Great day in the woods

[Kevin]

I was lazy and slept in today, but decided to get out into the woods about noon.

Within 30 minutes I had about 25 turkeys on top of me. About 2pm, a doe and her two yearlings appeared and I watched them for a couple of hours. About 4:00, I hit my grunt 3 times. Within 5-7 minutes a little fork horn had a bead on me. He came out of the woods about 200 yards away and was on me like white on rice the entire time.

It amazes me how deer can hone in on sound like that even being so far away. No telling where he was when he heard the grunt. He got within about 35 yards and I guess he got a whiff, because he spooked and turned and traced his steps back the exact same way he came, without ever making a noise.

I got up about 45 minutes before dark because I wanted to check another field on my way in. I'd gone about 50 yards and I heard a a couple of deer jump around right on the wood line. I spooked them, but could tell they only took a few steps, so I laid down in the grass and hit my grunt. Within a couple of minutes, two doe stuck their heads out of the woodline, maybe 15 yards from me. They stood there forever, just looking but couldn't make me out. I finally moved just to get rid of them and they took off.

Finally made it to the field I wanted to check out, and two different doe were standing in it. I sat in the corner and once again hit my grunt, this time 3 hard ones. Sure enough, within about 5 minutes, a small six point stepped out. He looked around a minute and then headed toward the does.

He made it about 3/4 of the way, then abruptly stopped, and high-tailed it the way he came in. My thinking was a big buck was about to jump into the field, or at least a deer bigger than the six point. I raised my gun, getting ready. Sure enough, a deer jumped over, but it was no monster -- just an aggressive spike. He took off after the six point into the woods. I heard a grunt and some leaves crashing, but don't think they went after it too hard. Couldn't believe that little spike chased off the bigger buck though.

No kills, but was just a hell of a good day in the woods. Thought I would share.