NW it's been such a warm autumn in general that the bucks are just starting to come into my area good. Seeing more scrapes every day. I had been watching next to the vineyard, but mostly just see does and small bucks. This AM I decided to take a walk down the trail network we have through the woods on the farm. Buck scrapes everywhere, but very noisy with fosty leaves under foot. I wan't paying close enough attention still hunting along and suddenly there was an 8 point running broadside to me. I shot at it twice, the second shot hitting a small tree right in front of it. I found it's tracks and checked for sign I had hit it or not. Couldn't find a drop of blood at all. I followed it for several hundred yards with no blood, dragging feet or any other sign of it being wounded so I guess I just plain missed it. I'm getting slower than I used to be. I even had the 12 guage shotgun, which I rarely miss with when they are running. My brother was walking in a different spot and watched a 6 point for half an hour while it generally marked it's territory. I went down there this afternoon, but only saw one doe. We still have a month to go with our season.
