A REAL shout out to SkeeterPop and all the guys in & around Union Springs for the unreal job they do. The first afternoon hunt this year pair Velvet Tines & I up with SkeeterPop and his brother. I was to sit in one of the prettiest hardwood bottom I've ever seen. Things stayed interesting with squirrels & one of the quietest bobcats on the planet.
A little after 4:00 I spotted a doe feeding along a hillside a little over 100 yards out in front of the ladder stand I was in. After 10 minutes or so she turned and ran back over the ridge she came from. Shortly another (or the same) doe came running from the same direction. She would run 40 to 50 yards and blow,another 40 to 50 yards and blow again. We have all heard it before and KNOW we've been busted. It kinda made me want to call it a day,as loud as she was blowing.
I soon saw a buck hot on her trail,but he didn't seem to be closing the distance. It took me a while to figure it out, but I believe she was blowing at the buck! I managed to bleat & that seemed to slow him down, so with nothing to lose, I bleated again. I found a good opening thru some limbs and squeezed the 25.06 off. The buck staggered a bit and took off in the doe's direction. After about 25 minutes I lowered my rifle out of the ladder stand and found where the buck had been standing. A open hardwood bottom, and a nice blood trail made for a easy tracking job of about 85 yards.
The photo above shows how he ended up in the creek. And while I was walking along the blood trail, the doe was standing a good distance on the other side of the creek blowing non stop.
With the buck in the creek, I had time to lean against a huge tree and take it all in, while giving thanks to The Man Upstairs for allowing these events to unfold before me. That is...until the flowing creek water moved the deer about five feet down stream. Off came the boots,socks,pants, insulated bottoms, and drawers !!! Yep, it was either me get him or me spend till dark following him down the creek. With the pull-up rope I borrowed form SkeeterPop in hand, I quickly found the water was a little over knee deep and pretty darned cold. In near lightning speed I tied the rope to his rack and made my way back up the creek bank. I think I could sing notes that would shock the boys in the Mormon Tabernacle Boys Choir. Back across the creek the bucks girlfriend was still blowing. I had another minute or two to lean against another huge tree and take it all in again...AFTER I got dressed!
Thanks again to all the Union Springs folks, who seem more like family (that you like being around) every year.