Duke and Skeeter Showdown!

Duke, who's a bit sensitive to name calling in the first place finally traced those antler job stories back to their original source: Skeeter. It looks like he couldn't talk his way out of this one and we have yet to confirm but it looks like Skeeter might be the one getting antler enhancement surgery after this tussle!

Meet the Bucks

Over the course of the last 3 or 4 days I've seen a lot more bucks on the trail cam posted in my back yard. 4 different Bucks to be exact... So naturally I named them. Now how do I convince them to come visit my food plot in the daylight?

Duke - 6 point

Duke's real name is Douglas and he isn't sure how he got his current moniker but he knows he doesn't like it. Does have taken to calling him "Dookie" for which he, understandably, catches a lot of crap for from the other bucks. 

 The General - 8 point
The General received his title back in the war of canine aggression in 2011. He heroically stepped on the face of a Scottish Terrier while desperately attempting to flee it's the grasp of it's terrifying jaws, thus ending the despot's reign around the large Willow Oak in our neighbor's back yard.

Skeeter - 2 point
Skeeter is actually quite the ladies man. He is know to instigate fights between the other bucks by spreading gossip about antler enlargement surgery and such amount does, which makes it back to the bucks and causes mass chaos. He is a master at getting into the "Friend Zone" with many does and then transitioning to "Friends with Benefits".

Randall - 6 point?
Randall is a huge NASCAR fan, and has the unique aspiration to be the first deer to be struck at a Sprint Cup race. He has a tattoo of a large number "3" on his left front shoulder with the subtext "4 Eva" slightly lower.

Got One

GOT ONE! (Deer may be smaller than appears in photos) 

Hunting Report 9-20

I was writing an email to my brother-in-law about my hunting misadventures when I realized what I was writing sounded more like a blog. I have a bunch of blogs I never post to, mostly because I don't have anything to say that I really want to provide context for sufficient for a stranger to understand, but anyway hunting is something I've got plenty to say on because I have no clue what I'm doing, and maybe someone will give me some advice or something.

Anyhow,

I live in NC and hunt at a couple different locations. This morning I got up at 3:45 am, and was on the farm at 5am sharp. I didn't spook a single deer walking in, I literally didn't make a sound and I was in the tree stand back behind a camp site at 5:50 or so, plenty of time before twilight. Around 7:15 I was scanning northwards when I heard a squirrel behind me, and I looked back. I saw two does leisurely walking away from me, they must have passed within 20 yards but by the time I saw them they were at 40 yards and by the time I drew my bow at more than 50 (and behind thick brush). So I decided to do the right thing and not take a shot, but they never came back around. It was actually pretty chilly for this time of year. I sat in the stand until 10 when I had to start packing it in as I had to put in a half day of work.

Anyway, for those wondering at home, I am new to hunting, and new to archery for the most part, and at this point I want to prove to myself that I can actually use a pointy stick and a string to kill anything; buck, doe, whatever, I don't really care as long as I can make sausage with it.

So a missed opportunity, sure, but a success in that I got all the way to the stand without spooking any deer (unlike last week). 

Apart from that I walked over to the trail camera that had been sitting out since the previous week only to find that I had neglected to move the power switch into the "on" position. I moved it and the salt lick rock it was watching over to the deer trail I saw the two does on. I made sure to switch it on before I left.

On the up tick, when I got home from work I went into the back yard (we live on a half-dozen acres or so) and checked the trail camera I had placed back there only two days ago, and this is what I saw:

A Buck:

A doe:

 And, unfortunately, my neighbors dog:

I've picked a nice spot I may try setting up a stand in, and I'll bring along my paintball gun in case the dog comes along. The back yard would definitely beat having to wake up at 3:45am to drive to the farm.