I've been dutiful in getting out to hunt this fall. Sometimes at the cost of aches, pains and not enough sleep.
Here's the crossbow ready, well still needs to be cocked and loaded with an arrow, for action. And the blue tub???
Unless you are a hunter you likely have no concept of how much of an advantage deer have. Sight, smell, hearing courtesy of those big bat like ears....they have every opportunity to detect our presence.
Odor control is a big consideration. Hank the Dog has been banned from the hunting land for about the last month. And as for other smells, well, there are all sorts of scent blockers and laundry soaps. Also sprays, I think toothpastes, etc.
But once you have your camo garb all de-scented, how to keep it that way?
Pack it into a tub full of leaves!
I won't bore you with the many photos of me peering out of a blind or stand looking at, perhaps, a few frisky squirrels. So far no deer has wandered into what I would consider reasonable crossbow range.
The other evening we had a three generation hunt. I sat in a ground blind with my grandson. His eyes and ears are better than mine. A lot better!
Excellent camo and a fairly good job of being quiet were not rewarded. This time.
My son was hunting on the other side of a river that was less than knee deep. But when he got a deer just before dark we had a problem. The deer was evidently not that bothered by an arrow stuck into it from about 3 yards range, and ran off into the night. The next morning we spent a long time tracking it. Two observations: The sumac and maple leaves were actively turning red as we scanned the ground for drops of blood. And, we figure the deer swigged some sort of video game Potion of Healing, because after a quarter mile or so the drops ceased entirely and the deer was Gone.
We'll try again this weekend.