Sorry Long read.
Beautiful day!
I think it was in the upper 30's in my neck of East Texas this morning but what do I do? Sleep in. After lunch I decide to clear all the atv trails on my place to a few of my stands. I have 3 of the "buddy" stands and late this evening I decide to take all the rails off as I only bowhunt and I am tired of them limiting me and making noise if the cam of my bow gets close. I know, all this work should have been done weeks if not months ago. I get my T-Hanger Javelina Machete and get busy clearing shooting lanes as my 7 year old daughter tags along. We drive my golf cart to the stand and I cut lanes where I expect to see deer. Today is the day of the Halloween Carnival at our school so I leave and help set up some booths. I get home and think man with these cool temps and recent rain I want to hunt! But....my new Strother Rush bow does not have the sight on it! They took it off at Cinnamon Creek earlier in the week as it had some vibration in the sight? I am running out of time and the sun is not far from setting! I put the sight on thinking it has to be close. I shoot the 20 yard pin and it may be just a tad to the right. I back up to thirty yards, concentrate on an orange sticker I placed on my 3-D buck and nail it (bout the size of a half dollar). I quickly take a shower dry off, spray myself down with Vanishing Hunter put on some of my Predator camo and walk the couple hundred yards from my house to my stand that I had been working on earlier. (yes, when it gets dark I can see lights at my cabin LOL!
Now comes the last second hunt. But first I must tell everyone that last season, Nov 10 to be exact I find a shed not too far from this stand that would equate to a 10 point. Earlier in the day while setting up the booth for the kiddo's I show my brother and nephew the shed as I had put it in the back of my truck as I had not shown it to anyone and thought I would let them see it as I had remembered finding it there last season. A rarity in East Texas as squirrels seem to get them before they fall off the deer's head and moreso that it was still around in mid November? I told them I was hoping to see this deer thinking the shed was probably at 3.5 years old and now he could be a year and half older and a real hoss.
Ok, I know I'm breaking ALL the rules here. First cutting lanes around the stand, my kids there with me playing catch while I work and later going back and removing side rails on the stand with a socket wrench making all kinds of noise.
Could a deer much less a mature buck come by within an hour of me making all that noise not to mention the scent violations? I recall this area across the fence from me used to be a HUGE hay meadow that I used to watch deer for years and loved every minute of it but it had now been planted in pine trees about 8 years ago and is nothing but a pine wall. I used to have a tree line funnel in the middle of the field that almost made hunting cheating but not anymore. Now I'm hunting the fenceline where they left a lane maybe 6 yards wide at best around the mile long fence row so deer can and do cross anywhere they want. I put a stand at the corner of a small pond so I actually have a shot ability of about 55 yards at one small point (maybe 2 yards wide) but I watch deer walk this fence line when I'm lucky.
Ok, now to the the last minute hunt LOL!
I get on the stand and no sooner do I get my bow in my lap do I hear something coming!
It turns out to be two dogs! I have never seen either one of them. They don't see me or smell me and they soon head back in the direction they came from. They did sniff the small trees I had cut down earlier with my machete.
I'm thinking the hunt is over but having seen deer come out behind dogs and humans before over the years I decide to stay put. All of a sudden I hear and ATV driving through the woods maybe a half mile away or less and I'm thinking "Why do people leave their stands way before dark?" I'm one of those guys that stay way past dark to keep from spooking the deer if at all possible.
Wait! I hear something! It's coming through the pine plantation towards the pond! I had noticed fresh pig activitiy in the clearing earlier that day and I was hoping to get one (pit masters style). But no it appears and it's a deer....uh oh, a BIG deer! He's in some brush but I put my Vortex Vipers on him and immediately know he's a shooter. I'm in an AR county and there is NO question this guy is wide enough but is he the 10 I desperately want? Yep, little selfish here. I have never shot a clean 10 pt. and have never seen one on my place but I have the shed so I know one could be in the area.
The buck has got past my open lane and has his head down feeding and maybe getting some water. Finally he start back towards my lane but as I study the rack something is not right...It is messed up. This deer has perfect G2, G3's but then a cluster on both sides? Some type deformity not sure if it happened in velvet or what? I have to make a quick decision and decide he's not the buck I'm after TODAY. Boy do I love being in the presence of a mature whitetail! I must get a picture of this buck! I would like for my son to get a crack at him.
I guess I was just not ready for my season to end on my first hunt.
Selfish? I don't think so. I guess I'm just at the point that the hunt is what appeals to me as much as the kill. It wasn't a done deal as it would have been a 34 yard shot at a wiley veteran.
