If any of you Hunting Forum regulars have not been over to the Main Crappie Forum and read the Orange is King post by that fish catching Texas feller you need to...at your own risk though. He dons an orange mask while ripping Crappie lips and it is plum scary!!! His image has visited me a couple times in my sleep and I have only viewed the post a few times because of that.
I have traded the Crappie pole for the bow over the last two weeks and while sitting in the tree stand I thought I might return the favor. Here are my afternoon views: to my left first.
Then in front of me, the old pear trees.
Then to my right.
Sitting on the edge of this old pear orchard, camouflage is the key. Here is me, 17ft up.
Not as scary as the Orange mask but necessary, and tonight proved why. This picture brings me to my question. I have already missed a deer from the elevated perch this year (Swing and a Miss post) and have not seen one since. 30 minutes before dark 13 or 14 turkeys came into the flat woods behind me and started vacuuming up acorns like a Hoover then began their nightly ritual of going on the roost. Cackling, putting, light purring and helicopter wings in the leaves are just normal noises these feathered friends make when lifting from the ground and turning in for the night. However, predators hear this and will come investigate. 15 minutes later these two show up.
Coyotes!!!
Now the question, would you shoot? It is bow season, I have already missed once, put scent in this area and not seen a deer since. Maybe it’s because of these critters, maybe it’s not. Tennessee coyote season is year round with no limit as they are considered vermin. Now with a rifle I would not think twice about stopping at least one of these guys in their tracks if not both, but with a bow things are different. I chose not to attempt a 14yd shot, with the possibility of an errant hit (smaller target definitely), wounding an animal, spreading more scent, and just causing more commotion in the deer woods; the shot attempt was not worth it. They scurried on past me, never seeing me but I am sure they caught my scent of where I walked in as a canine nose is much more keen than a deer.
Bow hunters out there, would you have let one fly?
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