Late start in Duplin Co, drove down from GSO after cleaning up from week on the road. Son (15) and I in tent on oak ridge. See what comes out of swamp bottom. Hope he gets on from camera, bigger than any I’ve killed. Good luck all. And hoping with cool temps otw skeeter swatting bout over.
Really didn’t see anything the last 2 days.. not what I expected with it cooling off a little.. had been seeing a few but seem to be nocturnal again.. did hear one grunting on the other side of a thicket but never got a look at him before he trotted off. Maybe Monday..
Walked to a tree line separating three large pastures before daylight and peeked around a corner in the dark and saw big-bodied dark shape, feeding on pasture grass...1st day of central ML season....even with binocs couldn't see antlers but the body size convinced me it was a buck...sure enough, when it got light, I would see a nice 6 at 90 yards...he suddenly threw up his head (I had good wind), ears tipped forward and he took off up the oak hill and out of sight....he either saw or heard a doe or a buck grunting up there...deer are chasin' in Alamance County....about 8:30 a.m. I was riding to check out two trail cams when I saw a shape standing on a hill some 200 yards from me...couldn't tell if it was a bush at first or a deer....drove a little closer and it was a buck, nice wide rack beyond ears...too far to shoot...he tip-toed into some woods at 90-degree angle from me but I knew where he was going...I hustled up the side of a fence line and sure enough he'd cut the corner of a woods corner and popped out...150 yards...i got settled behind a hay bale...shooting old scope-mounted TC front-end loader with 85 grains of Pyrodex and 245-grain bullet....aimed at top of his shoulder, squeezed trigger...BOOM...he stands and looks around like 'wha' just happened'..then he trotted away, no visible signs of a hit...got him patterned tho....and I'll be back...