Crazy Evening in the Rain
11/12/12- PM. Rain all day and windy so I decided to sit on the ground where I shot the doe earlier in October. Its an area where deer cross from a thick area where they bed to big timber to eat acorns at night (and vice versa). So I was hoping to catch them coming from their beds. Sat from 2:30 until 4:15 and was cold, wet, and wasn't seeing anything. My Rocky rain gear pants decided to leak this year for some reason so I was chilled to the bone. Rather than leave I decided to scout around a little in the rain. Found some good sign and a couple places to hunt then peeked over a hill into a pasture field and there stood a doe.....
She saw me but never spooked entirely cause she couldn't tell what I was and she started walking over the hill through the pasture field. So I decided to try and circle around the ridge, through the other side of the pasture field, and get a shot at her. When I got around to the end of the ridge I looked and she was way down over the hill in some honeysuckle. So I stalked closer. Then I noticed a 4pt buck had her pinned up against a steep bank in some honeysuckle with the road above about 40 yards away. So I followed a drainage ditch with brush on both sides of it and stalked to within 40 yards of them. They eventually got nervous and started going up into the honeysuckle more but she didn't know what was happening and the 4pt buck was NOT going to leave her.
I am crouched down beside brush and a drainage ditch to my right and I happened to look to my left and down over the hill came 5 does, a big buck (10pt), and a spike. They were closing on me fast so I turned while crouching and faced them as the big buck chased the doe apast me at 35-40 yards. I tried to grunt to stop him but it didn't work. They ran to the other side of the drainage ditch and stopped. The other 4 does and spike stayed to my left about 30 yds away. So there I am, crouched down beside a drainage ditch in a pasture field, 4 does and a spike to my left at 40 yards, a 4pt and doe to my front at 40 yds, a big buck and doe to my right at 40 yards, and cars going by on the road above about 80 yards away. Hmmmmm. What to do.
I could tell the big buck and doe were going to head on up the hollow so I needed to try and make a move to get a shot. I needed to move forward 5 yards to have a 35 yard shot through a clearing in the brush. My hope was that the other deer would spook but since the big buck and doe were facing away from me they would stand there for a few seconds and I could get a shot..........It didn't work. Deer went everywhere! The big buck and doe were gone to my right and up the hollow. The 4pt, spike, and 5 does ran up the hill to my left to 60 yards and stopped. There I stood.... dejected, wet, cold, and just looking at the deer. So what now?
The 4pt and spike start fighting on the hill! Then the 4pt put his nose to the ground and started nosing all around the field following the doe's scent back toward the honeysuckle in front of me. He nosed around and came to within 15 yds of me, stopped, looked at me, kind of spooked, ran up the hill, and started nosing around again and circled me. A typical (sorta) 4pt buck, young dumb and ....well you got it. Eventually they all ran up the hill and my crazy evening in the rain was over. Once again I couldn't get a break and luck was not on my side but it was a pretty cool evening nonetheless.
