Should be a good test for my setup.
I ended up having something important come up this afternoon so I didn’t get home til after 5. Decided to go out and sit a field edge just to monitor deer movement.
It didn’t take long before a young buck came across the field with his nose to the ground. Clearly a hot doe has been in the area.
I see a bigger body over the crest of the field and suspect it’s a cow. It’s not. It’s this guy and he’s working his way through the field toward my end.
I’m deliberating on what to do because I know that little buck is in the area and there’s also likely a doe in estrus. It’s rapidly getting dark and the moon is rising (and huge by the way) so I decided to try to circle around him to get the wind right and try to make a stalk.
My first step into the field is met with movement out of the corner of my eye. It’s another young buck that has worked his way out of the woods and along the field edge. I instinctively drop to a knee and pull up my binos.
He sees me. He’s also not alone. There is a bigger buck behind him (not a shooter). I sit still and watch it unfold. The young buck decides he doesn’t like what he sees and turns to trot away and the other buck turns to follow. The little buck joins them in the field and they start to work their way across the field in the opposite direction
The pig has now made his way almost completely across the field in is on the same field edge as me but at the other end. Instead of turning towards me he goes into the woods. I suspect he will work his way to my feeder.
The deer didn’t stay in the field long after they noticed the pig so I moved into the woods and toward the feeder. I didn’t feel like there was time to get in the blind or climb into my stand so I quickly kicked a spot clean of leaves up next to a tree 15 yards from the feeder.
Right at dark I could hear him coming. For the longest time I expected to see him appear at the feeder but finally the thought occurred to me: he’s gonna circle down wind.
I turned 180 degrees to prepare for a quick shot should he circle around me. If he made it too far he would wind me.
He finally materialized and I realized he was going to be a lot closer than I had imagined. He was walking straight towards me. At about 10 yards he took a right (my left) and was going to continue circling. My heart was beating through my chest and I’m pretty sure I started holding my breath.
By this time I could see him clearly even though it was pretty much dark. This trail brought him within 5 yards of me but he caught a whiff of something he didn’t like. He turned to walk back out the way he came in and I sensed that he was about to bust a move. He walked through a small opening where I had a clear shot.
I drew and launched an arrow into his shoulder on line to his heart. He was quartering to me slightly but I’m pretty sure I got decent penetration. He ran into the thick stuff and I heard him crash then I heard him crash again. (Or perhaps he was thrashing)
However he ran into an area that deer could possibly come from in the morning so I chose to back out and look for him in the morning.
Stay tuned!
P.S.-If you read through all of that thank you.
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