Have found myself ending a lot of seasons dejected as my "plans" for success have backfired in my face. As last season ended somebody on here turned me on to Bobby Worthington and his simple philosophy for harvesting large deer. Using what little information he privided from a podcast I found on youtube I set my sites on a pair of spots on my club with heavy cover and devised my plan to get within bowrange. Both spots needed a S wind but I figured I would let my cameras do the talking and I could bounce back and forth to prevent burning either spot out. While one spot yielded some impressive pics I was a little bummed when I pulled the card on my other spot a few weeks ago and saw nothing. The mineral block had been hit so I knew deer were there but I had no visual evidence to get me excited.
I had taken today off from work a few weeks ago and was super pumped as it looked as though the stars had aligned for my morning hunt. Cold weather, rut activity, favorable wind and a front bringing rain through tonight. Who could ask for more? Even though I had already hunted my prime spot twice over the past 3 weeks I was headed back to get my buck. But as I made my final turn to approach my lease this morning my heart sank as I saw headlights sitting at the gate. He waited for me to pull through the gate and then we stood and talked for a second discussing each other's plan. As bad as I hated to do it I forced myself to ask "where are you planning on sitting?" Well I am sure you know the answer. As badly as I wanted to claim that spot for my own I knew better and insisted he take it even though I am sure he would have gone elsewhere had I asked. I told him it was fine and I had another spot I was needing to try out anyway.
Typically I like to be up a tree 30 minutes before daylight but with my change in plans I made the 1/2 mile trek to my spot as light broke. As if things couldn't get any worse,as I neared my tree, a doe comes bouncing towards me, quickly spots me, and leaves out blowing back into the cutover. My phone clock said 7:00 as I finally got situated in my tree and sat my Hoyt in my lap. Aside from squirrels playing everywhere I didn't hear a sound for an hour. Not even a sound was made as I looked up and saw a descent 8 point approaching me at 30 yards. I have hunted long enough to know just how unpredicatable deer are but I tell you this buck did exactly what I wanted him to do as he strolled right past my mineral lick to within 15 yards. Everything happened in 2 minutes tops. I didn't even have a chance to get nervous. Nothing may ever happen again in the woods the way I would like but this morning things sure went right. Not a monster but was tickled to death to get my hands on him.
I had taken today off from work a few weeks ago and was super pumped as it looked as though the stars had aligned for my morning hunt. Cold weather, rut activity, favorable wind and a front bringing rain through tonight. Who could ask for more? Even though I had already hunted my prime spot twice over the past 3 weeks I was headed back to get my buck. But as I made my final turn to approach my lease this morning my heart sank as I saw headlights sitting at the gate. He waited for me to pull through the gate and then we stood and talked for a second discussing each other's plan. As bad as I hated to do it I forced myself to ask "where are you planning on sitting?" Well I am sure you know the answer. As badly as I wanted to claim that spot for my own I knew better and insisted he take it even though I am sure he would have gone elsewhere had I asked. I told him it was fine and I had another spot I was needing to try out anyway.
Typically I like to be up a tree 30 minutes before daylight but with my change in plans I made the 1/2 mile trek to my spot as light broke. As if things couldn't get any worse,as I neared my tree, a doe comes bouncing towards me, quickly spots me, and leaves out blowing back into the cutover. My phone clock said 7:00 as I finally got situated in my tree and sat my Hoyt in my lap. Aside from squirrels playing everywhere I didn't hear a sound for an hour. Not even a sound was made as I looked up and saw a descent 8 point approaching me at 30 yards. I have hunted long enough to know just how unpredicatable deer are but I tell you this buck did exactly what I wanted him to do as he strolled right past my mineral lick to within 15 yards. Everything happened in 2 minutes tops. I didn't even have a chance to get nervous. Nothing may ever happen again in the woods the way I would like but this morning things sure went right. Not a monster but was tickled to death to get my hands on him.
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