Beautiful day!
I think it was in the upper 30's in my neck of East Texas this morning but what do I do? Sleep in. After lunch I decide to clear all the atv trails on my place to a few of my stands. I have 3 of the "buddy" stands and late this evening I decide to take all the rails off as I only bowhunt and I am tired of them limiting me and making noise if the cam of my bow gets close. I know, all this work should have been done weeks if not months ago. I get my T-Hanger Javelina Machete and get busy clearing shooting lanes as my 7 year old daughter tags along. We drive my golf cart to the stand and I cut lanes where I expect to see deer. Today is the day of the Halloween Carnival at our school so I leave and help set up some booths. I get home and think man with these cool temps and recent rain I want to hunt! But....my new Strother Rush bow does not have the sight on it! They took it off at Cinnamon Creek earlier in the week as it had some vibration in the sight? I am running out of time and the sun is not far from setting! I put the sight on thinking it has to be close. I shoot the 20 yard pin and it may be just a tad to the right. I back up to thirty yards, concentrate on an orange sticker I placed on my 3-D buck and nail it (bout the size of a half dollar). I quickly take a shower dry off, spray myself down with Vanishing Hunter put on some of my Predator camo and walk the couple hundred yards from my house to my stand that I had been working on earlier. (yes, when it gets dark I can see lights at my cabin LOL!
Now comes the last second hunt. But first I must tell everyone that last season, Nov 10 to be exact I find a shed not too far from this stand that would equate to a 10 point. Earlier in the day while setting up the booth for the kiddo's I show my brother and nephew the shed as I had put it in the back of my truck as I had not shown it to anyone and thought I would let them see it as I had remembered finding it there last season. A rarity in East Texas as squirrels seem to get them before they fall off the deer's head and moreso that it was still around in mid November? I told them I was hoping to see this deer thinking the shed was probably at 3.5 years old and now he could be a year and half older and a real hoss.
Ok, I know I'm breaking ALL the rules here. First cutting lanes around the stand, my kids there with me playing catch while I work and later going back and removing side rails on the stand with a socket wrench making all kinds of noise.
Could a deer much less a mature buck come by within an hour of me making all that noise not to mention the scent violations? I recall this area across the fence from me used to be a HUGE hay meadow that I used to watch deer for years and loved every minute of it but it had now been planted in pine trees about 8 years ago and is nothing but a pine wall. I used to have a tree line funnel in the middle of the field that almost made hunting cheating but not anymore. Now I'm hunting the fenceline where they left a lane maybe 6 yards wide at best around the mile long fence row so deer can and do cross anywhere they want. I put a stand at the corner of a small pond so I actually have a shot ability of about 55 yards at one small point (maybe 2 yards wide) but I watch deer walk this fence line when I'm lucky.
Ok, now to the the last minute hunt LOL!
I get on the stand and no sooner do I get my bow in my lap do I hear something coming!
It turns out to be two dogs! I have never seen either one of them. They don't see me or smell me and they soon head back in the direction they came from. They did sniff the small trees I had cut down earlier with my machete.
I'm thinking the hunt is over but having seen deer come out behind dogs and humans before over the years I decide to stay put. All of a sudden I hear and ATV driving through the woods maybe a half mile away or less and I'm thinking "Why do people leave their stands way before dark?" I'm one of those guys that stay way past dark to keep from spooking the deer if at all possible.
Wait! I hear something! It's coming through the pine plantation towards the pond! I had noticed fresh pig activitiy in the clearing earlier that day and I was hoping to get one (pit masters style). But no it appears and it's a deer....uh oh, a BIG deer! He's in some brush but I put my Vortex Vipers on him and immediately know he's a shooter. I'm in an AR county and there is NO question this guy is wide enough but is he the 10 I desperately want? Yep, little selfish here. I have never shot a clean 10 pt. and have never seen one on my place but I have the shed so I know one could be in the area.
The buck has got past my open lane and has his head down feeding and maybe getting some water. Finally he start back towards my lane but as I study the rack something is not right...It is messed up. This deer has perfect G2, G3's but then a cluster on both sides? Some type deformity not sure if it happened in velvet or what? I have to make a quick decision and decide he's not the buck I'm after TODAY. Boy do I love being in the presence of a mature whitetail! I must get a picture of this buck! I would like for my son to get a crack at him.
I guess I was just not ready for my season to end on my first hunt.
Selfish? I don't think so. I guess I'm just at the point that the hunt is what appeals to me as much as the kill. It wasn't a done deal as it would have been a 34 yard shot at a wiley veteran.
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