Stayed in the stand nearly all night long. I was at TBR to shoot hogs or predators, but the real show was in watching the deer. Early on in the evening, I spotted a doe that stopped and squatted in the middle of the field. Any deer (male or female) that walked within 50 yards of that spot walked over to sniff it, especially the bucks.
I had two younger does come in that apparently one or both were in heat. One was flagging. Unlike normal, they came in and cruised the field, only snacking in a couple of spots, sniffed the squat spot, but made a large circuit around the field and then zigzagged back across the field and headed out the way they came in originally. What was unusual is that they kept moving nearly the whole time like they had somewhere to go, but had no idea where that was. About 15 minutes later, along comes this 8 pt buck, nose to the ground, making the same circuit, stopping to sniff the squat spot, around the field and zigzagging back out again.
Through out the evening, I would see deer crossing the field, often followed by a buck with its nose to the ground. Nothing was stopping to eat much.
About 1:30 am, I had 5 does out in the pasture, a couple bedded down, and the others milling about like they were agitated, but didn't know what to do. Two were flagging. A bit later, this big bodied buck shows up, thinking himself clever, and made his approach like he was completely uninterested. He came in at a diagonal, like he was just going to pass by the deer, but when he got too close, they all moved to a new spot and he trying the diagonal approach again. Again, they moved off. He failed on his third try as well, and that is when he picked up speed and that is when I could hear the Benny Hill chase music in my head.
He scattered the group with a trotting approach and then targeted one of the smaller does. He chased her around the field until she passed close enough to another female that the other female looked like an easier target and the sequence was repeated with the new female. Over the next hour or so, he chased all 5 does, a couple he chased at least twice. It really looked like nature's version of a Bennie Hill chase. When he would stop running, the does would stop running, but they would not let him get closer than about 10 yards away. He tried direct, indirect, slow, fast, and even acted like he didn't care. They didn't want an of it.
Just before 3:00 am, they were at the opposite end of the field from the direction I needed to leave and so I headed out. They all saw me leave the stand, but the buck didn't care and the does could see I was moving away. Their immediate problem was the buck. Later, as I left the field, I turned around for a final scan and there he was, about 300 yards away, chasing one of the does again.
No hogs showed up, but it was an entertaining evening. I was really hoping Bennie Buck would make a love connection, but last night just didn't seem to be his night.
I had two younger does come in that apparently one or both were in heat. One was flagging. Unlike normal, they came in and cruised the field, only snacking in a couple of spots, sniffed the squat spot, but made a large circuit around the field and then zigzagged back across the field and headed out the way they came in originally. What was unusual is that they kept moving nearly the whole time like they had somewhere to go, but had no idea where that was. About 15 minutes later, along comes this 8 pt buck, nose to the ground, making the same circuit, stopping to sniff the squat spot, around the field and zigzagging back out again.
Through out the evening, I would see deer crossing the field, often followed by a buck with its nose to the ground. Nothing was stopping to eat much.
About 1:30 am, I had 5 does out in the pasture, a couple bedded down, and the others milling about like they were agitated, but didn't know what to do. Two were flagging. A bit later, this big bodied buck shows up, thinking himself clever, and made his approach like he was completely uninterested. He came in at a diagonal, like he was just going to pass by the deer, but when he got too close, they all moved to a new spot and he trying the diagonal approach again. Again, they moved off. He failed on his third try as well, and that is when he picked up speed and that is when I could hear the Benny Hill chase music in my head.
He scattered the group with a trotting approach and then targeted one of the smaller does. He chased her around the field until she passed close enough to another female that the other female looked like an easier target and the sequence was repeated with the new female. Over the next hour or so, he chased all 5 does, a couple he chased at least twice. It really looked like nature's version of a Bennie Hill chase. When he would stop running, the does would stop running, but they would not let him get closer than about 10 yards away. He tried direct, indirect, slow, fast, and even acted like he didn't care. They didn't want an of it.
Just before 3:00 am, they were at the opposite end of the field from the direction I needed to leave and so I headed out. They all saw me leave the stand, but the buck didn't care and the does could see I was moving away. Their immediate problem was the buck. Later, as I left the field, I turned around for a final scan and there he was, about 300 yards away, chasing one of the does again.
No hogs showed up, but it was an entertaining evening. I was really hoping Bennie Buck would make a love connection, but last night just didn't seem to be his night.
