Western Massachusetts Report:

15 Yards and Closing Fast
Close shots and long blood trails

By Dave Willette

This month we are going a little “north” of the border for our report. While it didn’t take place in Massachusetts, it was such a good story I couldn’t resist telling it.

It was your typical second weekend of bow season for Pownal, Vt., deer hunter Bill Groves. He hunted his usual spots the first weekend and the Saturday of the second weekend with marginal success.

Trying not to over-hunt any of his tree stands, Groves decided to change things a little. “I got out of my tree stand on Saturday morning and decided to look around at a higher elevation. I found a spot about half way up the ridge where two old logging roads formed a ‘V.’ There was a deer run on both roads; and there was fresh buck sign up and down both roads, too. So I decided to stand there the next morning,” Groves said.

Groves got to his pre-determined spot at 6:30 on Sunday, and found a comfortable place to lean against – a big oak that split in two. “It offered me good cover to move a little while I was standing there, and I brought a little stool to sit on once in a while, but mostly I just stood and looked to the right. It was getting close to 9:30, so I decided to call it a day by folding up my stool, and a few other items and placing them into my backpack,” Groves stated.

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