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The trip down was an
uneventful as desired. We did manage to time our
arrival quite nicely with Steve's. After a few
synchronization phone calls with Steve, we met him at the
intersection of 83 and 41. He beat us there by
about four minutes. How is that for timing? We
deemed this as an indication of how smoothly things would
go this week. At
Bob McCarson's ranch, we unloaded the trucks and then
relaxed around Bob's outdoor fireplace. After some
excellent ribeyes and baked 'taters, we settled down for
some storytelling. While enjoying the fire, we watch
dozen's of deer and fallow frequenting his well lit feeder
behind the house. This only fueled our
hunting fires.  
After
getting early at the ranch and taking a brief stroll
around it to see the blackbuck, axis, fallow and
whitetail, we showered and headed for the Sinkhole.
Once there, we filled out the appropriate forms and got
Steve in on standby. There are 17 hunters including
ourselves that are on this hunt. We all chose up
sides and were then shown our hunting areas. Our
group decided to take the southernmost point of the
property. We made our way to our area and began
scouting. 
Steve
and quickly located a rub and a scrape as we ventured into
the bowels of the property. Shortly thereafter, we
watched a small buck make his way through one of the
draws. Our confidence soared. We made our way
around the property, marking potential stand sites and
planning our attack. We made our way back to the
trucks where we met up with Les. Les and I set out
my tripod over looking a valley on one side of a nice
saddle in the topography. We then made our way down
the road where Glenn had set up two different
stands. He was ready to go. Steve had staked
out a beautiful oak tree and was making preparations to
hang his non-typical lock-on. Les and I stumbled
around further and then decided it was time to get things
set for the afternoon hunt. He located a spot for a
swivel limb and decided to carry what he needed out with
him when he went to hunt. We all changed into our
hunting clothes and split up for the evening's hunt. I
sat through most of the evening without seeing
anything. At around 6:00, I looked over my shoulder
to see a very small doe making her way towards me.
At 15 yards, she stopped giving me a perfect shot
opportunity. I reached for the camera and filmed her
and then let her make her way around me. This deer
was quite small, and I felt it best to pass on her. 
Glenn
reported that he had 2 nice doe make their way to his
stand, but due to his position, he was unable to get a
shot. They moved away unscathed. Steve
had a doe and a spike in front of him that he was able to
videotape. He had watched the deer for a while when
he decided to swing his camera into a position that would
allow the camera a view of one of his tight shooting
lanes. As he was watching the spike and doe in front
of him, he noticed something dart into the window on which
his camera was focused. A small buck nubbing buck
had made his way into the lane where Steve's camera was
focused. The interesting footage revealed that the
camera was still on full zoom as the deer's rump was all
that was visible in the viewfinder. The spot that
the deer was standing was one at which Steve had placed
some "Hog Wild". While Steve attempted to
get into position for a shot, the doe he had been watching
made it's way to the Hog Wild and "pushed" the
buck out of the way. Steve was unable to get a shot
at any of the animals, but he did enjoy the show! 
Les
said that he had a doe and yearling come by his
stand. The doe was making her way into his shooting
lane as he prepared to make the shot. At full draw,
Les waited for the deer to fill the hole in the
tree. The deer held up in the wrong spot, forcing
Les to let down. The doe then moved again, putting
some more distance between herself and Les' tree.
When the deer reached a spot that Les still doesn't have
any idea of the distance, he was able to get drawn and he
took his shot! Unfortunately, he watched as the
arrow sailed harmlessly under the deer! We
were all pleased that we had deer in range. Back at
the check station, one fellow had arrowed a spike and he
mentioned that someone else had gotten a doe. This
sure feels like it is going to be a good week!
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