Scouting When I Should Have Been Hunting

This last weekend I was able to go to the woods and spend a little time in the woods scouting. My oldest daughter had told me this year, “You know dad I haven’t killed a buck since you carried me to Alabama.” That’s been probably 10 years since I’ve had that lease. So I’ve set out this year to put her on a buck and let her catch up with her younger sister. I went to the woods Saturday in shorts and flip flop as normal hunting attire for myself. I set out to check several trail cameras that I had placed out and as I was going to the first one I was walking along the edge of a cut down slowly and noticed a doe get up about 40 yards out in the cut. She stood up and stretched then started walking in the same direction that I was slowly working her way closer to me. Soon she was only 20 yards away from me and walking right along beside me like we were buddies. As I came closer to the trail camera I realized that she was going to walk in front of it so I stopped and filmed her. Then I went and got the camera and was going to take it down to move it and as I turned around there she was standing where I was just standing. She got back in the cut and continued walking beside me as I continued on down the cut. I hadn’t got nowhere when a fawn came running up to her and started suckling for about 5-10 seconds. I wasn’t about to get a quick pic. of that but that would have been a Kodak moment. We all continued on down the chop as yet another doe and fawn came into play. Only this time this doe was a little more leery and stayed 50 yards out. As I slowly continued on down path I came to a curve where I knew that I would be able to get be up close to the deer again as I rounded the corner I saw a little knoll where I would be able to see them good. As I stepped up on it there was a 5 point buck standing there 20 yards feeding on acorns he starts chasing the does around and that was the end of my friendship with the does. But I’ve never had anything like that happen. Later that day while checking the ground blind that I was going to put her in I walked up on a 6 point that was feeding on acorns and never knew that I was there at 25 yards and I walked by him and he fed off. The next day I carried my oldest daughter down to see if she could have some of the same luck that I had the day before. But it was windy and things didn’t work out as planned and she only saw 3 does. After getting back home reviewing all of the footage I saw that one of the bucks was at my stand Saturday Am when I should have been hunting.


The doe and fawn



The small buck that I walked up on in the cut.



A ground rattler that I walked up on while scouting (dead)




6 point that was feeding on acorns near the ground blind daughter hunted



The Buck I should have been hunting Saturday morning
I checked the card at 9:30.



And this boy is a 6 point that was on film at the same camera where I
friended the doe. Only had 1 shot of him and quick 15 second video.