Dec 14 - Bill Moore's Scent Trick Brings A Big One

This morning I hunted the food plot and saw some does moving through the woods toward the Last Barn area. At noon I drove to the point with some pre-cut 3/4 inch plywood and made a floor for the Double Bull in the Sky. Then I put o Bushnell game camera on a fence post in front of the blind. I set it to take infra red pictures from 4:00pm to 9:00am. 

I had plans for it later in the day.

For the afternoon hunt I returned to the Point and the Sky Blind. I brought along Bill Moore's #1 scent trick, his HotTrails Doe-In-Heat Scented Candles. I made a video of setting it up. This is the camouflage Lantern the candles go in.

The way to set it up is hang the Lantern on something and light the candle. Here I am doing that. I am putting it right in front of one of the shooting windows in the Double Bull in the Sky blind.

Then I put the video camera in the blind and climbed up the ladder and got inside.

Then I waited to see what happened. In an hour the sunny weather turned drizzly and overcast.

At 5:15 a big doe walked into view from the north and stopped 20 yards in front of the blind. It stopped where the mesh was and I couldn't video it. I watched it and looked for signs that she was bringing me a buck. But she didn't look back or in a particular direction. Instead the doe studied the area ahead, clearly getting her nose full of the HotTrails scent.

Thirty yards to the east I saw a big pair of light colored antlers coming out of the trees and brush. When the doe saw the buck she was obviously startled by him and came toward the fence. That was a good thing, because I am by the fence.  I carefully picked up the BowTech -- to be quiet -- and got ready to shoot.

The big buck stopped in the center of the 30 yard opening. And the center of the blinds horizontal mesh window. What a good looking rack. Very heavy for our area. Probably 20 inches wide. With very tall tines and long, straight brow tines.

I raised my Nikon's and looked at the buck and he turned his head. Eight points and every tine nice and long.

Oh, oh. The flash went off on the infernal Bushnell camera. I have it set for infra red during 4:00pm to 9:00am. No way the flash should go off now. But it did.

I was looking through the Nikon's at the bomber buck and saw the white flash light him up. He was startled by it. Now, the whole deal was up to the doe. If I was going to get a shot he had to move ten yards to my left.

The doe spooked.

Actually, I didn't look at the doe, I lowered my binoculars and raised my bow to be ready shoot, if I got the chance. The buck's head turned so I knew he was watching the doe. I slammed the BowTech back to full draw and held on my empty shooting window, ready if the buck walked into it.

He did.

But instead of walking he poked his chin out, lowered his head and moved out briskly in the big buck 'I'm-following-you-baby' posture. It was a desperation shot and I didn't risk it.

Both deer were gone in an instant. I waited and daylight faded into near dark. Then I picked up my video camera and shined my flashlight in my face and told the story. Yep, HotTrails brought me a big buck tonight. Thanks Bill Moore. (www.HotTrails.com)

Then I climbed down from the blind and got the the game camera, it wasn't gonna spook any more bucks away. I was almost certain that the camera took a picture of the buck because I saw the light from the flash shine on him. 

At home I checked the disk and all I had was a big white spot where the doe had been when it triggered the camera. She had been too close and filled up the entire picture.

But you know what, the sight of that big, long tined buck still re-playsi true in my memory. And I cherish that and all the many memories before it.

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