Tales from the hunt, Part 2.

I went to the old elevated blind Sunday morning. I was there extra early and once again it was dark with no moon so I was taking a short nap. The thump of a hoof on the ground woke me up. I couldn't see anything in any direction so I waited. What else could I do?

About twenty-five minutes before legal time I could see deer about 100 yards away but I couldn't identify them. I could see the bodies and the occasional flicker of white from an ear or a tail. Finally it got light enough to see that there were three whitetail does and one fawn hanging around. Then a mule deer doe and fawn arrived. Then another mule deer doe and fawn. The place was getting a little crowded.

The four whitetails came close by me again. While they were working their way towards me more mule deer does and fawns showed up. About 7 or 8 total. From the other direction a whitetail spike showed up following a mule deer spike for a little while, then he went off on his own.

No sooner had the four whitetail does left then seven more came out of the trees about 75 yards away and walked through the middle of the mule deer.

One lone whitetail fawn came walking by through an open place between two heavily treed places. A bunch of turkeys were walking right by the trees on one side. I guess the fawn's mother was inside that bunch of trees because he suddenly charged the turkeys and scattered them as he ran into the trees.

We have plenty of whitetail does but I've only seen one decent buck. Usually we see several of them before and during the season. There haven't been any bucks more than 1.5 years old on the game camera, either.

We usually take about an equal number of does and bucks each year. Last year for example we took two decent bucks, two does, and one nubbin buck that we though was a doe when #3 dropped him. This year we may only get the one buck we have and finish filling the freezer with does. There are plenty of them and some are pretty big. The one #1 shot this year was over 100 pounds on the hoof.

I guess we'll find out.

In any case I'd rather be out there hunting and watching than in here. The problem is that there isn't really any money to be made out there in the woods, at least not at my skill level.