Opening Day 2011

Last year's "Buck Saver" tree was broken off in a recent storm

Yesterday was opening day of the 2011 Firearms Deer Season in Indiana, so dad did his favorite still hunting sneak through Ralph's locust thicket. He covered about 400 yards in the ten or so hours of daylight. The wind was extremely gusty and the deer were holed up in the thickets. Other hunters saw very few deer, but since he was in the thicket where the deer were, he saw a total of 30 during the course of the day. He took no shots however, since all were either does or very small bucks.

An interesting discovery however, was that the "Buck Saver" tree from last year's hunt was broken off during a recent storm. The tree told a story and dad is sad to see it destroyed, even though it cost him a very nice 10 pointer.

It's interesting to compare a year's aging on the fresh rub from last year (see link above)

The impact was exactly where the slug tore through the fork last year