After typing that post this morning, I decided the piece behind my house has too much potential to just completely ignore. I had to leave the stand early to take care of some family stuff today anyway, so I figured I would hunt at the back of my property off that field a little bit instead of driving to the other property. I had a spot that used to be great for bucks traveling through, and it was not too close to the houses (more than 450'), so I gave it a try. The holly tree that grows next to the black oak I was using had grown quite a bit, so I had to do alot of trimming in the dark, but got in okay. At about 7:45am, I had a small doe come trotting up from the creek bottom and go by me at about 5 yards. She seemed to be running from something, and I figured it was the construction going on across the creek. Those guys were making alot of noise.
At 8:46am, I hear another deer trotting towards me from the same direction and look down to my right, and see the front shoulder of a big deer. His head is behind a tree, but I can see a rack sticking out from the side of the tree...and it's a big tree. I figure I'm golden, he'll just follow that little doe and go right past me at less than 10 yards. He was panting, and looking back towards the construction for a few minutes, then he turned and trotted down the 4-wheeler trail that goes behind my field. He went by at about 12 yards, but that darn holly tree had any shot blocked. He was a big bodied deer, wide rack that looked alot like the one my neighbor killed a few years ago, almost a twin.
So I get down about 10:00am and start walking home, which is only about 250 yards from the stand and I see where his tracks lead down the trail right up to the field. When I'm about 15 yards from the field, my brother calls me on the cell phone asking where I'm at. He came over to pick up my mountain bike and figured I'd be up to the house by now. He says as he is standing there at the back of the field, a monster buck walks out, looks at him, then takes off towards the house. He went by that shooting platform less than 10 yards away, ran straight across the yard, made a left turn at my neighbors camper, and went across the road.
I guess the deer bedded up near the field and I pushed him out on the way home. Unbelievable...only during the rut.
Here is the picture of my neighbors deer, the one I saw this morning was almost identical, maybe a little less mass, but probably 180 pounds dressed.