Honey Creek - Day 1

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Steve Peters
Honey Creek - Day 1
By Steve Peters
Dec 15, 2005, 00:06

Day 1:

My alarm clock sounded at 4:30 a.m. I got up and showered. After showering, I sprayed down with a liberal amount of Vanishing Hunter -- a scent eliminating spray. I then grabbed my bow and packed all of the gear in my truck that I would need and headed toward one of several farms that I would be hunting.

After quietly parking my truck and donning a pair of Elimitrax -- a scent free over-boot system -- I slowly snuck along the north edge of a soybean field in the dark for nearly 400 yards. It was 6:00 a.m. when I arrived at my stand location. After pulling up my bow and getting settled in, I waited for the sun to make its ascent.

It was a bright, sunny day with the temperatures hanging in the lower 50s and a slight breeze blowing in from the northwest. The first four hours of the day were uneventful. I decided to sit and watch the area until 11 a.m. in hopes of seeing one of the two big bucks that were visiting the farm. I was just about ready to give up on the stand when two does cut the corner of the bean field to the southeast, bypassing my stand location.

Although seeing deer is always encouraging, something just didn’t feel right about the area. Most of the trails that were easily discernible three weeks ago were practically nonexistent at the present time. I stuck it out until 11:15 a.m. without seeing another deer. It was then that I decided to move to the permanent stand in the big oak.

I snuck over to the oak stand and was ready to hunt by 12:30 p.m. Things were quiet for the first three hours. Nothing moved. At 3:30 p.m. three does passed by within easy bow range after having visited the pond for a late-afternoon cocktail. They milled around in the immediate area for the next hour offering plenty of shot opportunities. At one point they stood directly downwind of me in the open bean field, having no clue that I was there. I stayed until 7:15 p.m. Time on stand: 11 hours, 30 minutes.