I got to deer hunt in February for the first time this past weekend. A buddy of mine invited me to come hunt with him and his grandfather around molettes bend. We went down Friday and hunted in the swamps both mornings and afternoon on Friday and Saturday. This place has been flooded under a few feet of water until 2 weeks ago. We still couldn't get to some of the property due to the high water. I saw double digits of deer every hunt and saw two real studs and a good bit of chasing by younger bucks.

Friday we got there about 9, and hunted till noon, I sat on a dry patch of swamp a couple hundred yards wide between two flooded sloughs. I sat from 9:30-12:30 and saw 9-10 deer mostly does and a few young bucks.

After a lunch of soup cooked on the tailgate and sandwiches we got back on stand about 1:45. My buddy's grandpa said he had a new stand set up he wanted me to hunt in a great area with lots of bucks only problem was it was mostly flooded and I had to wade in. I got settled at 2 and started seeing deer at 2:15. Ended up Seeing 16 deer 5 were does and right at dusk had a STUD walk down the property line on my right , but I couldn't get a shot.

We went back to my buddies parents house where his mother showed out with some homemade fried chicken mashed taters and vegetables. It was some kind of good!

We met grandpa for our Saturday hunt at 5:20am. I sat the same spot but toted in my climber and sat closer to where I had seen the big one crossing the flooded swamp on a little berm along an old fence. I didn't even get to where I was going to sit before I walked up on a doe. I stood there and let her ease off and got to the tree I was going to climb, I sat stand down and within seconds had a huge buck blow up out of palmettos 30 yards away. I had to stop climbing when 4 other deer 2 does and 2 young bucks Came by within 50 yards before I got finished climbing. I watched mostly bucks move thru the flooded swamp most of the morning. At 10 a large buck came out of a Slough with a doe and fed on the little dry patch on my right. I watched him thru binoculars for a few mins he was a large main frame 8 with double split brow tines. Definitely a shooter, I got a shot and hit him hard we went down and got back up and blasted into the slough does a hard hook half circle back out of the slough and piles up in palmetto bushes 30 yards behind where I shot him. I sat for over an hour watching for him. I ended up seeing 19 deer mostly bucks. When I heard grandpa crank up to come get me I got down and found the impact site and backed out. We followed the track in and back out of the slough and a large puddle of bright blood in the palmetto bushes he piled up in and I tracked him back into the flooded slough, where he crossed was about 8-12" deep and 4-500 yards wide, but the real problem was he crossed the property line. Grandpa was real nervous about crossing because he didn't know who owns the property across that line. I tracked the deer till I was called off. I am sick and disgusted, but totally understood, I was not going to give him neighbor trouble. Grandpa said "oh, well! Maybe you will get a bigger one this afternoon!" I was tore up and he was kidding me about my shirt tail needing to be shorter. He made me feel much better about the situation, but I am still sick about it.


We went back for another fine tailgate lunch and regrouped for the afternoon hunt. I was going to sit in the same place as Friday morning but the slough was now so flooded we couldn't cross it. Grandpa put me in a ladder stand near the slough crossing we couldn't cross and before I got sat down as he was riding out of site a 6 point chased 2 does past the stand. Ended up seeing 13 deer Saturday afternoon and had 3 does feeding within 40 yards as light faded ending my season sitting along a flooded slough in the swamp.


It was a great hunt, my first in February in the swamps of south Alabama, saw tons of deer mostly bucks and had chance at a monster but he got the best of me. I am sick about it but had a great time and was treated like family by Grandpa and my buddies family. Even though I was not able to recover my deer, I feel blessed for the experience to go to such a beautiful place and fellowship with such wonderful folks.

Sounds like a great hunt.

What? Get on the GIS and find the landowner or call the local game warden. Giving up on a wounded animal because of a property line that easily?

Lots of deer seen. Sounds like a great hunt.

I wish it was that easy, but when you are at a place like this, as a guest of a Man in his mid 80's and he calls you off the track on his neighbors property because he doesn't want issues with the leases and neighboring property, the you do as he damn says and say "yes Sir" no matter how hard it is. I was not going to cause him grief and a handle in the future. I'm still sick about loosing the deer, but didn't want to make a bad situation worse, especially for such fine folks.

Gotcha

When you see them trying to get back up, put another shot in it. TWo if needed.Sounds like awesome weekend !