Hunting progress

Last year I set out a salt block to attract deer to my deer stand. It didn't work. Giving up, I moved the block away and forgot about it for a few months. Then I noticed something interesting. The dirt around the block had been torn up. Apparently deer don't lick the salt block, but over time rain water washes the salt into the dirt. The deer dig up the dirt to get to the salt and ignore the block. So this summer I moved the block to within range of a deer stand to see if anthing would happen. Weeks passed. Months passed. Today I saw this:

You can clearly see where deer have been pawing at the earth to get the salt. This photo was taken approximately 10 yards from a deer stand. Hopefully the deer will return once the season is open. Other than this, I haven't seen evidence of deer in the yard beyond a few tracks. Still no scat, rubs, scrapes, or live sightings. However, the family dog

has been giving her "deer in the yard" bark with increasing frequency. As yet, I haven't seen the deer that sets her off, but it probably bolts before I can get to the window to look. The DNR is going to let me shoot very soon. I think 9/17 is the first day of legal shooting. I'll be out of town, of course, but I am getting excited about sitting in the woods for ours on end cursing squirrels.