Sounds like everyone was getting rained on, frozen or wind blown this morning. It was pouring rain when I reached my spot at 5:45; in fact it rained pretty hard during the whole drive up there. The ground was saturated and quiet, especially with the background of falling rain. The dirt roads and the paths were pretty washed out from the storm, but I didn't have to go far from my SUV.
I set out a decoy (3D target) with a scent bomb under a small tree in the open, about 30-35 yards from a big pine near the edge of the clearing. The rain let up as day broke. In the twilight I saw a group of four deer (two grown and two fawns) browsing acorns from under the oak trees as they made their way up the draw toward me. The wind was shifty and the rain was light at that point, but they didn't appear to pick up my scent. One of them had antlers but as the light came up I could see he was a very small forky or a spork. None of them seemed to take any notice of the scent or decoy about 50 yards from them. I decided to pass on the small buck. Would have been a long bow shot anyway, and I can't stalk quietly enough in my rain gear. They moved on, I did some calling with no response, and I decided to walk around a bit. My rain gear keeps me dry but it's Army surplus and way to noisy for still hunting with a bow, so I ditched it at the car.
As I worked my way down the slope, I bumped a couple of groups of does around 9am. They were not too alarmed though, and didn't move too far off. Since they were still moving I decided to set out some scent and do some calling. That drew one doe and fawn back through, apparently headed back to join the main group. No shooters seen today.
Will be back out tomorrow to the spot where I saw that randy buck last week. With scent and a decoy, if he shows up I may get I'm out in the open.
Have fun out there!
I set out a decoy (3D target) with a scent bomb under a small tree in the open, about 30-35 yards from a big pine near the edge of the clearing. The rain let up as day broke. In the twilight I saw a group of four deer (two grown and two fawns) browsing acorns from under the oak trees as they made their way up the draw toward me. The wind was shifty and the rain was light at that point, but they didn't appear to pick up my scent. One of them had antlers but as the light came up I could see he was a very small forky or a spork. None of them seemed to take any notice of the scent or decoy about 50 yards from them. I decided to pass on the small buck. Would have been a long bow shot anyway, and I can't stalk quietly enough in my rain gear. They moved on, I did some calling with no response, and I decided to walk around a bit. My rain gear keeps me dry but it's Army surplus and way to noisy for still hunting with a bow, so I ditched it at the car.
As I worked my way down the slope, I bumped a couple of groups of does around 9am. They were not too alarmed though, and didn't move too far off. Since they were still moving I decided to set out some scent and do some calling. That drew one doe and fawn back through, apparently headed back to join the main group. No shooters seen today.
Will be back out tomorrow to the spot where I saw that randy buck last week. With scent and a decoy, if he shows up I may get I'm out in the open.
Have fun out there!
