I started hunting at 40 yrs old and I saw a doe at about 40 yds after I left my gun on the other side of the ridge and was walking around in a very low density spot on my first sit.
And my very next hunt, same spot a few days later, the doe (or another) was in heat (or almost) and I saw her and 3 other bucks of which two were monsters and the other which I shot was a good sized 3 yr old 7 or 8 pointer. I saw all the other deer after I shot my buck (and was waiting 2 hours-only to later find out it was a bad hit because I hit the edge of a tree in front of him and I had passed all those other deer in the meantime) and was walking around that area like I was on a hike. Every animal was seen within 40-50 yards. One at 10.
In 5 seasons of hunting and countless hunts I've never experienced another hunt remotely as substantial as on that one. I always wonder if a non-hunter or new hunter doesn't emit the same predatory signals that an experienced one does. Do the deer perceive the same danger? I did everything wrong on both those first hunts but I was running into deer every 30 minutes on average. I figured this deer hunting the Bigwoods was going to be a piece of cake.
[ Post made via iPhone ]
