Went to Green Swamp last Thursday and hunted a regular spot of mine. Sat all morning and didn't see one thing. Decided I needed a change of scenery. Went to a completely different area and starte looking. Walked into an area between two bay heads that had a small strip of woods. Major trail between the heads, but a lot of overgrown head high + grass and no climable trees. The trail also ended in a parking area off the road. I decided that wasn't the best place to setup.
Got back in the truck and continued driving. Something caught my eye. A little bit of beat down grass going into the woods. I pulled over and started walking into the woods. About 50 yards in, I found a pine sapling that was completely rubbed raw with sap running down it. 20 feet farther I found a fresh scrape. Awesome!
I continued walking throug the woods and found 3 or 4 more fresh scrapes! My heart is pumping now. Seems like I found a hotspot and I didn't see any sign of anyone else walking through this area.
Fast forward to Saturday morning. My buddy and I decide to hunt that spot. I set him up right by the first rub and scrape. I go in and hunt over the other ones. At around 10 I hear a shot. Since I was a little ways away, I wasn't sure if that was him that shot. I come out about an hour later and see him walking around. He says he's been looking for blood for an hour. He said that he shot at what he thinks was at least an 8 if not a 10. I said how do you not know? Then he tells me he had to get down and drop duece. As he was going to climb back in his stand, he turns around and sees 3 does and the buck behind him. He's not even back up the tree and has to pull his gun up. He's basically hanging off his treestand and trying to aim at a buck that's quartering away. He gets a shot off and sees the buck jump (about 50 yards away) but it didn't mule kick. It runs off into the palmettos.
We search all over that palmetto field for a few hours and didn’t see one drop of blood. I was about as bummed as he was. Not only because he missed, but because he got a shot at the buck that I put in the work finding. But it's my really good friend, so I can't be too upset.
I went back the Sunday morning and sat in the same spot he did, but I figured that buck wouldn't make the same mistake twice. However, the good news is that I checked on the other scrapes and they were worked sometime between Saturday afternoon and the time I left Sunday around 11:30. I'm going back this weekend in hopes of killing my first buck.
This ever happen to you? How do you feel about it?
BTW, there's been a number of nice 8 points killed out there over the past week. But, the guys that I saw bringing them in all had bikes in their truck. Looks like they were biking in a ways and killing them. Looks like a lot of work, but they sure were nice deer!
The best thing you can do is share your place with your friends.....doesn't matter who gets em or who misses em....I've told the story before on here....but the two best bucks ever shot on my place , a very nice typical ten point and a cool looking 12 point with kickers and stickers were both shot by friends, not by me.....just the way its meant to be. The guy who shot the 12 had never hunted deer before in his life, was using my camos, my gun, my ammo, etc. and killed the biggest deer ever on my place.....I thought it was great. As far as getting down from the stand....my son's best buck to date is a nice six point on his office wall that he shot while standing under a tripod stand. He had gotten down to stretch his legs and walked about twenty yards away from the stand, turned to walk back and when he got to his stand there was the six point standing in the middle of the road looking at him.....luckily he made a pretty good shot off hand and hit him in the neck......and the buck was DRT......now on his wall......
aint huntin great...
You probably have several bucks working those scrapes. A lot of people think a scrape only gets worked by a solitary buck. Not true(see Kemster's scrape cam pics)
Looks like you got a hot spot. Stick with it
I was wondering/thinking the same thing. If by some chance he did shoot that buck, then there has to be another one that worked the others.
Ohh and I wouldn't be bummed out as much, but about 3 years ago when I first started hunting with my friend, we were out in Upper Hills. I had scouted another area out that looked good. I pointed him and set him up in one area and I went to the other side. He ends up shooting a 140lb 6 point. This isn't the first time he's killed one in an area that I've found. But hey, that's hunting. I can't be in two places at once and I'd rather have hime take one than some stranger I don't know.
