Did anyone get a deer on Residents day?

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid

Got it! You're amazing, ranger. Thanks for the giggle.

ya i no,its a curse but i live with it.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

Yup. Steve has a buck call. I have doe lure and a little toy thing that you turn over, put your finger over the hole and turn it over again. It's supposed to sound like "a young doe in heat." Since I have no idea what that's supposed to sound like I'm taking their word for it, kind of. If you shake it, it sounds like the deer are laughing at you. THAT sound I'm familiar with.

I thought Steve was kidding when he said he was going to spray dirt on me. I said I'd been walking in the dirt all bleeping day. But I'd walking in the hen house to get eggs and you know that smell was on my boots - so he sprayed me. He sprayed me with dirt and fermented apples today. I feel a little bit like a science experiment. Here! Let's spray me with this and this and this and we'll see what happens. So far, not a darn thing.

You have to be weally weally qwiet, Elmer Fudd style, when you're making a racket.

I did something different this morning. I've been sitting in one of two places, leaving scent tags along the way to the first spot. I've seen six mice but not one deer. I've recorded three waypoints on my GPS - home, my spot near a stream and another clearing just because Steve thought I should mark it. I went about a quarter mile in the opposite direction as normal, into the woods about 100 yards, and used deer trails and my GPS to get to my spot near the stream. A couple of times I wondered what in the heck I was doing, considered turning around for half a second two times and going back out, but didn't want to have to admit to Steve that I was a little overwhelmed alone in unfamiliar woods. He's a forester. He thinks nothing of taking off into the woods. At one point I got stuck stradling a fallen tree. (It's ok to laugh.) I did put my rifle down before I tried to get by it. I got myself off the tree and kept moving. The trails out there are like connecting highways with a few side streets. It was a challenge and kind of fun. If the trial I was on went through a thicket I'd look at the GPS, find the right direction and pick up a new trail in minutes. I didn't want to go through thickets because it's been raining. I wanted to stay as dry as possible as long as possible.

I found a great place to sit on a stump in a small clearing where four trails intersect. I used the doe in heat call and listened. Nothing. I had to use the GPS to figure out which direction I needed to go next. Using my GPS is new to me too. Until today I'd never used it except to find geocaches and this was nothing like that. When I got to a big clearing a tenth of a mile from my spot at the stream I knew where I was! I have no sense of direction (and had to completely trust the GPS to get me there) so I was proud of myself for knowing exactly where I was in unfamiliar woods. Until last Friday I'd never been in the woods on that side of the road. For the most part I stick to my 45 acres.

I did jump a deer. I could hear it bounce away into the thick woods. By then I'd met up with Steve and we were parting ways again. I waved him to me because I wasn't sure what to do. If I'd been alone I'd have figured something out. We couldn't find it, we were wet and getting cold, and I was ready for a cup of coffee. My clothes are in the dryer now.

I've seen scrapes (two today, one fresh this morning, one a day or two old), hookings (one today, but not fresh from this morning), more deer poop than I've ever seen just in one seven-tenths of a mile walk through the woods this morning, but I've still not seen a deer after six days of hunting. So, I have a new plan for this afternoon. I want one of those easy deer. You know - the easy to shoot innocent Bambi that comes with a bullseye on it. It's the kind the folks who have never hunted and the anti-hunters talk about. It can't outrun a bullet and it stands there batting it's eyelashes at you while you shoot it. I want one of those easy ones because the REAL deer are kicking my butt.

Sounds like you're learning some new things along with having a good (if not a bit frustrating) time! I haven't shot a deer in a couple of years.The people I have been with got them. It can be exasperating to spend all kinds of time pounding the thickets only to have the month end without getting a deer. It's nice just to spend a bunch of time in the woods though. I have befriended some squirrels who don't even sit and bark at me anymore. They go about their business and ignore me completely now.
We tried a new and promising area yesterday afternoon only about 1/2 a mile from where we were hunting all week. Unfortunately it started pouring and we got soaked. By 3:00 pm I was all done for the day!

Ranger I do the same thing with my clothes. I use spruce as there isn't alot of cedar around here.