Tuesday morning, I skipped hunting and went with my wife to vote in the election. While I was bummed to miss a chance to catch Ghost, the buck I’m targeting, we had to exercise our civic duty. While not in the woods, I did get a couple of pictures of him on the trail camera finally. He is a good looking Michigan buck and seems to be at least 3.5 years old. I spent the rest of the morning looking at maps and strategizing for a late afternoon sit.
After Monday and Tuesday brought frigid temperatures and swirling winds up to 30 miles an hour, I was ecstatic to find a mild WNW wind of only 8mph. The temps were in the low 60s, so I shed my base layer and vented my bibs before heading in to pick a spot to set up. I moved in close to the travel route I’ve seen Ghost on a couple times. It’s also near where my trail camera snapped his picture. After getting up in my saddle, I noticed a couple landscape workers who were headed through the woods my way. Theyd been working on a nearby house. I coughed loudly and tried waving, but they did not see me. They then proceeded to relieve themselves in the woods about 60 yards from my tree. I was about as mad as humanly possible, especially considering the 30 minutes of scent control measures I take every day before I hunt. Just goes to show that private land hunters do not always have it so easy either.
After this intrusion, I tried to refocus. I pulled out my copy of John Eberhart’s “Precision Bowhunting” and flipped to his chapter on all day sits. I reached the part where he says, “We do not carry anything which could distract from the activity around us. This means no magazines or books.” Oh well, sometimes you need a quick mental break for 10 minutes during the 3 o’clock hour. In my defense, the leaves are as dry and noisy as tissue paper so I was confident I would hear anything approaching.
As the day wore on, I saw nothing but a lot of squirrels. The sun gradually set as the temperatures cooled down. At 5:54 legal shooting ended for the day. After waiting for a couple minutes to avoid spooking any deer nearby, I began to quietly pack up my gear. I then heard what had to be a deer coming and looked to my left. Moving towards my tree quickly was Ghost. He wasn’t running but was trudging on full steam ahead. Back on his normal route, he appeared to be checking his scrape line. Remaining still, I waited for a while to make sure he’d passed and climbed down. Forgoing the headlamp i usually use to leave the woods, I slowly made my way up the trail to my car.
It was a frustrating day, but I am hopeful that with Ghost back on his travel route, I can be in a position to ambush him Wednesday morning. He has been showing up between 7:20 and 8:45 am. I will be in my saddle by 6 am and ready to make a move if he shows up.
