Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

  Today was my first day in the Midwest. I don't feel overly optimistic, as the area we're hunting has been decimated by EHD, and we don't have the ability to move anywhere due to the Airbnb reservation we made. I guess we will have to make the most of it. 

  Shortly after daybreak, two dogs chased a few does past me. Brian gave me an OnX pin to head to, and I found a tree to get in easily. I was on a finger that was overlooking a valley on each side of me. There were scrapes littered across the forest floor in front of me. 

  I didn't sit too terribly long, as I wanted to cover some ground and find my own place. In my travels, I located a good spot and saw a bedded doe in the process. I will definitely head back to the place in the coming days. 

 In the evening, we headed to another area, and I was really impressed with it. The area looked fantastic. It was basically a thick river bottom with a monstrous scrape in a grassy area. I couldn't resist hanging a stand in the spot, and I left the stand when the sun set. I will be returning to it. The sign was too good to ignore. I ended up seeing a doe and a fawn and another deer I couldn't identify. I was happy to see the fawn with the doe. It made me realize things haven't broken free in that area yet. It's a great place for bucks to cruise. It was pretty warm today, with the temperatures getting into the high 60s.    

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