Finding the right hunting location

Having spent the opening two days of the modern gun season out of state, I eagerly crawled out of the sack bright and early one Monday morning. However, I had little hope of bagging a whitetail on this particular day.

Time was obviously going to be limited. In fact, I could only hunt for a couple of hours prior to returning home and starting work. I might be able to complete my work schedule with ample time to hunt for another hour or two before dark, but I was prepared to spend an entire day preparing for the remainder of the week if necessary.

I would also be at a new location that a friend had graciously welcomed me to hunt. We had actually walked the property a few weeks prior, and deer obviously frequented the area.

I recalled a couple of locations in particular that looked promising, but I was far from confident that I had located the the routes that they consistently traveled.

That in mind, I made a beeline to the property as soon as we arrived back in town on Sunday evening. Fortunately, an hour or so of daylight remained.

I had no intentions of hunting. In fact, I didn’t even bother to carry a firearm. Instead, I embarked upon a walk to a clearing situated in a flat, along the edge of a thicket, where I spread 20 pounds of corn.

Did I have intentions of bagging a whitetail at this location on the following morning? Of course, there was always a chance, and I certainly wouldn’t turn down the opportunity.

But I was most interested in determining if any deer were using the area. With a little luck my offering would be gone on the following morning. If not, I would simply wait a few days and check the corn again. And if it was still undisturbed, I would simply strike out and find a better spot.

I arrived at the destination where I planned to park shortly after daylight, donned my blaze orange, loaded my rifle and embarked upon a short walk to a hillside overlooking the flat where I had dumped the corn only hours earlier.

I slowly eased along the dim road with hopes of going undetected prior to reaching the location where I planned to perch for the next few hours. But, my effort obviously went in vain, as I watched a yearling bound into the distant thicket.

Of course, I was disappointed that I had spooked the deer, but I did feel fortunate in the sense that he was not a shooter. In fact, I also experienced a sense of excitement, as it was obviously browsing within feet of where I had dumped the corn.

Reaching the hillside, I settled in with intentions of remaining still for the next couple of hours. Well, I had hardly gotten comfortable upon noticing movement atop the distant ridgeline. And before long, a doe and two yearlings began easing down the hill, in the direction of the flat.

They, too, had apparently located the corn as they slowly meandered in my direction. Again, I had no intentions of pulling the trigger on either of these three, but it was one more indication that I had chosen a productive spot.

A slight wind began to blow in the direction of the doe and her young. Well, they immediately raised their noses in the air and quickly trotted up the hill. Reaching the ridgeline, they stopped and resorted to stomping and blowing. They obviously didn’t know of my exact whereabouts as I watched them mill around in the distance for several minutes before they

finally disappeared over the ridge.

As the wind intensified, I eventually chose to call it a day. Of course, I would have been a little disappointed on an average outing, but I was perfectly content to go home empty-handed. I was certain that I had chosen a productive location, as the corn was all but gone. And I was confident that success lurked in the days to come.