{"id":3554,"date":"2020-10-10T13:11:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-10T17:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outdoorsportsnation.com\/?p=3554"},"modified":"2020-10-10T13:11:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-10T17:11:51","slug":"second-doe-tag-filled-public-land-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outdoorsportsnation.com\/second-doe-tag-filled-public-land-hunt\/pentecostkyle12\/hunting\/10\/10\/2020\/3554\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Doe Tag Filled – Public Land Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"
There’s a certain level of satisfaction that comes from any deer killed on public land in Michigan. The large number of hunters and the “if it’s brown it’s down” mentality makes for a ton of hunting pressure on state land\u2014especially in southern Michigan. With this in mind, it always feels good to find deer out there, let alone kill one. I only have one good piece of private land to hunt this fall and to avoid burning out the property by overhunting it, I am spending an equal amount of time chasing deer on several different public land spots.<\/p>\n
Wednesday, I headed back to a state game area I hunted the previous weekend to try and fill my second doe tag. I had observed a group of does from about 60 yards the previous hunt and was determined to move in a little closer to them to get a shot. The weather on Wednesday was unseasonably warm for October at about 70 degrees with a pretty consistent 18-20 mph wind. There were also occasional gusts throughout the afternoon that were reaching close to 30 mph.<\/p>\n
I headed out on the property at 2:30 pm to have plenty of time to get set up and account for any earlier than normal deer movement. Hiking back, I had to maneuver through dozens of enormous deadfall trees, thorns, and other underbrush. After a long trek back I picked a tree that was in the middle of the transition area, but provided a lot of cover. I climbed up and got my saddle, platform, and camera gear set up. Of course, only when I was all the way up the tree did I notice that there was an empty climber stand at the base of a tree about 20 yards away, but luckily for me, it was and remained empty through my sit.<\/p>\n
The wind was blowing hard enough that I had some legitimate concerns about the tree I was in remaining upright, but luckily for me, it did. After about two hours of no deer movement, a group of does started moving out from the bedding area to the east, across the area I was in. The group dispersed as each one went a slightly different route around my tree. North of me, by about 30 yards, one of the does stopped in between several trees. I quietly raised my bow, drew back the string, and released my arrow towards the doe.<\/p>\n