Well, I took off 1.5 days to hunt the last two days of the season at the farm. We had some snow a few days before, so I knew it was going to be a good day to look for tracks and beds. Checked my trail cam..and realized I had left it in setup mode the past 2 weeks so no photos. scouted a new area near the camera and sat in the woods Thursday near some fresh tracks. Froze my butt off and saw nothing. I headed back in to the house around 5:00 thinking I'd scout a bit. Just as I reached the edge of the woods I saw 3 big bucks in the cow pasture...they saw me too...it was a stare down at 150 yards. No way to flank them as there wasn't anywhere for me to sneak up on them...I've been looking for these 3 all season....I saw them all summer but the disappeared in the fall...guess they are grouping back up...I headed back to the house glad I saw them but upset that I didn't get a shot. When I got to the house I glassed the river field behind the house and saw at least 20 deer 4-5 of which were medium sized bucks crossing the field. They also saw me...I was about 200 yards away...I think I was contrasting with the blanket of snow...I decided I'd go to the pond by the river the next morning....Woke up sat at the pond all morning... till noon...nothing....I walked over to the where I saw the deer the night before to plan my afternoon spot...while there I saw 15 or so does spook from the woods to the neighbors....I think they were bedded in the woods as I was looking for a spot near the edge of the field. I figured I had ruined my spot for the evening so I decided to hunt the pasture the last afternoon of the season. After weighing several options, I decided on laying behind a knoll in some trees at the corner of the field where I saw the bucks. I was hoping I could catch them as they headed out of the woods. sat for several hours and didn't see much...about 15mins before the season was over, a doe stepped out of the woods at 75 yards. before I knew it I had 5-6 does all around me. The image below is me laying behind the knoll. Just behind the 2 large trees there were 2 small does that jumped the split rail. At 25-30 yards I pegged one as she stepped out from behind the tree. The luminoks worked great. It was really cool to see the flight path and then the light disappear as it went in and then exited and landed at the fence. The deer bolted 75-100 yards but dropped hard. It was great to get my second clean kill with the crossbow.
Next year I'm putting a feeder in this location. I think the bucks are bedding in the field and possibly even in the cattle barn. Its been great getting to know this property, the deer, and the crossbow. Lots of fun. Thanks for all the advice. Here are some pics.
Called my usual butcher after the kill and found out they stopped taking in deer two weeks ago due to room in the freezer. So, I had to hang the deer overnight and took it to a new place the next morning. In addition to the backstraps, which I'll chicken fry with mash tators and cream gravy, I got breakfast sausage, bologna, and Half-smokes. Looking forward to the half-smokes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-smoke
