Close encounter while hanging stand ...

[longspurs]

Yesterday afternoon I slipped into a spot I've hunted the past two years to hang a couple stands and make sure things were good to go. I finished with the first stand and was nearly done with the second when I heard something. I looked up to see one of my target bucks closing the distance! I was standing on my screw-in steps at about stand height (20 feet) and I froze. He stopped to sniff the ground where I'd walked and then turned and proceeded to walk through all four of my shooting lanes before heading down into the river bottom and out of sight. The wind was in my favor so except for the ground scent, he didn't have a clue.

My question to you all is what was he doing on his feet at 12:30 in the afternoon? It's obviously been warm so my first guess was that perhaps he got up for a drink. The other thing I wondered was if he might have heard my rustling around and decided to come investigate. Either way, he was very much at ease moving through the timber.

It was awesome to watch him walk by at roughly 12 paces ... hope he comes by for a repeat performance on Tuesday evening.

-Longspurs-

 

[Crimson Arrows]

Very cool story. Hard to say but those big boys will always be mysterious.

Good luck Tuesday.

 

[YtailFreak]

After reading the title, I was anticipating this to be a story of you almost falling from the tree or even falling but walking away unhurt.

Thank god that wasnt the case and Good Luck to you with that buck. Be safe.

 

[LYON]

Sweet! Hope he gives you that kind of a look again!

 

[longspurs]

After reading the title, I was anticipating this to be a story of you almost falling from the tree or even falling but walking away unhurt.

Thank god that wasnt the case and Good Luck to you with that buck. Be safe.

Thanks, I'm thankful that wasn't the case either! I was wearing my trusty lineman's rope ... never hang stands without it now that I own one. :way:

-Longspurs-

 

[BDAHMS]

Any photos of this target buck?

 

[ShedHunter1]

Probably smelled the Snicker bars in your jacket! LOL

 

[Wildlifexpressions64]

I say he heard the noise and was bein nosey. Deer sure are some mysterious animals

 

[Hanyak]

I suspect just up browsing a little. Contrary to some beliefs, I think deer get up periodically and feed/drink in close vicinity of their bedding area.

 

[Hanyak]

I suspect just up browsing a little. Contrary to some beliefs, I think deer get up periodically and feed/drink in close vicinity of their bedding area throughout the day.

 

[longspurs]

Any photos of this target buck?

I have a couple grainy shots of him from the stand last fall and I found his left shed this spring, but I don't run cameras on this property ... it had literally been undisturbed by a hunter for years and years before I got to hunt it so I have chosen not to go that route yet. My approach to the place is as low impact as possible. I've had close calls with toads for the past two years now so we'll see if the third year is the charm. Last year he would have grossed right at 130 as a clean eight point ... this year he'll push 150 based on what I saw. The past two years I've seen some much larger than that so to say I'm excited for this season would be a gigantic understatement! Here's his shed ...

Probably smelled the Snicker bars in your jacket! LOL

Baby Ruth, Billy!! :drink1:

-Longspurs-

 

[KnuckleDragr]

Sounds like a dynamite property. Good luck with him! I'm under the impression that deer usually won't bed down for more than four hours or so at a time because they need to get up and browse often. Could very well have been the case.