I heard him long before I ever saw him. He was a very vocal deer, and there was not a single time that I ever saw him that he was not grunting or growling. The three does and nubbin’ buck that were feeding in front of me knew exactly who was coming also. They ate until the last possible second before they scattered when he entered the field. When I finally saw him I went into auto-pilot mode. I knew exactly who it was and I had an arrow that wanted to meet him. I flipped on the camera and attached the release. I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves and the pounding in my chest. He stopped perfectly. When I drew my bow he looked directly at my blind…..
The deer I call C.B. 10 was named after a buck that Casey killed at #8 a 2 years ago. Both deer have very distinct, unique, and similar shaped racks. It was for this reason that he earned the nickname “Casey Buck 10.” Les and I have seen this particular deer for the last 3-4 seasons, and interestingly, his rack has not changed much at all during this time. C.B. 10 usually runs distinct circle of this particular pasture around #33, Star, #35 and sometimes is seen at #37. Every once in a while he will venture up to the field at #31, which where I was set up. Pic from last year…
31 is a large field that is located in the back pasture of the ranch. There is food and a windmill overflow tank located in the field, and with the rains (until the hard freeze on Dec. 5) there were plenty of fresh greens for the deer to eat. The freeze killed most of the greens, but deer are always in the field browsing and milling around. There are a lot of does that come into the field, and in December, when you find the does, you will be in the bucks. My Matrix is set up on the edge of a blackbrush thicket just off a sendero that feeds into the field. The deer either travel up the sendero and into the field on a trail to my left, or out of the thicket back to my right when looking out into the field. The perimeter of the field is torn up with rubs and scrapes, including two scrapes just a few yards from my blind. (One in the mesquite tree to the left and the one on the right in the pic)I usually put my blind out in October and leave it up for the whole season. The deer don’t even know it’s there and I’ve even had 2 6 month olds and their mom bed down just 3 feet from my blind for over an hour one hunt last year. Here is the set up…
C.B. 10 is a deer that I have a bit of a history with. Like I mentioned earlier he was a deer that we were very familiar with. We decided last year that he was at least 5.5, but probably very likely 6.5. He hadn’t grown at all really since the first time Les had seen him, so he would be a candidate to be shot if someone was presented the right opportunity. I hunt 31 very religiously and had not seen him even once during the whole season last year. I did see several other bucks that were mature but none presented shot opportunities or were in range. That is, up until the last morning. On that January morning I saw what I thought was a good looking middle aged buck. I took a bunch of video of him for comparison in future years and did not think anything about it. He fed in front of me for about half an hour that morning and I got good looks at all aspects of his rack and body. Stills off the tape from last year.
It wasn’t until I went home that Sunday afternoon and watched the tape that I realized the mistake I had made. C.B. 10 was the deer that I had seen that morning. I forgot to take into account that in the late season he would be sucked up and look like a younger deer. His body had thrown me off, and I always look at the body of the animal before the headgear. He had presented me many shot opportunities, from 12-20 yards, both broadside and quartering away. I couldn’t help but laugh as I was home empty-handed after the opportunities that he had given me. From that day on I pictured killing that deer hundreds of times in my mind and couldn’t wait until this December. I was excited when Les picked up both of his sheds in the spring.
Continued.....
The deer I call C.B. 10 was named after a buck that Casey killed at #8 a 2 years ago. Both deer have very distinct, unique, and similar shaped racks. It was for this reason that he earned the nickname “Casey Buck 10.” Les and I have seen this particular deer for the last 3-4 seasons, and interestingly, his rack has not changed much at all during this time. C.B. 10 usually runs distinct circle of this particular pasture around #33, Star, #35 and sometimes is seen at #37. Every once in a while he will venture up to the field at #31, which where I was set up. Pic from last year…
31 is a large field that is located in the back pasture of the ranch. There is food and a windmill overflow tank located in the field, and with the rains (until the hard freeze on Dec. 5) there were plenty of fresh greens for the deer to eat. The freeze killed most of the greens, but deer are always in the field browsing and milling around. There are a lot of does that come into the field, and in December, when you find the does, you will be in the bucks. My Matrix is set up on the edge of a blackbrush thicket just off a sendero that feeds into the field. The deer either travel up the sendero and into the field on a trail to my left, or out of the thicket back to my right when looking out into the field. The perimeter of the field is torn up with rubs and scrapes, including two scrapes just a few yards from my blind. (One in the mesquite tree to the left and the one on the right in the pic)I usually put my blind out in October and leave it up for the whole season. The deer don’t even know it’s there and I’ve even had 2 6 month olds and their mom bed down just 3 feet from my blind for over an hour one hunt last year. Here is the set up…
C.B. 10 is a deer that I have a bit of a history with. Like I mentioned earlier he was a deer that we were very familiar with. We decided last year that he was at least 5.5, but probably very likely 6.5. He hadn’t grown at all really since the first time Les had seen him, so he would be a candidate to be shot if someone was presented the right opportunity. I hunt 31 very religiously and had not seen him even once during the whole season last year. I did see several other bucks that were mature but none presented shot opportunities or were in range. That is, up until the last morning. On that January morning I saw what I thought was a good looking middle aged buck. I took a bunch of video of him for comparison in future years and did not think anything about it. He fed in front of me for about half an hour that morning and I got good looks at all aspects of his rack and body. Stills off the tape from last year.
It wasn’t until I went home that Sunday afternoon and watched the tape that I realized the mistake I had made. C.B. 10 was the deer that I had seen that morning. I forgot to take into account that in the late season he would be sucked up and look like a younger deer. His body had thrown me off, and I always look at the body of the animal before the headgear. He had presented me many shot opportunities, from 12-20 yards, both broadside and quartering away. I couldn’t help but laugh as I was home empty-handed after the opportunities that he had given me. From that day on I pictured killing that deer hundreds of times in my mind and couldn’t wait until this December. I was excited when Les picked up both of his sheds in the spring.
Continued.....
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