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| Checking in at the Sulpher General Store |
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| Two years running Kevin gets a nice public land buck! |
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| Battling Bucks |
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| Hitting the Scrape Line |
The Tale of the Twelve
Kevin walked in with me to a piece of public land he had never hunted before. One hundred yards from the public parking area I already had us lost.
"What in the world have you got me into here?" Kevin hissed. "I've never stepped foot into this place, and now you don't even know where we're at, and this is the best morning all year to kill a buck!"
At that moment my headlamp cast a glow on the biggest rub either one of us had seen this year, and a scrape the size of a small kitchen table.
"I think I'll just wait here and see what walks past," Kevin whispered, "You keep going wherever you're gonna go -- this place looks good to me."
Forty minutes later, just as the sun was breaking the horizon, two other hunters stumbled in right on top of him. Kevin waved them off with his light, and they posted up thirty yards from him.
"You boys take this spot," he told em', "I'll move down the line a little further."
Moving into the woodline a little further, Kevin's speed scouting ability made the difference. He found a heavily used doe trail with a couple of fresh scrapes, checked the wind direction, found a nice deadfall to hide in, and two hours later he was standing over a nice non-typical twelve pointer any public land hunter would be proud of.
What Made the Spot Good
The public land we hunted opening day borders a major highway, and the busy sound of traffic drifted through the bare trees all morning. By the amount of people sign in the parking area the place appeared to be heavily hunted as well. Despite all the things telling us this was the wrong spot to be opening morning there were a few things going for this high traffic piece of public ground.
For starters, the entire woodlot had been selectively logged within the past couple of years and plenty of tree top snags remained on the ground, providing plenty of secluded, thick bedding cover. With some of the upper canopy removed a lush understory was growing and provided plenty of browse for any deer moving off of the cut corn fields in the area. Some of the remaining oak trees were still dropping acorns, adding to the attraction of the area, and a small stream meandered along one side of the property providing a good water source. This added attraction checked off all the essential survival items a deer needs and we figured this was as good a place as any this year.
On the back side of the public property a tall, remote ridgeline rises from the surrounding private property, acting as a nifty little barrier to the area. An impenetrable thicket of thorns and briers lays down in the valley the tall hill creates and provides a small sanctuary where a cagey old buck is certain to call home.
On top of that I had placed a couple of trail camera's the weekend prior to our hunt, and within a matter of days, the pictures showed plenty of does hanging in the heavy cover and three good bucks. A good majority of the pictures were snapped during daylight hours to boot.
Despite the fact this is a heavily hunted piece of public property the place definitely didn't let us down. We had deer crawling all over us that morning, and at sunup, if a lucky old buck had veered right and walked up the saddle I was hunting on instead of veering left and moving into the small, thorny sanctuary there would be two pictures of public land bucks on this post.
