Spikes and Buttons

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My friend told me that the stand he had me sit at was a really good stand for seeing deer and he was not wrong. In the last few days, I have seen more deer up close and personal, many within bow range, than I have seen in the rest of my life. I've also seen a bobcat fairly close on three separate occasions and it's extremely cute. Of course, I'm also not a squirrel or small bird, and I'm fairly high up on the tree-stand. We're both hoping to see at least a 6 point buck but so far, the only confirmed male deer observations we've had were a button and one or two spike bucks. There was a group of four does -- one small one and three large ones -- and they would feed before my eyes, oblivious to the hunter staring at them and wishing she had an extra doe tag. Even just watching them up close and personal was quite the experience and hearing them crunch away at those acorns. I really like venison and I was extremely tempted to take one of the large does, but I refrained from taking any shots at them because Murphy's Laws seem to be rolling against me of late.

The spike buck, or a young male without anything branching on his antlers, was extremely tempting. He was already a pretty good sized deer with plenty of meat and with one antler longer than the other. At first, I only saw something moving with a bit of antler, so I hoped against all odds that he was at least a 6 pointer. Then I set the rifle on him, mostly to confirm what I saw and as I did, he moved towards me, semi-oblivious of the hungry predator in the tree. He looked up at me twice and pretty much regarded me as just some funny-looking part of the tree or some weird-looking bird before munching away at soybeans, acorns, and anything else tasty. Unfortunately, he had no branching on his antlers, which meant he was not legal to shoot at this hunt club, although in most areas he would've been either legal or nearly legal. I figure next year, if he survives, he'll be a legal target. My friend doesn't think he'll have a monster set of antlers, but he should be a 6 pointer next year if he has the right genes, eats properly and otherwise stays healthy. One of these days, I'm going to get me a good-sized buck with a decent set of antlers!