I took off this week, but the pre-rut around here has been fairly slow and even while spotting we haven't seen any bucks pushing does around, not even the small bucks. I decided that on Sunday (we can't hunt on Sunday's in PA) I would spend some time doing some in season scouting to get my finger on the pulse of the woods. I spent all day checking some areas that I was thinking about hunting only to find that those areas weren't ready for the typical pre-rut hunting yet. So, I decided to check out a piece of public that I had never hunted before, and as a matter of fact, just became public land within the last few years.
I walked in to this piece and begin to pick it apart. It's your typical hill country setup, and I knew where the beds should be in a situation like this. I've never had a problem finding buck beds in spots like this, only accessing the area without blowing them out. I walked into what I believed to be the staging area and saw all the sign that you would want to see in an area where a buck would feel comfortable, and saw the signs of him being there. I also knew the the wind for the following day was supposed to be a SE wind so there was a good chance that something would be coming back to bed in this area. I didn't search for the bed because I really didn't want to be anymore intrusive than I was already being. So I hung my set so that it would be ready for the next morning.
I believe that the key to this whole set, other than his bed being right there, was the entry. It was an easy entrance and exit that didn't cross the path of the buck on his way back to bed, so I wasn't laying any ground sent where he was traveling.
Anyway, I got into the stand about 45 minutes before light. And about an an hour and twenty minutes later he popped out of the thick stuff. I only had seconds to make a decision as he was starting to break down over the hill. I decided to take him, I put an arrow in him and he took off down over the hill.
I thought that the shot may be a little back so I let him go for a few hours, went to get a cup of coffee and something to eat. It had rained the whole time I was gone and I was a little worried that I may have a hard time finding blood. Well when I got there there was no blood at all, but I knew which way he went, and I could see from the kicked up leaves and dirt which way he had gone. On my way down the hill I found his bed and it was worn to the dirt. It turns out I was only about 30-40 yards from it. I walked down the hill and there he was about 70 yards away. He didn't bleed until about 5 yards from where he was.
Public land PA buck down, off to Ohio on Saturday.
