11/3/18
I awoke decently well rested. I kept me camp in the back of my vehicle so that I’d be more mobile, rather than having to deal with a tent. A blow-up air mattress fit perfectly in the back of my vehicle, and it was as if I had my own condensed, luxury hotel.
I decided to stick to the same plan as the day prior: go to the same great vantage point and glass for a while, followed by sitting the water hole in the evening. Hunter traffic in the area had increased substantially from the day before, and this plan would allow for the possibility of seeing some deer while staying away from the crowds.
I hiked to the tall vantage point, not too far from my vehicle, but almost all at a pretty steep angle. I found a good spot to sit down, set up my tripod and adapter, and began glassing with my Vortex binos.
I always like to take time while glassing grids to stand back and observe with my plain eyes. This not only allows for your eyes a break, but allows a hunter to observe anything outside of the glass. After about 25 minutes of glassing, I did just this, and caught a javelina headed in my direction. Roughly 500 yards away, this wasn’t going to be a repeat of the night before, but the sight was cool nonetheless. The javelina had a pretty serious limp, and moved slowly down the hillside, which is where I lost sight of it.
I continued glassing for another 20 minutes, followed by another break – 3 more javelina were below me in a wash, roughly 150 yards away. I watched as they scoured the ground, looking for edible vegetation. 30 seconds later, the limping javelina joined the other 3, making for a single group of 4 javelina. Too bad it wasn’t javelina season, or I easily would have had my tag on one.
I spent a total of about 3.5 hours glassing, with nothing but javelina to be found. I packed my glassing gear and headed back to my vehicle. The day proved hot – unusually hot for this time of year. I headed back into town for some relief from the weather, and headed back in the early afternoon.
I set up back on the same tank for the evening, this time making sure that I wasn’t on any sort of game trail. This stand would be for about 4 hours, hoping to catch a buck moving in for water.
The day ended just as it began – deerless. Upon the arrival of darkness, I packed my gear and headed back to my vehicle, illuminated by nothing but my headlamp. Thinking about my plans for the next day, I went to bed early that night…