2016 Deer Hunt Part 2

After letting things settle down in the woods, I was back out in my 2-tree again Monday evening.  I typically have much more luck seeing deer in the morning, but I don't like wasting time and setting up in the evening makes it MUCH easier to get going quickly and quietly for a morning hunt.
Alas, Monday was very quiet.  No deer were seen and little to no shooting was heard.  So it goes.
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Tuesday morning came dark and early.  With the stand set up, I was able to lollygag a little before heading out to Mike's.  I always try to pull in to his property quietly, even knowing that he has a driveway alarm...

Temperatures were near freezing, but with no wind it felt extremely comfortable.  As daylight brightened, it turned out Tuesday morning was go-time!
Right around sunrise, a crunching noise told me that an animal - not a squirrel - was nearby.  Looking around, the first thing I saw were two dogs.  They were both quite large, with a reddish brown one and a very pale dog that looked almost like a Lab.  The dogs were quite obviously where I had gutted my deer on opening day, and seemed quite content to sample the awful offal there.

What I had actually heard though, was a buck coming from the southwest.  He was almost a respectable deer.  He had one nice antler, but his other side was broken or misshapen somehow - it was also much smaller.  I had shot one like this several years previous so I almost wonder if there is some genetic cause for this.  More likely, his growing antler was damaged early in the year.  I had previously decided that Tuesday was the day to hold out for anything interesting.  He was not interesting enough to take, so I enjoyed watching him as he worked his way out of my area.
A short time later, a crashing, crunching noise foretold more deer coming.  Five deer of various sizes came walking right in front of me from the east.  They were all very calm and didn't seem worried, despite being very near me.  I like it when this happens as it gives evidence that my scent control is working at least reasonably well.  The five deer milled around in front of me as a noise behind told of more deer.  Slowly turning around, I saw two more deer come from the far south.  They were farther than the five in front of me, but still relatively close.
Another deer came toward me from the northwest.  This was a buck that at first I thought was the same buck I had seen at sunrise, but I'm quite sure it was a different one since his rack looked much more uniform and smaller.
At this moment, I had eight deer - all scattered within 50 yards of me.  That is a lot of eyes and noses!
I was quite curious how this situation was going to play out.  The deer all seemed to be sizing each other up.  The buck was sniffing, maybe hoping for a hint of estrous.
What finally broke up the situation was the two dogs, still on the gut pile, barking.  The five deer in front of me ran off, with the two behind me retreating slowly as well.  I was quite surprised that both the dogs and the deer had remained in the area so close to each other for so long.
The buck remained in front of me for several more minutes, before slowly working his way off to the west.
It has been several years since I've seen that many deer at one time and place while hunting in Indiana.

A bit more time past before a small button buck came on me from the west.  He could have been the twin to the deer I had already shot.  He walked right past me, unconcerned about anything other than the small amount of browse in the woods.

Another half hour or so past before more crunching brought a very large doe toward me from the east.  She was nervous, saw me and stopped.  She didn't seem to happy, but continued on her way; she was close enough that I could see her mouth open and tongue out as she walked past.  I suspect she had been trying to escape from some threat - real or imagined.

Another 15 minutes or so past when I heard and saw four more deer working their way from the east to the southwest.  Jeepers there has been a lot of deer activity this Tuesday morning.

But, I held off on the trigger to see if anything interesting showed up.  I wasn't disappointed in the least about not shooting, since seeing that many deer in one morning made for one of the most activity-filled hunting days in a long time.

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With all the activity Tuesday morning, I probably would have stayed out all day if I wasn't so hungry.  After a rest at home, I went back out Tuesday evening.

A combine was harvesting corn somewhere to the west.  It is sometimes surprising how loud something like that can be even when it is hundreds of yards away.  Rural life is not always quiet and peaceful.
Tuesday evening was quite slow.  I only saw one deer, and it was very far to the southeast.  Far to far away and through too much brush to shoot, at least I wasn't skunked for the evening.

The neatest thing that I saw that afternoon was a raccoon coming out of a hollow knot in the tree right next to me.  The knot isn't all that big, and the raccoon was quite rotund.  He struggled and grunted to actually get out of the hole that appeared about half of the diameter of his body.  I couldn't help but wonder how (or why) he got in there - or possibly he got in through the broken off top of the tree.  Watching him was quite humorous and goes a long way to explain how wonderful hunting can be even with little game in the area.  I can see no other way to observe magical moments like this.
The raccoon carefully surveyed the area before climbing down the tree.  Once on the ground, I was surprised how quietly he moved away through the crunchy leaves.  Compared to the horrendously noisy squirrels, the raccoon seemed to float above the dry leaves.

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Wednesday woke up cool and foggy.  After slowly getting ready, I drove out to Mike's.  Patchy dense fog made driving quite slow in spots.  As Tuesday had unfolded with much activity, but no big antlers, I was not planning on being very picky.

Up in the tree well before daylight, it felt colder than it actually was due to the heavy damp air.  With a very bright moon the ethereal fog could be seen meandering around.  As daylight started to brighten the sky, it looked almost eerie.

Road noise seemed much more pronounced than previous days.  Mike's house is more remote than mine, but I think his actually has more ambient noise, especially on days when noise seems to carry so efficiently.

I was hopeful that Tuesday morning's activity was a premonition that the deer would be really moving for a few days.  It was not to be.  I only saw one deer very var off to the south.
Despite the surreal foggy scenery early in the morning, it was quite a long few hours sitting on the stand.

Temperatures were rising quickly, with near record highs forecast along with strengthening wind - I can hunt in cold weather all day, but wind is not my friend - I was thinking about how to spend the next day.
With some unfinished chores at home, this was to be my last hunt for at least a few days.  I climbed down out of my stand and as I started gathering stuff up, a deer which must have watched me climb down snort-wheezed and ran off to the west.  I always look around before climbing down, but must have missed it.  I wasn't upset about not seeing much in the morning, but that deer running off made me inexplicably frustrated.  After a short walk to the far south edge of the property, noting several rubs and an untended scrape, I packed my stand out.

I'll probably kick myself on Thursday morning for not going out, but other stuff should get done before Brother North-Wind starts blowing.  And while I love hunting, coffee and waffles in the morning will also be welcome.