Tuesday morning we got in the truck to heavy snowfall and a couple fresh inches already on the ground. We headed back up to the same area we had first hunted the day before but speculated that it would be difficult to find any "fresh" sign in this weather. On the other hand, if you were able to find anything fresh in this weather, the maker would have to be really close. Our boot tracks were refilling at an alarming rate and the deer didn't seem to be moving at all, and I think at this point, those that were, were heading to their yards. By the time we got back out to the truck in the afternoon, another 8 inches had fallen brining the total depth in the woods probably close to 18-20". We tried to do a little exploring trying to find fresh sign in the later afternoon. After getting hung up once and then almost going into the ditch while going around a tree in the road, we quickly discovered that with these snow conditions and the little amount of traffic in the woods, it was not time to start exploring and get stuck then have to walk out miles and miles. No deer sightings today, however, folks did get into them, as a few real good bucks were tagged today, including one that KC posted about who happens to be my parent's neighbor. He definately puts his time in, but is a great hunter and always seems to manage a 200 lber. That buck should be top 10, if not top 5 in the state for weight, and would easily make MASTC if scored. Congrats Timmy!
Wednesday was forecasted to be brutally cold and windy and it did not dissapoint. We decided to stay closer to home and hunt some more local areas where both myself and my Dad have taken deer in the past so that gave us a chance to sleep in a bit. The wind chill was well below zero when we left the truck. At this point in the week, I was finally starting to feel like I was getting my legs under me. My Dad planned to hunt an area on one side of the road, while I would go into some green growth on the opposite side suspecing that the deer may be (still) hunkered down from the storm and not traveling large areas. As I poked along, my suspicions were confirmed. I cut a set of tracks likely made late the afternoon before prior to the end of the snowfall. Within 15 minutes on the tracks I had heard a blow and jumped a deer. As the tracks were still snow filled, I wasn't being too careful walking through the thicker growth. I wasn't expecting the deer to be that close, but as I followed the tracks right to the bed, I quickly realized what had happened. The deer had walked (what I was following), fed on a blown down cedar 10 feet away, bedded, got up and fed on the same cedar and bedded again which is when I jumped it. Again, I had tried wheezing at it, but it never stopped. Judging by the tracks in the bed, it was hard to tell, but I suspected it to be either a small yearling buck or a good sized doe. If a buck, it probably wasn't going to be a deer I would shoot regardless, but I waited 20 minutes or so and decided to push on the track and see if I could get a look at the deer.
The deer made a small loop back towards where I had come from and when it hit my tracks, it started walking them back out from where I had came. It hopped/walked in my tracks for probably a quarter mile before it left them and made its way towards the end of a cut and some old skidder trails. At that point, I stood for a few more minutes and called my Dad on the radio. He made his way to me and we continued on the track together. I followed the tracks while he paralleled me 30-40 yards away. Again, the deer was moving steadily, so I wasn't expecting it to be so close, but within another 15-20 minutes after it had left my track, I jumped it again. This time, I got a good look at her as she ducked her head and barrelled through the brush accross in front of me about 10-15 yards away. She had cut down a bit towards where my Dad was walking and was standing there watching/listening to us in the thick slash. I was happy to have seen another deer and gotten to see a deer that I had tracked.
Wednesday afternoon we hunted another spot in the same general area. I hiked up the side of a small mountain to the top and worked my way along the edge of the hardwood/softwood while working my way around and back down the backside. My Dad hunted the edge of a swamp a quarter mile or so down the road. He found pretty good sign but I did not.