This decent buck was on the move near my stand location on Sunday morning. I think we'll have some beauties walking around next season.

Things have changed a bit on me since last week. The deer are only moving just before dark, and I’m not seeing nearly as many. I’m guessing they’re working a new food source, but I don’t have the time or the desire to find where it is and set up an ambush point. Still, my spot is still a pretty good one, and I had a decent night tonight by seeing three bucks and seven antlerless.

You have to watch every move you make this time of year. One thing I’ve learned is if you don’t have to move, don’t! Any unnecessary movement will certainly be noticed, which I was reminded of tonight. I knew one of the deer out in front of me about 100 yards away was a buck, so I pulled up my binoculars to get a better look. He was a decent eight-point, but certainly not a shooter. Still, I was trying to give him a good look to see if I could recognize him, and that meant bringing my binoculars up and down to clear the steam from the eye pieces. When it’s in the low 20s, it doesn’t take much to steam up the cold glass with your warm face. Unfortunately, a group of doe were coming in from my right and were headed right into my shooting range. With all of my movement, they saw me before I saw them and they high-tailed it out of there.

I thought long and hard about just throwing in the towell after tonight’s hunt, but somehow I think I’ll make it back out a time or two before the final gun sounds. The weather doesn’t look good for the last couple of days, but what else is new. This has been the toughest weather I’ve had to deal with during the late season, which certainly doesn’t help me keep motivated.