My brother and I have been scouting throughout the summer, learning it’s best to scout smarter on a couple outings, rather than going out every week to check the cameras. So we really only made 2 or 3 trips to do battle with the mosquitos back in the swamp from June to early September to check cams, move a stand, and cut some shooting lanes. Through the past few seasons, I had seen the majority of deer movement on this property on an east-west trail to the south of my stand, just out of bow range. This summer, the trail cameras confirmed that pattern.
October 1st came and went with a sigh of relief. For me, just knowing I can get out if I feel like it is enough to keep me content for the first few weeks while the action heats up. October 3rd was my first sit at a different farm, with nothing but a neighbour walking his dog to be seen. My brother has been working out of town for a few weeks, so I was looking forward to getting out with him when he got home for thanksgiving weekend on the 5th. The weather forecast for the long weekend looked awful for hunting, except Friday night looked interesting. We didn’t want to hunt this property until later in the season, but the wind was perfect and with the cooler temps we figured if we’re going to see anything it would be that night.
My brother and I split up at the field edge as we usually do, giving a sarcastic remark along the lines of “please just let us see something”. I’m sure a lot of guys say the same thing. We have both been hunting for about 6-7 years now, and have only ever had success during the last week of October/first week of November. Settled into my stand, I got to reading a book and didn’t even look up for what felt like a half hour. I got a text from my brother at 620 saying how thick the leaves were, that he couldn’t see more than 40 yards. My spot wasn’t much better. I had no sooner put my phone back than I looked up to see a deer walking that east-west trail. I put my binoculars on it and was happy to see a mature doe walking along. I had a doe tag in my pocket, and ate tag soup last year. So I decided to get her attention, but didn’t even bring any calls with me...it’s the first week of October, why would I need those? I resorted to doing a snort wheeze with my hands, as it has worked in the past for me. The doe shot her head up and looked my way. I figured she was either going to turn around and run the opposite way, or come into the clearing to check me out.
Her curiosity ended up getting the better of her, and luckily, the buck on the trail camera pictures above was following 30 yards behind. The doe came into the clearing at 10 yards looking for the sound she heard, but the buck stayed behind making a scrape and not paying much attention. I was hoping he would come in a little closer as the under growth and angle made for a difficult shot where I was. As the doe turned to walk away, the buck did as well. Luckily, he stopped behind a tree and I managed to crouch down in my stand and get a shot off at 35 yards. I watched the luminok strike true, and he jumped straight in the air and took off with his tail down. The wind made it so it was difficult to hear, but I was sure I heard him crash.
It all happened so quickly, I blacked out so to speak. I called my brother, and told him I had just smoked one. He couldn’t believe it. In all the rush and excitement I hadn’t been able to see where he ended up running off to. I got down out of my stand with some daylight left, and tried to find my luminok or some blood for a reference point before I backed out to meet up with my brother. Nothing. But I knew I had hit the deer well, so I brought my brother back and went back to my stand to replay the shot. It’s funny how you can completely misremember such a critical piece as “where was the deer standing”, but in the rush and excitement I literally forgot. I got down to start a grid search to find the point of impact, and my brother went south to see if the deer had left on the trail while we still had a bit of light. It was quite a relief to hear him holler from 60 yards away that he saw a white belly. Turns out I had only misjudged where he was standing by about 5 yards. The buck piled up just beyond the line of sight of those trail camera photos above.
It’s always a blast to call my parents house to give the good news. Dad doesn’t hunt but he loves hearing about how things are going and giving a hand in the woods. Here’s the 3 of us.
I’m sure that this experience will change my outlook on hunting the first week of the season going forward. It’s definitely got the potential to be a lot more exciting than reading a book and getting out for some fresh air.
