Arriving long before sunrise I slowly snuck into the same
stand that overlooked the hayfield.I
planned on sitting all day in hopes of seeing the big 10 again.With the weather pattern holding steady, it
was shaping up to be another great day.
It wasn’t long before the first deer of the day made an
appearance.A small 8-point zigzagged
his way in from the west and walked directly under my stand.He stopped momentarily to paw at a fresh
scrape and continued across the small clearing to the woods on the opposite
side.
At 9:35 a.m. I could hear pig-like grunts coming from the
south as a big doe came running past with two small bucks trailing closely
behind.They cut the edge of the
hayfield to the east and headed into the woods that lead across a railroad
track to a huge soybean field.One of
the small bucks stopped to freshen a scrape and then resumed his chase.The rut was starting to heat up.
A smattering of does and bucks kept me entertained
throughout the day.As the day grew
shorter with every minute, I prayed that the big buck would show.At a little after 6 p.m. the train rumbled
past, creating quite a disturbance.The
noise must have agitated the big buck as he anxiously lumbered into the
hayfield some 70 yards away.
I watched as he quickly made his way across the clearing
from the east to the west.He stood
motionless on the western edge of the hayfield for the next several
minutes.I slowly grabbed my bow from
its hanger and reached into a back pocket to retrieve my grunt tube.With his attention riveted on the north end
of the field, I got into shooting position and started to make a series of
short tending grunts.Once again, he
looked in my direction but wouldn’t commit.
His body language seemed to indicate that the sound of
another buck in the area was aggravating him.I watched as he spontaneously pawed at the earth and made a new scrape
on the edge of the field.
Ground clutter
flew in every direction as he tore at the ground with his front feet.It was an amazing sight.He then moved off to the north and stopped to
freshen the same scrape that he did the day before.Once he finished his business, I paid close
attention to where he exited the field.
As he turned to leave just before dark, I noticed that it was on the
same trail.I knew then that I would
have to move my stand.Time on
stand:13 hours.
