I made it out for my first hunt of the year on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect for an early season hunt. The temperature was 45 degrees, partly cloudy skies, and a light east wind at 0-5 mph. A perfect fall/summer morning.
I got to the woods around 5 AM and walking to on my stand by 5:30 AM. I took my sweet time so not to spook any deer. Every step I took sounded loud because of the lack of wind. By 6 AM, I was settled into my stand and waiting for legal shooting time (6:25 AM).
The morning started with 3 or 4 owls hooting from every corner of the woods. Minutes later, one of the owls glided right into the tree next to me and settled in 10 feet away. The owl proceeded to hoot it up for a couple minutes before gliding off to his next roost. A very cool start to the morning!
Minutes later I had a fat coon work his way down the hill and climb a tree 15 yards from me. The coon went up the tree, looked around and came right back down. Next he decided to climb up my tree. He made it a couple feet up before he noticed me moving around and waving my hands. I was seconds away from having a partner in the stand. He is also luckly the MN coon season doesn't start until Oct. I love sticking me some coon.
The woods settled down after that, other than the squirrels who where out in full force. Around 7:30 AM I heard something walking through the woods to the east of me. After searching the brush for a couple minutes I noticed deer legs moving through the brush. I grabbed the Hoyt and waiting to see what was coming. Seconds later I saw a big ole swamp donkey and two yearlings meander through a clearing. I turned more to my left and prepared for the a shot. Gradually one of the yearlings and the big doe worked their way into my shooting lane. I softly grunted the deer to a stop and let the Hoyt bark at the big doe. My shot was slightly forward, but the Spitfire XP drilled right through the shoulder blade and angled back into the good stuff. Both deer took of running and I could her the doe crash seconds after leaving the party. The third deer milled around the stand for a couple minutes before moving on also.
I waited until 9 AM to pick up the trail. 60 yards later I found the doe piled up on the edge of some thick cover. Not a bad start to the season. 1.5 hrs on the stand and deer number one was down. Management tag #1 has been punched.
Below is a picture of Logan with the swamp donkey minutes before she was broken down into polish sausage. Get some!
