feet under him to stand but I felt bad that he wasn’t down yet. I slipped down the field to 20 yards where I got him to stand long enough for me to get another shot. He only went 6 yards and fell. A nice healthy 18 month old 4 pt that came close to being a six. I got him loaded up and headed out of the field where I jumped two more bucks, one about like mine and another with a much better rack. Light was gone so all I could see was horns just couldn’t count points. But I know they are there.

Sunday morning I went to another spot to try for some of the does I saw there the other day. Here the deer show up around 8:00, sure enough at quarter till I looked up to see a buck standing at 20 yards broadside. I got set waiting for him to take 2-3 more steps which he did then stopped like a backyard target. I got the pin tucked in tight behind the shoulder and shot. The hit didn’t sound right and the deer just turned around to walk off. When I checked I found the arrow just past where he was standing with only one hair and no blood. All I can think was I hit a twig which threw the arrow low. Oh well, as long as he is ok that is fine with me maybe I will see him again.

There it is, a look at week two for me. Finally on the board with the monkey off my back and I have seen 9 different bucks which is more than the last 3 years combined. I love seeing them but I want some does, I have families that need some help maybe I can find some soon. Hope everyone is having a safe and fun season so far, good luck this week I will be headed back out soon.