Twelve Days

Last night when I was sitting in my treestand, I realized I have only twelve days before I leave for Illinois. That means only twelve days to hunt down and kill Mr. Big, unless I have to wait to kill him when I get back. But by then the rut will be in full swing, and who knows if he will have been stupid enough to show up under someone else’s stand, or been stupid enough to get hit by a car or…

Is this going to be possible to kill him in twelve days? I’ve already been hunting him for over a month. But I do have a few advantages over him, I think.

Number one, pre-rut activity has started, so that gives me a small advantage over the Bucks. The disadvantage is that they are sticking close to the does, and unless the does move in, I wont get a shot.

Number two, if a big storm comes through, I stand a very good chance of at least seeing him since the deer will move earlier and most likely come to the corn under my stand.

Number three, I finally have this decoy thing figured out. Last night I tried a different decoy tactic than I had the night before. The night before, I had an antlerless decoy about 15 yards from my stand facing the field. Last night I an antlered decoy about 30 yards past my stand, facing away. I figured this way it would draw the deer past me, and having it face away would be to my advantage since the bucks would want to circle to see him head on.

And whaddya know, it worked! A small buck came down the usual deer trail, caught sight of the decoy, detoured under my stand, and came walking sideways around the decoy with his ears laid back. I expected to see my decoy die a swift and painless death by the antlers of a five point, but instead the little buck just circled for a few minutes, then left for greener pastures.

The does on the other hand, acted as if my decoy wasn’t even there. Though the bucks would come out of the field to investigate and parade around it, the does would stay where they were and make my life easier for me by not winding/seeing/smelling me and spooking any other deer.

So, I’ll probably be carrying that stupid decoy out to the field again tomorrow night in hopes that Mr. Big will show up and come on over.

Twelve days, an even dozen. I have 8 different bucks coming to my stand, and I’ve had chances at every single one except Mr. Big…can he really outsmart me until the season is over?? (Don’t answer that).