[blgoode]

My Grandmother owns a patch of land behind her house that has been used for tree raising over the years. Well they have all been cut and some great brushy growth has set in. I thought I'd take a look and see if I saw signs of deer.

This stuff is THICK and you have to get down and crawl through in places but I found some trails and started going into the brush. I did hear a noticably loud movement off to the left that I thought could be something trying to hide and stay still since I was in the area. It was too loud for squirls on the ground in the leaves I kept thinking.

I did my best to get deeper and on a sort of hill and hopped onto a cut off stump. Stood still and turned around and I be damned. I stayed put for 5 miniutes and that damn 8 pointer came out onto the trail I just was following not 25 feet from me! I could have taken him with my 41 mag I feel sure but not knowing even what season it is or the hunting laws are plus I was there just to look anyway. I think he was as currious as to what I was as much as I was him plus he was backed into thick undercover and I think I cut him off from his escape route

I could actually smell the deer as he left some droppings when he saw still. Sort of a sweet musky smell I guess.

Anyway, after looking around I found where this buck was marking his area rubbing not 20 yards from my grandmothers driveway!!

My guess is that there is a bigger buck on down that drove this guy to the edge of the woods. What do you think?

[Art Eatman]

Aw, not necessarily a bigger buck around. Possible, of course.

Deer are edge animals. They work the edges of brush and woods, generally not moving out in the broad open in daylight. They'll bed down in thick cover.

I've watched deer when they're feeding, and they move from bush to bush or along the edges of brushy patches as they go. They'll stand at the edge of some woods, looking over a more open area, checking for Bad Things. When they move out, it's most often directly to a patch of brush...

If a buck is heavy in rut, his pills won't be the usual rounded oblong shape. They'll be a bit larger and sorta "mushed out".

You game department most likely has a website. You can learn the season dates, bag limits, and license fee costs. You can get a license at most any "huntin'n'fishin'" store.

Art

[brassdog]

blgoode,

If you're in NC. then go to this website, http://www.ncwildlife.org/. That's the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission's mainpage. Also, your season vary by where you are. If you haven't hunted before then you are required to take a free but mandatory hunter safety class. Believe me, it's well worth your time.

Good Luck,

PS: Make sure you get written permission from your grandma to hunt on her property. That's also required by law.