My fifth hunt yesterday (warning, nothing bagged)
Well--to keep you guys further entertained with a newbie's development; here's yesterday's attempt.
NW Georgia is obviously being hunted hard, and the deer are being more and more pressured. I visited Pigeon/crockford yesterday to sign in and decided to do some scouting on top of the mountain. There's a field which borders some woods which a hunting friend told me in years past was a good spot for him. Unfortunately--said field had been hayed--and now is just low green grass providing no cover. I scouted the perimeter, and despite presence of heavy acorn drops on the ground found no signs of deer. Not good. I figured I might as well go into the forest and see if I could find any signs/trails. The forest is about half way through losing it's leaves--so the ground is very "crunchy" with thick bed of dry leaves and the going is slow. I see absolutely no signs of deer--no scrapes, rubs scat--nada. I'm not even sure I'm really on any deer trails--I just follow what looks like an easy way through the woods.
I recently bought a deer call but had forgotten it at home. Since it was still early on my hike in (about 1:30) I figured I'd amuse myself by seeing if I could simulate a buck call by simply blowing into my cupped hand--more or less doing what I did as a kid making pretend farts. : ) I approached a downed tree with a few small saplings around it but which was otherwise fairly exposed and made a few blows which I thought sounded similar to the call I had bought. I was totally shocked and amazed when two nice-sized does materialized from seemingly nowhere and looked about curiously. I was out in the open maybe 100 yards away but totally exposed and didn't know what to do other than to freeze. Too far for my bow; but had I had a rifle (not allowed) I might have been able to take a shot. I make a few more pretend calls and the does looked about curiously for a minute or two but eventually walk off down into a gully that had a dried creek bed. They didn't bolt with alarm so I followed. I decide to set up my new Ameristep el cheapo ground blind and just watch the area to see if it had any potential. I'm more or less in a flat area in the gulley with a fairly good 270 degree command of the area and with the slope of a hill to my back. At about 2:30 I hear movement--of course it's behind me on the steep hillside. I turn just in time to see the back half of a deer disappear into the thick brush at about 30 yards. An impossible shot even if I had been ready--too much low cover. So the long wait for sunset set in; the listening of the woods for tell-tale sounds. I'm pretty sure I hear one or two more deer up in the gully slope shuffle by but see nothing more. At about 5:00 I hear a snort nearby--I figure I probably had been made. I stay put until I can no longer make anything out through my scope and call it quits for the hike out in the dark. I see no deer at all on the way out or or even on the sides of the roads after dark--a bit unusual I think.
Well, nothing bagged but it was nonetheless a very exciting and rewarding experience for me. I also feel like I graduated from "totally inept bungling beginner" to "has an immense amount to learn but could actually get lucky one day." LOL
