2023 SC Deer Hunt Day 2 - Devil's Outhouse

We were out the door shortly after 5:00 and I was dropped off on the same stand I had been on the previous evening.  As it started to get light, I could just make out a deer on the corn pile.  As it got lighter, I could see antlers, but by the time it got light enough I could size them adequately, it sauntered out of my life forever.  I'm quite sure it was tall but narrow - so not a shooter.  Once it was gone though, it didn't matter.

Rick came and got me a bit early which I was fine with since nothing else was moving at all for the rest of the morning.  It was still a nice morning though watching South Carolina wake up.

We picked up everyone else.  Jet had shot his first deer - a big fat doe.  He was happy.

Back at the lodge we all ate breakfast before Rick and I went to drop off the doe and feed a few stands.  We met Kevin and Dale at Food Lion, then fed some more stands while making plans for the afternoon.

Back at the lodge I wanted to take a nap, but couldn't make it happen.  That is what the first bit on the stand is for...

It was another very hot afternoon so I left again in shorts and a t-shirt.  Rick dropped us off at a farm I'd never been to before.  It was a short walk, but when I walked up to the stand it was almost surreal.

The sun was shining on me and it was even hotter - I called the stand The Devil's Outhouse.  It was made even more odd when a gecko ran across my hand and there was a huge "banana spider" in the main window.  Its web interfered with several my afternoon picture.  Watching it, I sort of saw it doing the same thing I was - waiting patiently for the right thing to come by to eat.

Once settled inside, I enjoyed the afternoon.  A deer wheezed off to my right - no doubt it winded me but with as hot as it was, it wasn't surprising.

The first deer I saw (a doe) came out at 5:00.  Much of the afternoon had spike bucks walking around.  There was even some light sparring which was fun to see.  

But as it got later, nothing shootable showed up.  I was hoping to take a doe late, but with the odd angle of the corn making shooting through grass a possibility, I wasn't too upset when darkness came with no deer around.  As I was packing up, I took a final look at the corn pile with my binoculars and saw a deer, but I have no idea what it was or how big it was.  So my day ended the same way it started.

Back at the lodge, no one had shot anything.  Dinner was rice and sausage with beans and biscuits.  No deer taken yet, but it was still a good start for me on my official first day of deer hunting.