Headed down to the Valley. I was feeling really good about being out of work early, and going hunting on such a beautiful afternoon. I just was not excited about knowing that there were going to be tons of people out hunting. (I am hunting a private farm that boarders an airport and large forest.) So I stopped at a local bar grabbed a salad for lunch and then headed to the Bait Shop. I hung there for a bit and lost track of time. Around 2 o'clock I decided it was time to head out. Now I got to my spot and got geared up. This sit was supposed to be an observation sit. I was going to walk in, look for sign, sit on the highest hill I could find over looking the swamp I felt the deer were bedding in. On my walk in I found TONS of tracks. Most I have ever seen, EVER. lol. But they were all close to a main road and the farmer has been doing a lot of logging in this area, so I figured it had to be all night sign. I walked back about another mile or so and hit the far end of the swamp where all the rolling hills were. As I walked up the rolling hills I found a TON of runs and old scat. Nothing new. But I sat at the base of a tree at about the 1/3 level. Got in at about 2:45 pm. I say for about 20 minutes before I heard russelling coming from the other side of the hill behind me. I looked over and here comes a black dog. After he pees about 30 feet away from me he runs back down the hill behind me. Then I hear foot steps again but it sounds like two dogs. Then the black lab and golden retriever come up to me and start licking my boots and rubbing all over me. The golden actually sat in my lap. (good thing you guys taught me to accept being stinky in the woods and just playing the wind.) Then I hear a guy SCREAMING on his cell phone. He is walking down the path right n front of me. He finally sees my hat and calls his dogs frantically and runs down the hill. Telling me he booted a deer where he came from. THEN I watch him get into his blue prius at the end of the runway of the airport. (smart and safe location) Looks like this guy was not supposed to be on this property.
So now that I think my hunt is ruined I walked up the remainder of the hill to see whats on the other side. It was perfect. A steep steep hill overlooking a real thick area. Perfect for a sit. So I was torn. Do I want to sit on the side where I can see the swamp or do I want to sit on the side where I can see this thick gully, and a small watering hole to my left. So after walking back and forth 5 or 6 times I finally decided I would sit on the hill overlooking the thick stuff. I didn't think I would see anything after the guy and his dogs had walked through it and probably peed all over some of the trees. So I sat at the base of a tree at the very top of the hill and waited. About 15 minutes after I sat down I heard something playing in the leaves to my right just over a small hill. That got my heart racing for a half hour, then I realized it was just a gray squirrel.
An hour or so went by and at about 4:05 PM I looked at my phone and put it away. After a few minutes I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. A deer was walking across that exact same run that guy ran down with his dogs. I could not believe it. So I lifted my muzzle loader and tried to find the deer in my scope, but I couldn't for some reason. Then I looked up from my gun and the deer was gone. Then I looked further down the run and there it was, it started walking down the same run the guy walked on with his dogs. The deer was about 70 yards away now. So I lifted my gun again and put the cross hairs on the deer's ribs and i squeezed the trigger slowly. POW went the gun and the smoke cleared. The deer was standing there darting her head around looking for where the loud sound came from. After a few minutes 3 deer spooked and took off up the hill into the real thick area I was facing.
So after that I realized I forgot my speed loads in my car. I started walking to my car swearing at myself. I called my buddy and I told him I was coming back to the store and he told me to go back in because there was still 40 minutes of light. So I loaded up my gun and went back into the spot. I sat there for 30 minutes wondering where I went wrong and why I missed. Then about 10 minutes before I had to get out of the woods I hear crunch crunch crunch over where I had heard the squirrels running around on the other side of a small hill. Then here comes the same group of 3 does over the hill. They started feeding 20 yards from me at the bottom of the hill. I could not believe it. I had just shot at them 75 yards away from where they were standing when I shot at them last. So I was not going to give up the opportunity. I shot the first one that gave me a shot, and that happened to be the button buck. And it happened 3 minutes before legal shooting hours were over.
I dont have any pictures of the deer, but I have pictures of the spot. I know the deer is not huge or crazy, but I am kind of proud of how far I have come. I went in to scout and hunt, and on my first sit in a new place, I took a deer. And I feel like I have found a nice spot that the deer have to pass through to get to their destination. IDK I never thought I would kill a deer on my first sit this year. Not to mention it was from the ground (never did that before.) IDK kind of cool. Not to mention I have got a ton of in-tell. In this spot, there are HUNDREDS of oak trees. A lot are red but there are a lot of whites as well. So This is GREAT information for next year. IDK I am all around pleased with the situation. Thanks for listening to my rant. GOOD LUCK TO ALL! AND CONGRATS TO THE KILLERS!
AGAIN thank you all so much for helping me the last 6 months. I have gone from someone who has NO clue what he is doing, to someone who has complete confidence in my skills to get on deer. I have not done it consistently but I did not see myself being this successful this quickly. So I owe all of my success to everyone here. Even if you have not directly messaged me or posted a reply to my posts. But reading all of the fantastic info on here is what has made me successful this year.
