Slickhead Hunting

Well hard work paid off, scouting, preparing, and patience. I was able to harvest the first deer of the season which seems like its been too long already. With 5 sits in thus far, a doe came up from the ravine which is pretty typical but not in the day light. This is the first deer I harvested at an evening sit in my local hunting spot. The morning hunts have always produced deer movement and by keeping in check with my trail camera, it allowed me to follow suit on the recent deer activity.

The morning sit during this hunt, only produced a midget sized doe. I thought the vegetation was high but in reality this little dwarf was really small. My tree stand had proved to be too uncomfortable for an all day affair, so I retreated home, got a quick nap under my belt and returned with my ground blind. Shucks, I forgot my chair like an absent minded professor leaving out the key ingredient in his science experiment. Well I made do by sitting on my block archery target and the seat cushion from my tree stand, hey it worked.

I don't blame my hang on tree stand for being uncomfortable though. The big game series tree stand is excellent. The trees at my local hunting spot on the other hand seem to grow crooked which doesn't allow me to lean backward but forward for the most part. The area is limited on quality trees, meaning only those trees that wouldn't break when I climbed them. The forest is covered with juniper trees that have a poor root system in this area. Strong storms and winds have knocked over a dozen or so last year. So my stand is situated on the outskirts of the dense, low canopy cover in a large tree of unknown origin. Again, sometimes you have to play the hand given to you.

The deer could be scene in the distance from my ground blind location. They were chasing each other like recess in elementary school. It was quite entertaining. This meant they were quite out of range for my bow. By utilizing my grunt call, I tried to get one more curious than usual and travel up the ravine sooner. My ground blind has been a better choice anyway for this setup, high ground vegetation (early season) and low forest canopy with lack of suitable stand locations. I know I said that you have to play with the hand given, but I pulled out an ace for this situation. The ground blind increased my huntability by a 1000. I can see 60 yards in some lanes of the forest and effective shooting distance to 30 yards. This odds were a like a pair of pocket queens compared to my tree stand location with was a 3, 8 off suit (for poker enthusiasts).

The sunset was quickly approaching and the same time at which deer had been appearing on camera. I stood up to take a quick stretch as my chair setup wasn't ideal for comfort. And there was the deer, starring me down like I had four heads. It usually doesn't end well when you get caught with your pants down (figuratively in this case). Being a seasoned hunter I froze, waited for the moment when the deer looked down and then sat back down quickly and quietly. The ground blind was a new change to the area, so the deer was extremely cautious. A few steps later it turned broadside and I capitalized on the 20 yard opportunity. the shoot was near perfect and led to harvesting a good animal.

Slickhead season has started folks, may your arrows fly true and straight.