DS19 Part 20: Opening Day

Day one, not sure where to begin. I guess let me start with me spending 30 minutes looking for my keys this morning, and finding them in the middle of the living room floor after walking past them 18 times. Got to work late, left at noon and headed for the thermal hub spot.

It's about an hour and fifteen minutes away. I had high hopes, rocked a motley crue CD all the way there. Get about two miles away from where I need to park and the road is impassable. ORV's had it destroyed.  Plan B. I drove in reverse about half a mile till I found a spot I could turn around. Drove to the west side of the section and walked in the long way. Saw a bald eagle flying around, that was cool. Get to about 100yds from the spot that looked good on the map and there is a doe standing there looking at me.

She is just right of center I need her to leave but I dont want her to run in the direction she came from so I walk towards her, but kind of at an angle towards where I dont want her to go. It works. She blows and takes off. I go into scouting mode. There were acorns dropping, so many in places it was like walking on marbles. There are also beechnuts galore near the beach trees. I am on the top of a hub and am tempted to stay there but know if I'm going to see the bucks I got earlier in the year on trail camera during daylight, that I need to get close to their bedroom.

Wind is supposed to be out of the NW switching to the north later in the evening. It's supposed to be raining with possible thunderstorms. Instead, its overcast and the wind is all over the place, and very light. Milkweed falls to the ground and then swirls around like its lost. I'm in trouble. But I see a super subtle runway about 1/5 of the way down and it leads me to a fresh rub going from food to bedding. Then another, then another, then another.

I am still not sure exactly where bedding is but I guesstimate I am about 100yds away. It takes me nearly an hour to cover the next 50yds and I decided it was time to find a tree. The family of raccoons I kept getting on camera walks by without seeing me. I hang my sticks, climb up and hang my stand, go to put my tree strap around the tree and my bad day throws another haymaker at me. Left the tree strap in the car when I switched my gear from my backpack to fanny pack so I could keep things simple. Shot showing where I was pointing at where the bedding area is roughly 50yds away

The wind is shifting even more than it has been at this point so I decide to salvage the rest of the evening and spend it scouting. I found some nice sign, including sign that the beds I found in August are still being used.

There was a little bit of hair in each,  upon closer examination, a few looked like wind based night beds to me. That was about it, I'm pooped, gonna sleep like a baby tonight. Watching the weather for tomorrow, nice cold front and an ENE wind. I think that is about perfect for the amoeba marsh so I'm heading for the swamp!