My whitetail season....so far

[RAF]

This morning was out for the 1st time for white this center fire season. My Tikka 300 WSM came along . Got into my blind just minutes before legal shooting time. Noticed another hunter walking not far away. The door was ajar and judging from the tracks he had checked it out, maybe even considered using it until we came along. From the tracks looks like he parked on the main road and walked in and the first thing I thought was that coming in, he likely pushed any deer through(We usually approach from behind so as not to disturb the deer that are coming) Things were pretty slow and no deer seen until 9am. Suddenly notice a deer 100 yds away. It was stopped but moved right away. It was walking on the other side of a hill and out of sight. When I saw it again he was standing on a hill, maybe 175 yds away but no shot as there were lots of little branches in the way. I decided to have a little fun with him. Gave a grunt on the grunt call and that stopped him in his tracks. He turned towards me and I could see he was sure looking to see who else was around. Several more grunts and he moved a little closer but still no shot. He was a really nice deer. Not too wide but real high tines. Couldn't count the number of points but he was a shooter. He finally wandered off. Next year I'll be doing a lot of pruning .
We then moved to another part of the pasture. On the way we came upon some fresh tracks which were not a deer. Too big. Certain it was a moose. Moose have been around the area. Would have liked to see it.
We got to another spot and started to rattle. Wasn't long and I spotted another deer at about 200 yds. Just could see him through a small opening in some trees but at first wasn't sure if it was a whitetail or mulie. By the time I decided he had stepped into the trees. He had a really wide rack and you could tell with the naked eye he was a big deer. Now we know there is a 2nd good deer in the area. One more responded tothe rattle but he spotted us first and never got a good look at him. Was a good morning and although didn't shoot anything gained some useful knowledge.......Saturday will head back out.

[RAF]

Was out this past Saturday and in my blind 20 minutes before legal shooting time. Had high expectations. WELL, that was the first time in a long time that I haven't seen a singe deer. Weather was fine, not too cold and no wind. Deer should have been moving but they weren't . After the first couple hours in my blind we moved to other locations and tried rattling. That didn't work. I even sat in my partners blind while he circle around and tried to push some deer my way. Nope, still nothing. Buck must have all the does hold up somewhere and they weren't going to leave them alone. Oh well, that means more time out there

[ozark]

Many are the times when everything seemed perfect. Damp woods, perhaps a light mist of rain. no wind at all, cool weather etc. No deer moving at all. The only thing hunters have figured out is that we still can't predict with any assurance that deer will be moving. I think that the majority of deer movement is at night.

[RAF]

Today was a little better than last week. At least I saw some deer. It was a very chilly morning but the wind was right for me. Unfortunetely it was blowing right into my face which made it even colder. Just after sunrise saw a buck but he crossed a small opening and gone from sight before I could raise my rifle. I expected him to cross to the north of me and he did, right behind 4 does. Sadly there are plenty of trees and a small hill and all I could see of him was his head. He's wasn't a huge buck but, respectable and had I been able to take a shot, I would have. We did see one other deer, a mulie doe. Again I came home empty handed but I don't measure success by what I killed. I had a good morning and came home happy and a little frozen

[whyohe]

how much snow you have raf? i hope you get to see some more before seasons end.

[RAF]

It depends on where you are around here but around the house and also out where I hunt there's about 6 - 7 inches. I know up at my cabin there's over 20. I'd like to send you some of ours. I'm already tired of shoveling and it's only Dec 2. Plenty more on the way .