Finally getting a few minutes to write this up.
Not a MONSTOR you dream about when you go to KS but my best archery buck to date and I am happy with him.
Don’t have a GREAT LDP, little bummed about that. My fault for not being insistent and directive with my buddy.
Two of us drove up to NE KS from NW AR, to another buddy’s house, last Wednesday morning in time for an afternoon hunt. Hunted farm “A” that evening and deer were moving pretty good and a shooter was seen but he did not have a shot opportunity.
Fast forward to Thursday morning. We were hunting farm “B” this morning. A cool morning in the lower 40’s with a slight southerly breeze. Could have been colder for my likings but was not nearly as hot as last year. I was in a tripod in the corner of a cut corn field, bordered by a cut bean field, where we see shooter bucks every year. Early on, as daylight broke, was DEAD quiet, no movement for any of us. I decided to let loose with a couple estrus doe bleats. Not 30 seconds later a buck comes running over the top of a terrace of the cut bean field to my left and he stops about 75 yards away, behind and to my left, at the edge of the field. I decided at first glance he was a shooter. At least 3 years old and larger than anything I have shot before. He stayed there for several minutes and trashed a small tree that was there. I text my buddies “BUCK” and lay the phone in the seat of the tripod. I carefully gave a quiet buck grunt, on the opposite side of my body to try to disguise the direction a little so he couldn’t pinpoint me exactly and he responded with a loud grunt.
About this time I see movement behind me in the woods and a doe appears. The buck sees her and takes off after her. They do figure 8s behind me for several minutes and I give a couple more grunts and doe estrus bleats followed by a tending grunt. He responds with a snort wheeze. Suddenly the doe changes direction and comes up the trail to the edge of the corn field to my right and walks out in front of me and begins feeding. The buck follows to the edge of the corn and stops there, 40 yards away in the brush, looking around. He looks straight at me in the tripod and I avert my eyes to avoid eye contact. He looks at the doe and walk towards her in the corn field. Of course, I am already standing, bow in hand. She starts off at a brisk walk toward the fence to get away from him. He is walking broadside, very slightly quartering away. I estimate him at 25 yards, draw, and give a soft mouth grunt to make him stop. I am strangely calm as he stops and turns his head to look as I settle the pin and shoot. I cannot see where I hit as I must have blinked at impact but he gives a “mule kick” and takes off, over the top of the terrace, out of sight to the cut bean field next door. I think I hear him down but cannot tell for sure because of the rustle of the leaves in the breeze all around me in the tripod.
I stand there shaking and notice that my phone has blown up with my buddies texting for updates. It has been exactly 10 minutes since I texted them “BUCK”. I sit and reply to them “Just shot him”. They want to know how big and I don’t know other than he was a shooter. I have a habit, to try to remain calm, once I decide he is a shooter to NOT look at antlers again. I honestly don’t know how many points any buck I have shot have until AFTER I walk up to him because I consciously don’t closely evaluate to try not to get too juiced.
Since he has run over the top of the terrace out of sight, once I quit shaking I climb down to look for the arrow. I find my arrow covered in blood at 27 yards. Sorry for the focus.
I decide to sneak up to the top of the terrace and see if I can see anything in the cut bean field. Not 50 yards across the fence, there he lay,,,,
Rough scored him at 142 gross, 138 net non typical 12 pt. Weighed 196 field dressed. If you look close you can tell he has some junk and additional tines and a BUNCH of bark stuck in the base of his antlers.
Not a MONSTOR you dream about when you go to KS but my best archery buck to date and I am happy with him.
Don’t have a GREAT LDP, little bummed about that. My fault for not being insistent and directive with my buddy.
Two of us drove up to NE KS from NW AR, to another buddy’s house, last Wednesday morning in time for an afternoon hunt. Hunted farm “A” that evening and deer were moving pretty good and a shooter was seen but he did not have a shot opportunity.
Fast forward to Thursday morning. We were hunting farm “B” this morning. A cool morning in the lower 40’s with a slight southerly breeze. Could have been colder for my likings but was not nearly as hot as last year. I was in a tripod in the corner of a cut corn field, bordered by a cut bean field, where we see shooter bucks every year. Early on, as daylight broke, was DEAD quiet, no movement for any of us. I decided to let loose with a couple estrus doe bleats. Not 30 seconds later a buck comes running over the top of a terrace of the cut bean field to my left and he stops about 75 yards away, behind and to my left, at the edge of the field. I decided at first glance he was a shooter. At least 3 years old and larger than anything I have shot before. He stayed there for several minutes and trashed a small tree that was there. I text my buddies “BUCK” and lay the phone in the seat of the tripod. I carefully gave a quiet buck grunt, on the opposite side of my body to try to disguise the direction a little so he couldn’t pinpoint me exactly and he responded with a loud grunt.
About this time I see movement behind me in the woods and a doe appears. The buck sees her and takes off after her. They do figure 8s behind me for several minutes and I give a couple more grunts and doe estrus bleats followed by a tending grunt. He responds with a snort wheeze. Suddenly the doe changes direction and comes up the trail to the edge of the corn field to my right and walks out in front of me and begins feeding. The buck follows to the edge of the corn and stops there, 40 yards away in the brush, looking around. He looks straight at me in the tripod and I avert my eyes to avoid eye contact. He looks at the doe and walk towards her in the corn field. Of course, I am already standing, bow in hand. She starts off at a brisk walk toward the fence to get away from him. He is walking broadside, very slightly quartering away. I estimate him at 25 yards, draw, and give a soft mouth grunt to make him stop. I am strangely calm as he stops and turns his head to look as I settle the pin and shoot. I cannot see where I hit as I must have blinked at impact but he gives a “mule kick” and takes off, over the top of the terrace, out of sight to the cut bean field next door. I think I hear him down but cannot tell for sure because of the rustle of the leaves in the breeze all around me in the tripod.
I stand there shaking and notice that my phone has blown up with my buddies texting for updates. It has been exactly 10 minutes since I texted them “BUCK”. I sit and reply to them “Just shot him”. They want to know how big and I don’t know other than he was a shooter. I have a habit, to try to remain calm, once I decide he is a shooter to NOT look at antlers again. I honestly don’t know how many points any buck I have shot have until AFTER I walk up to him because I consciously don’t closely evaluate to try not to get too juiced.
Since he has run over the top of the terrace out of sight, once I quit shaking I climb down to look for the arrow. I find my arrow covered in blood at 27 yards. Sorry for the focus.
I decide to sneak up to the top of the terrace and see if I can see anything in the cut bean field. Not 50 yards across the fence, there he lay,,,,
Rough scored him at 142 gross, 138 net non typical 12 pt. Weighed 196 field dressed. If you look close you can tell he has some junk and additional tines and a BUNCH of bark stuck in the base of his antlers.
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