I mean ... we swap hunting stories at work all the time ... figured it would be cool to get out as a group and create a few more !
We didn't see alot of deer ... but covered alot off ground and got some cool pictures !
Our morning stand got messed up , when some canine critters showed up and chased the deer out the North / East corner of the swamp ...
Steve R. was in the swamp stand .... I wave him down , and call the other guys out so we can hussle to another farm and salvage the morning ...
Rob L. was in the back field stand ...
Chris O. works his way out from the middle ladder stand , when he heard the call out to relocate ..
Jim M. had the longest walk out after finding his way to the side field stand in the early morning darkness ...
I heard about some deer feeding the North end of a standing corn field at another farm approx 10 mins away ... so we jumped in the trucks and headed further North ...
Rob L. and Jim M. provided transport for the day ... two cozy Toyota Tundra's ... This is Jim's ride , following us out ..
Ended up being a great weather day ... I think that is why the canine critters were out ! ... here are a couple of quick shots of a young coyote crossing the field .
When we got to the other farm ... I set the guys up on the escape routes and went to dog the corn field where the deer had been sighted earlier ....
Then guess what happens !
I walk right up to a beauty dark brown , dark racked cedar swamp buck in the corn , but I wasn't carrying my camera or my Y25 Relayer ! ... It was a close encounter I will never forget ! ... The only sign of him at follow-up , was a track crossing the road when we checked out his escape route later ..
We go for breakfast , and re-live the morning events ... I can't stop thinking about the buck in the corn .. We decide to check the corn rows on the way back and sure enough we spot more deer .. here is a frame of a dark buck in the corn row ..
The wind is right and the snow is soft enough for a stalk ( Steve R. volunteers ) ... we set the guys up on some other escape routes and I hang back to try to get some cool pictures ...
Unbelievable how close Steve gets to these deer ... I witnessed the whole thing ... I saw a doe and two fawns walk rows away as Steve stalked closer to the the buck that evantually walks ahead with a doe in front of him ..
The buck and doe seem to hear something as Steve's approaches but crane thier ears in the opposite direction ... because the wind is right they realy have no idea Steve is a few rows over and closing !
The last two frames show the buck lifting head ... appears to be wind scenting .. then from my vantage point they seem to disappear into the lower corn foliage ..
Steve is basically right beside them now , downwind ...
Steve gets his crossbow up for the shot ... only he can explain what happend next ... there was a flurry of movement and the few shots I did get were too blurry to post ...
PS : Is it possible to shoot over deer at that short distance ! ... The answer is Yes ! ... I've done it myself !
On the bright side ... I missed an awsome photo opportunity and shot on the swamp buck ..
But I did get these sweet frames of a buck that ran the " Easton Aluminum " gauntlet later in the corn field push !
He stops long enough to look back towards Rob L's position ...
Before he heads into the cover past Chris O's sniper spot ... and that is the last we see of him ..
By the end of the day ... we had no deer down , but some awsome new stories to tell at work !!
Good luck to all that venture out this week !
