1.) Bob Peck - 12/26/2015

I have this saying (mostly to myself) "Advantage man." *or* "Advantage whitetail." depending on conditions.

This old dog has learned just this morning when it comes to dense fog (no rain & 57 degrees) I'm gonna call it a stalemate. There is no advantage to either predator or prey that I can figure. Optics are useless and the effective range of the 30.06 slung over my shoulder is reduced to maybe 20 yards or less.

Maybe it's time to head home & get that pork shoulder & rack of ribs goin in the smoker. :-)

2.) crookedeye - 12/27/2015

i have heard from one of those tv personalitys..it could have been the dury brothers or stan potts..by the way i'm a big fan of the drury brothers, they just seem to get it done year after year unlike luv2 who finally pulled a rabbit out of his hat..lol

anyhow they say the deers nose is best when it is damp (light rain) fog etc..i dont no how they no this..but thats what i heard..and by the way i had some scent on the ground one rainy morning and the deer really went to it..true story.

3.) Bob Peck - 12/28/2015

Epilogue:

Finally had enough from the tree stand watching the fog slowly roll out thinking it was finally lifting only to have it roll back in and reduce the visibility back to 10-15 yards. So, I decided to still hunt the long mountainous route back. If nothing else this would be my exercise for the day. The leaves were wet so why not?

Picked a great spot along a steep descending fence line and just sat for 20 mins. So quiet. So peaceful.

I swivel my head super slow motion and look to my left. There's a buck bedded down directly off my left shoulder 25 yards away. He's looking at me. I'm looking at him. Like me, he's facing down hill. The top of his back, his neck and head were visible above a downed tree. I have no idea how long he was there and couldn't really make out points but definitely not a scrub. There was some mass there. My rifle is in my lap with the barrel pointed in his direction. This was one of those classic moments. You know from experience that no matter how slowly or quickly you try, the motion of shouldering the rifle and getting your body in position means he's gonna blast out of his bed before you can even get the safety off.

I chose the [I]"stay perfectly still and maybe he'll think I'm a stump"[/I] tactic. Yeah, that's it. I'll just wait him out.

Didn't work.

He knew exactly what I was and maybe I'm reading too much into this but I believe he was planning his escape but not hastily. We both made mistakes. He for letting me get that close and me for not noticing him sooner.

He kept giving me that intense unblinking stare. There was no head bobbing trying to figure out what I was. I'd estimate the stare down to have lasted maybe 2-3 minutes. It seemed like an eternity with a full-on adrenaline rush happening inside. Without moving a muscle I used only my eyes to glance down to my safety and move my trigger finger into position over the trigger guard. BAM!! He's up and jetting away. For a nanosecond I thought about attempting a Texas heart shot but not with a bounding and accelerating target. So much for dense fog, the great neutralizer!

4.) luv2bowhunt - 12/28/2015

A great trophy memory though..........no?:wink

Sometimes just having the memory is better than the kill.

5.) Bob Peck - 12/28/2015

[QUOTE=luv2bowhunt;37629]I great trophy memory though..........no?:wink Sometimes just having the memory is better than the kill.[/QUOTE]
Trophy or not it's another reminder no matter how much I think I know, there's always more to learn.

In this instance, the mental tape loop running inside my head was "You'll never see anything. You'll never see anything." I meant this literally and figuratively. This was negative thinking on top of practical reality, or so I thought. I was just relaxing, saying a few prayers for friends and family and not in predator mode.

Had I been in predator mode there's no guarantee the end result would have been any different but with this mode switched off my radar was down. My definition of a "successful" hunt is seeing deer. Seeing deer (any distance, under any circumstances) means I was in the right place at the right time either by divine intervention or strategic planning. If I don't see deer but instead experience something interesting this is also "successful" in my eyes. If absolutely, nothing happens it's not an unsuccessful hunt, it's just a boring hunt.

In this fog filled scenario it was a highly successful hunt because of the proximity and the reminder I'm not all that. :p

6.) Swamp Fox - 12/28/2015

I'm trying to think if I've ever had a buck play head-bob with me. I've been pegged in the tree more than I'd like to admit, but I'm not remembering anything other than some tilts of the neck. I could be imagining this, too, but I think one or two bucks also gave me the stink eye.

Usually a slight wind shift ends the game, although I remember a couple of times it was my bouncing leg that I couldn't get under control.

7.) Bob Peck - 12/28/2015

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;37636]I'm trying to think if I've ever had a buck play head-bob with me. [/QUOTE] I should have been more specific. I'm talking more about the head moving/tilting/re-positioning to get a better view vs. the [I][B]"Fake-out ... I'm feeding, No I'm not"[/B][/I] head bob. This guy locked on and didn't move a muscle. I'm sure he had me pegged way before I had him.

8.) luv2bowhunt - 12/28/2015

No worries Bob. I would have killed him, but you did the best you could.:re::tu:

9.) Swamp Fox - 12/28/2015

LOL..:-)

10.) Jon - 12/28/2015

Good day, that's what I'd call it.

11.) Bob Peck - 12/28/2015

[QUOTE=Jon;37651]Good day, that's what I'd call it.[/QUOTE]Indeed. Funny how a few short minutes makes several hours worth it.

12.) DParker - 12/28/2015

I got a lot of that two Sundays ago from a small group of young bucks (none of them legal) that kept wandering back and forth about 30 yds in front of me while I was sitting in front of a brush pile. One in particular was convinced that I was something that didn't belong there, but not so convinced that he'd bolt. He just kept stopping, staring and doing the hoof-stomp trick to try and spook me into moving. It must have gone on for an hour and a half.

13.) bluecat - 12/28/2015

[QUOTE=Bob Peck;37633]My definition of a "successful" hunt is seeing deer. Seeing deer (any distance, under any circumstances) means I was in the right place at the right time either by divine intervention or strategic planning. If I don't see deer but instead experience something interesting this is also "successful" in my eyes. If absolutely, nothing happens it's not an unsuccessful hunt, it's just a boring hunt.

[/QUOTE]

That is how I view it too. I'll also add, and you probably forgot to include it, but if I learn something valuable that would constitute a successful hunt.