Well, the hunting trip was successful. On Saturday night I observed and filmed 10 deer: 6 does, 2 bucks and 2 fawns. My Brother-in-law and I sat in trees about 20 yards apart and along the edge of a field roughly the size of 2 football fields sitting side-by-side. At about 5:45 the deer started to come in and feed and hang out in the field until dark. The two bucks were young, both 4-points, and played around and butted heads with each other for a while. If it was rifle season, my Brother in-law could have shot any deer he wanted, but none of them came in close enough for a shot with his bow.
When it was time to get down out of our stands, we made our way back to the truck, where my Father-in-law was already waiting. (He was hunting about a quarter mile to the North-East of us.) My Brother-in-law and I were exited and busy telling the stories of the 10 deer we had just seen, while my Father-in-law calmly listened and told us that he had only spotted one doe. As we headed back to the cabin in the truck, my Father-in-Law suddenly pulled over to the side of the road near where he had been hunting, turned to us, smiled and said, "C'mon let's go track my deer."
My Brother-in-law and I had been fooled, but we eagerly helped track my Father-in-law's deer, which turned out to be a small 8-point buck. Fun was had by all and even though the weather was in the low 40's windy and a little rainy, spending quiet time out in the woods is always a relaxing change of pace.
And in stealing an idea from IndianaMom here are a few pictures.
A section of the Boardman River south of Traverse City, Michigan. Taken on Saturday.
A view from my tree stand this weekend.
Go Tigers!!