Gun Week Fun - But No Shots So Far

Eric joined me for the first three days of gun week. Creigh came out just as Eric was leaving he he hunted for two days.  We've had pretty ideal weather, cool to cold, calm winds, and even snow.  We've seen multiple does every day but have not put an eye on a shooter buck.  Here's some of the action.

The first night was the warmest.

Then we had snow.

Which reveals where they've been walking.  I've always been told that these "hoof dragging" tracks are likely to be bucks.

Eric and I did the camera tour.

Here he is heading out for a still hunting session.

And on the way back in.

I found this scrape and/or bed.

It has some blood in it.  Somebody in the neighborhood must have wounded a deer.

I had a new tire for the zero turn and took this opportunity to replace it.  Getting the old one off the rim and the new one on was a bit of a challenge.  A little help from YouTube reminded us to use some soapy water and things progressed nicely after that.  We also got some other things done like getting the plow on the tractor.

That's me checking wind to decide which stand to hunt.

Most sits had doe visits.

And the tracks showed highways as the days progressed.

There are rubs and rub lines everywhere.

Typical of the bucks that we did see.

This doe was fussy and tromped and honked - but wouldn't leave. Fussy Doe Video

Nice evening.

Traffic.

Joan asked me why these icicles bent back at 45 degrees.

The ones on this side of the barn were vertical.

I had a lot of back and forth with ChatGPT about it and I eventually go this answer.  What do you think - is it right?

This seemed like a buck bed to me.  Looking over a big drop-off.

Here's Creigh on point when he spotted a bedded button buck in the woods.

The dogs were getting cabin fever but I couldn't risk letting them off leash during gun season.  So I took them on leash for part of the camera tour.

More doe activity tonight (Saturday).

I'm losing patience - where are the bucks?

I've pursued them from the stand and on foot.

When Eric got home, he had received his Euro mount from this year's elk hunt.

Now for some trailcam activity.

Does.

You can see that this is a button buck.

The snow makes a huge difference in spotting the deer.  They just blend in otherwise.

Some bucks are around.

Coyote.

Bobcat.

I do need to take some does but I have been waiting to get my buck first.  Running out of time for both.