11-9-12 Let the marathon begin...

So, this is the start of my final attempt at harvesting a buck prior to the 2012 Gun Season here in Indiana. While we don't have as many crazies as Michigan or other states...it gets quite hairy for the weeks the orange army hits the woods. Many of the bucks I've been passing or taking pictures of will hit the ground...which is just how it is. It can frustrate me, but that's the beauty of hunting; "To each their own style and level of commitment".

So the specs of the hunt:

Where: Homestead

Stand/Location: Far NE one over the primary scrape (which has went dead)

Time in: 6:16am

Time out: 6:15pm down

Wind: S/SE


This location is a great travel corridor where the woods get naturally pinched down some with houses to the North and to the South. The hillside isn't steep enough to the point that deer won't walk up it, but they do skirt it if in a hurry and that's what I was banking on a big buck doing.

I got in early and had deer instantly around me...just sitting in the dark with deer moving around you is both awesome but can drive you crazy. "Is that a shooter" or "Man that one sounds huge" can flow through your thoughts almost to the point to drive you crazy.

Well this would be an all-day sit so I nestled back into the stand a little deeper and got comfortable for the 30 minute wait till I would stand up and be "more" ready for the legal time when it came.

Legal time came and went. All I had was does moving to their day bedding areas which are located on both sides of me...setting up a great chance for a seeking buck moving between them. 4 right at light came and were under me for some time before taking off back to the East bedding area as they got nervous due to some outside noise from one of the neighbors outside working.

Evercalm did it's thing again though, because one of those does walked my exact entrance trail back to the barn located 30/40 yards to my left rear...was awesome to see!

10:00am have a small buck come in behind me from East moving West. I mess with him a little and call him out in front of me. He looks up the hill, and assuming that's where the deer headed went up it before leaving the top for the East again minutes later.

When I say I was covered in squirrels I mean it. At one point I counted 14 different ones all within easy .22 range...made me wish I had one with a silencer. I could have filled a freezer with the things:

I did see some mid-day movement around noon off to my East. Does headed even further East for unknown reasons.

That would be it till late at night when I had some movement of unknown origins in the dark. Would leave bow in the tree and plan on hunting the stand in the morning...too many does and that time of year to not hunt it.