Just had a day to remember yesterday! Ended up getting 3 deer (2 bucks and a doe)! The action was incredible.
I got in the stand about an hour before sunrise and around 7:30am, I saw a decent buck about 150 yards away in the adjacent property. I grunted at him to get his attention but he kept walking away. That is when I gave him a deep bellowing “buck roar”. That got his attention. He turned and made the long journey to me. He offered me about a 23 yard shot which I took. I shot him with a 2 blade hypodermic from Rage broadheads; he went 25 yards.
After field dressing and getting him hung, I went to breakfast with a buddy. Afterwords, I headed out to another spot. I got to the second spot around noon and sprayed my boots with some doe “tarsal juice” and walked into the woods. I stopped at my mock scrape and sprayed it with the doe tarsal juice and I put the fresh tarsal gland from the earlier buck killed on a log. I then got up in my stand.
I didn’t even have my quiver off my bow and saw movement. A doe was being chased by a nice buck and a smaller buck. I glassed the big buck and my heart started pounding. The doe and the bigger buck ran around for a bit and settled about 70 yards directly in front of my stand. Then the doe started walking towards me. She passed a small shooting lane that I ranged with my range finder at 35 yards so I decided to get ready for that shot at the trailing buck.
When they started moving again, I drew back but the duo stopped. After sitting at full draw for a while, I lost it and resumed back to the undrawn position. The doe picked up my movement. The stare down began. Normally I would guarantee my chance was ruined but I knew she was concerned about the buck on her tail. Sure enough, she turned her attention towards the buck giving me a chance to reset my rest and get ready for another opportunity.
When they started moving again, I drew back waiting for the buck to cross the 35 yard spot where the doe was but instead, the power of the tarsal scent changed everything! He came right towards me. He probably got about 6 yards from me before turning to the mock scrape which was about 16 yards from my tree. He offered me a great shot and I took it. I shot him and watched him go only about 25 yards before expiring. It was an awesome feeling!
The doe watched all this and didn’t move. Knowing I had one more antlerless tag, I found a tiny hole in the tree between us, threaded the needle, and sent her on a 20 yard mad dash towards the bright light!
So, while only being in the stand for about two and a half hours, I killed 3 beautiful deer and watched them all go less than 30 yards to their deaths! What a lucky day. All I can say is that without the grunt call and the tarsal juice/glands, the hunts may not have been so successful. Good luck guys!