Day 1 (Monday)
The frosty, cold morning provided dad a glimpse of a couple of moose and a noisy encounter with some grunting bucks that were just out of sight.

Our afternoon watches were the most productive. Kyle saw 4 deer while ground blind hunting on a hardwood ridge. None of them were shooters. I scared 3 deer away from my evening tree stand by taking that crucial first step onto the tree-stand’s ladder.  Size and gender were difficult to distinguish. No shots fired

There was some laughter at the supper table tonight. The reason is worth sharing here. The humorous story occurred while eating cereal before a morning hunt three years ago. By the time the last person had poured milk on their cereal, they noticed that there were three dead mice in the milk bag.

We think they were planted by PETA – but we have no proof.

No sign of the ‘big guy’ yet.

Day 2 (Tuesday)

A beautiful day led to a crispy, could night watch. The quiet forest shared no secrets except for two moose that dad saw again and 2 deer that Kyle watched for a few moments.

Dad and Kevin Heading Back To Camp

Day 4 (Thursday)
On my way to my treestand tonight, a cow and calf moose watched me take the memory card out of my trail cam. It was almost like they knew that deer were the platter of choice this week. Some time into my tree stand vigil, something spooked and ran ‘dead down wind’ from my stand. I never got to see what it was.

Kyle saw two fawns on Heartbreak Ridge. This was the sloped ridge where he got his first ‘crack’ at the Brow Tine Buck. His guest of honour never showed.

Howie spooked an unknown deer not far from his watch while attempting to move around a chain gate.

No bucks down yet.

Kyle's Brow Tine Buck seen last week

Day 5 (Friday)

A minor blast of winter overnight created some snowy conditions for us this morning. The north wind easily chilled our hunting party while we were at our watches. There were no sighting this morning – despite a frosty night.

We are noticing the frequency of scrapes increasing as the week progresses. Howie exchanged buck grunts with an unseen deer about 6 pm. Perhaps the rut will be here soon.

Our window of opportunity is almost over as tomorrow is our last full day of hunting.

Dad's snowy approach to my location

Hunting Stories, Muskoka Deer Hunting