My Second Hunt of The Year

This morning I headed out in the drizzle to try and knock down another doe for the freezer. Despite the rain, it was a beautiful morning to be out in the woods. When I arrived at the property there were about 10 deer in the landowners front yard and small orchard. Instead of stalking them like the other morning, I just geared up and hustled into the woods. I didn't bump any deer on my way in and I was settled into the stand by 6:10.

Despite seeing all the deer on my way in, there weren't that many deer on the ridge where I hunt. I had two does walk to within 43 yards at about 7:45. I routinely make this shot while practicing, but I just didn't feel the need to take the risk on a long shot like that during this early season. I am going to keep waiting for easy shots like the one I had the other morning. I'll save the long shots for some of the monster bucks I hope to see this year.

I stayed on stand until about 9:15 and then decided to hike around the back of the ridge to a bedding area. I can usually stalk up on bedded deer if the wind is right, and this morning it was. Unfortunately the 5 deer that I stalked within 20 yards of were all bedded down just on the other side of the property line. I watched them for about 15 minutes and then headed down the hill to hang a new stand.

My Dad and I decided to put this new stand at one corner of the property where two fields and a patch of thick woods meet up. There is a three board fence that acts as a funnel, so the deer usually walk around the fence rather than jumping it. There are also numerous trails leading from the woods out into the open field. We have killed deer at this spot before, but they have been from a ground blind. I am thinking this is going to be a great evening stand during archery season and a pretty good stand during rifle season. We'll see what happens!

The only downside to hanging the stand was that it was covered in poison ivy vines. I expect to have a pretty good case of it within a few days. Here are a few pictures of the stand and the view I will have from it...


I'll be back out there Friday and Saturday trying to get a few more deer before I start work next week. Wish me luck!