Sits # 25, 26, 27, & 28 - Downswing of the Rut

After seeing lots of deer by the spring on Sunday the 11th, I was eager to get back over there with a better wind. Unfortunately, it said that the wind was supposed to be out of the SW, so my plan was to sit NW of the bus. I was also curious to see what was on that camera that I left there for over a week. After getting lost and found again through the maze of blowdowns, I finally made it to the camera at about 3:05pm. I reviewed the pictures and was horribly disappointed to find 4 pictures of two different yearling bucks. What a waste. I pulled the camera and figured I surely wasn't going to be sitting there tonight and so I made the decision to high-tail it over to the spring. Again, on my way over there, I was going so slow and quiet in the spot where I kicked up the buck the night before. I even stopped. Sure enough, I heard a twig snap right next to me. A deer got up and walked away from about 20 yards to 40 and out of sight. I never got to see the deer's head. I proceeded to the stand and on my way up the tree, while still holding on to the tree steps, here comes a doe busting through there and I heard something coming behind her! Oh no, I thought! That would be my luck. Have a bruiser come trotting through when I've got my hands completely tied. Thankfully, it was just a yearling 6 or so. I climbed up and they both just kind of walked off. About an hour later I had two lone fawns come in, I'm thinking it was the doe from before's fawns. At about 4:30pm, I decided to rattle a bit to see if I could stir something up. About 10 minutes later I had another yearling buck, looked like a little fork, came circling in. One thing I have learned already with this stand is that you need a straight wind from the South and it needs to be kind of stiff so it doesn't swirl. The yearling buck picked me off with his nose and calmly trotted out of there. That was it for that night.
The next morning, Tuesday the 13th, I had a south southwest wind and figured I would try it again. I left the truck and it was 6 degrees and I'm sure it dropped after the sun broke the horizon. I was freezing! at about 9:10, I was about to pack it up and climb down and I finally heard a deer coming. I got ready and of course, like always, the deer hung up about 45 yards away without me being able to see it. I always imagine antlers when I can't see the deer. However this time of year, Bucks aren't really calm feeding critters. They are still on a mission. If they're on their feet, they're cruising or following a doe. Sure enough, the deer shows itself and it was a fawn. Shortly after I see its momma. They feed slowly behind me, nipping on the cedar bows. Eventually they got my wind and blew. They didn't leave, although I thought they did. About 10 minutes later, around 9:40am, a lone deer came by at about 70 yards and stopped to browse. I thought it had kept going and wanted to pick up the pace. That could have been a mistake. A) the doe and fawn from before were still downwind of me at about 30 yards and B) the new deer was still out there, she was just not moving. I picked up the rattling antlers and banged 'em together for a while. The doe behind me blew and the other doe took off too. Had I known the new lone doe was still there, I would have given her some time. Who knows what was only a few minutes behind her that eventually may have came in. I scared 'em all away.That was pretty much my morning. It was so cold. I did settle on either switching trees or making sure I have a better wind than a SSW.
Then on Friday morning, the 16th,  I got out south of the landing, thinking Pencil might move into the area sometime soon. Nope. Still haven't gotten any pictures of him worth talking about. I also didn't seen any deer while sitting that morning. However, I did take advantage of an opportunity to hang my cameras out in some farm country where the deer should be congregating a bit. The corn food plot that I figured Pencil was frequenting this fall didn't have one cob of corn left in it by the time deer season came around. Unreal. The main scrape along the wood's edge was worked up after the snow, so I figured I had nothing to lose by tying it for a few days. We'll see how that turns out. I also put a Cuddeback over on the pinch in the creek (where I got some great pictures in 2010). There are two different standing soybean food plots and that pinch in the creek is one of many travel corridors between them, but I think I should pick up a buck or two in there.
I sat this morning south of my permanent stand for the first time ever. I hung a stand in a cluster of cedars on the 17th. I had a doe and a fawn come in from the east this morning and I was ready to shoot the doe, but she never came all the way out. Eventually the wind picked up and they got my scent.
I checked the cameras near there and as of today, the majority of the deer activity has shockingly been near our rifle stands. It's starting to wind down now, but we had a few more pics of bucks during daylight and as this weather warms up, that will probably shut down until it cools off again.

I checked the camera I put back up northeast of Pete's on the logging road, but there haven't been many tracks in there. I had like three pictures in a week, so I moved that camera to where I think three bucks' ranges overlap, right near the road. Last night a friend asked me if I recognized a buck, sure enough it was Bullwinkle. I just about wrote him off as dead. He's either 7 or 8 1/2 years old. That's amazing!
He's a basic 9 point this year with long beams and a solid body. I'd love to shoot him. I'd almost want to shoot him more than some of these other young studs. What an old warrior!

That's all I know for now. I'll try to sit a few more times, but we're running out of good days to be in the woods. This