Well, we hit the woods around 5am Saturday morning. I slipped into a spot very near the turkey roost overlooking a row of honey locust trees. The spot has a river crossing behind it (now heavily used since there’s now water in the river), so naturally, hopes were a little high. The ‘pink light’ got the turkeys talking and by the time I could see, there were a dozen turkeys within 15-20 yards of me. Wanting to practice for the upcoming fall turkey season, I thought about drawing on a bird to see if I could get it done without getting busted, but resisted the urge to ‘practice’, so as not to set the woods alert to high level. I sat mostly motionless for a few hours and saw no deer.
That afternoon, we headed over to set up camp and go hunt another area where we’d built a nice ground blind in the spring, only to find the trails there had gone cold. I decided to do some scouting to see what I could find and stumbled upon a bedding area. Before I knew where I was, I’d spooked a big doe and a MONSTER buck! With them being near the blind we built, I hope they start using the trails around it soon. I took a path that brought me into an open field along a thick brushline, and while walking without an arrow on the string, found myself 10 yards, face to face, with a young deer. Pulling an arrow from my bow quiver was the only reason she needed to hightail it! I knocked the arrow anyhow and took a few more steps, to find myself being eyeballed by another deer of the same size at around 25 yards, standing perfect broadside just inside the tallgrass. You bet I got the shakes!! And I drew, anchored, released and felt my bow arm jerk left upon release (a condition I work with during every practice session with my longbow), and watched the arrow just miss the brisket as the deer spun around at the sound of the string. The only shot I got all weekend, but I’m thankful for a ‘good miss’, and maybe someone upstairs is helping me save that doe tag for something bigger:wink:
