2nd Annual New Years Eve Trip
After last years success, we decided to make the new years eve trip an annual thing. This year I decided to make the trip a bit longer. I did so by using my last day and a half of vacation time. The weather was not what you would consider great for hunting. Mid 40’s for daily high which is right around average for the area and time of year. With that said, I was happy to get away from the much colder temps we were having around our house. Without having much time on the property this season I wasn’t sure what the buck situation was. Still, a late season buck would be a great surprise!
To read about and watch the video from last seasons doe harvest, click here.
The Harvest Goal
There were still 3 weeks in the season after this trip. I knew though that I probably was not going to have the opportunity to hunt again. Because of that, I decided that I would take the first doe that presented an opportunity. As it was I had already harvested my biggest deer ever this year. If I ended the year with a doe, a button buck, and my first bow buck, I would be one happy camper. Adding even another doe would be icing on the cake. I definitely wasn’t expecting to end up with a late season buck.
Hunt 1 for a Late Season Buck
We arrived at the property just late enough that I was unable to hunt. The next morning, I was not feeling very well. There was truly no way that my stomach was going to allow to me go hunt. Quite frankly, that wasn’t the start I was hoping for.
The first hunt that I finally got out there was that afternoon. As I made my way in to the area I wanted to set up, I saw a deer making it’s way off to my left. At the time, the deer was directly down wind of me. Mark another mishap down! Where are we now? Two at minimum.
With about an hour left of light, I noticed a doe coming up a trail behind me. The problem was that she was going to run straight in to the trail I had walked in on. Plus, she was not alone. With her were 5 other does. All of which were headed straight towards my ground scent. These deer were coming from our food plot. Something that I had not anticipated. These were the does that I was there to hunt. The problem was that they were coming from the food instead of going towards it.
Sure enough, the first doe caught my ground scent and immediately became skittish. Because she became skittish, the rest of the deer also became skittish. Within a minute or two, one of the does had had enough and snorted. They all ran off and that would conclude my evening hunt.
Hunt 2 for a Late Season Buck
That evening, my wife made a deal with me. I thought it was fair. If I agreed to only hunt the evenings, I could hunt every remaining weekend for the rest of the season. Obviously, that only applied if I didn’t fill my tag during my evening only sits.
So, with the deal made, I slept in the next morning. As it turned out, it would have been a miserable morning to hunt. It was raining. At times, it was raining pretty hard. My brother on the other hand toughed it out. Unfortunately, he did not see a single deer.
Around 10 am, my brother and his girlfriend decided to head to town to get something to eat. At 10:30, the sun came out and the weather seemed perfect for sitting in the woods.
Because it was just after a rain, I suggested to my wife that we head to the woods early and sit for the rest of the day. I couldn’t believe it, but she agreed. With that, we started getting ready and headed out to our stands. I dropped Amy off and headed to the spot I had picked out. I was hoping for deer to take advantage of the break in the rain because more rain was expected overnight.
To hear the ending to this story, watch the video below. So thanks for reading and enjoy the video!