Well, still "owe" my landowner a deer for lease payment and headed to the stand this afternoon. Cameras show that 3 does and a small buck have been regulars in the evening. The buck has only one antler or an antler and a stub, making him a 1x4 which is legal, or a 0x4 which is not legal. Ordinarily I wouldn't shoot him but I have a debt. At any rate, I'm in the stand and sweating like the bow season opener with no breeze for cooling. Been in the stand for about 45 minutes and catch motion to my left--it's the buck coming down the creek. He is in shadows and I can't tell if he's legal or not and he's on my non shooting side. I watch him stand in place for a good 10 minutes before he decides to come closer---gets part way to the tripod and turns away. This is my opportunity so I lift the ML to the top of the rest and get ready. He turns around and comes to the base of the tripod, crossing my track where I had gone to the feed pen to throw some hand corn. Didn't spook, but with the rifle on the rest I couldn't shoot. If it had been on my lap, would have been a simple matter of tipping the muzzle downward, aiming along the barrel and boom. He wandered on off to the right in the brushy bottom, worked around to the clearing on the other side of the pen and I just knew he was coming in--but he walked on off. So--I relaxed and waited and waited and waited. Got down at dark but I'll be back the rest of the week--I am hoping the 3 does show up because one is big and didn't have a fawn this season, or else lost it early. She is really in good condition.
Not a successful hunt but a good hunt anyway.
Not a successful hunt but a good hunt anyway.
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