Been busy lately and finally getting around to writing the story. I’ll tell this one like it happened yesterday.
Week before Christmas we’d finally been getting a lot of much needed rain so to not tear up the roads at our lease we decided to stay away from the ranch for the weekend. With the rut kicking in and my need to be out in the brush I went out to a buddies lil 650 acre low fence ranch some 12 miles north of town. This is a special piece of property that sits between two large (7K & 5K acre) ranches that just don’t get hunted. It isn’t uncommon to see some 50+ animals in a sitting being there isn’t another feeder for miles. A great honey hole near town where one can enjoy nature and soak in some great outdoors.
I’m sitting in a blind Sunday morning and watching a few of the regular bucks when all of a sudden this stud of buck comes out and literally dwarfs all the other deer body wise. I grab my camera and take advantage of the opportunity given. (I remember thinking to myself that he looked a lot like a buck I had tried to shoot the season before but when the opportunity was given, he never showed) I quickly sent some pics to my buddy letting him know of the buck I had just seen. Text went like this.
Buck Pics I took
He told me he would call me around lunch time. About 10am I get off the blind and starting looking for an area to set up a pop-up, just in case
. Found the spot and as I’m walking to my truck these curious corn crunchers decide to come by and hang out for a bit. Got some pretty cool shots.
Finally around lunch time my buddy calls and I offer to set up a blind and help him go after this buck. He tells me nah, but I can set up the blind if I want. I ask, if he shows do I let one fly? F yea was his answer! Instantly I got that nervous feeling one gets when you know something good is going to happen.
My dad and brother had plans to take a trip out to the lease and see if the roads out there were any better. Since I would be alone my plan was to set up the pop-up, corn it and sit in the blind and see how the deer reacted to it. Then I would start hunting him in the am. I was going to set up about 20 yards in front of the blind close to the trail the buck came in on. As I’m loading up the truck a light drizzle starts to come down. My dad walks out and tells my brother, no need to go, it’s gonna be wet. My brother, Dave is standing there disappointed so I ask him to come with and help me set up the blind. We show up at about 2pm and quickly start clearing the area to set up the blind. We got her up and ready in about an hour. Shot a couple practice shots through my two lanes and was feeling very good with the setup. Now that I had a spotter, I decided to go ahead and sit in the blind and if the buck showed, I was gonna let him have it.
I really had to get out of my comfort zone with this one. I usually don’t sit in a freshly set up blind, I don’t like bow hunting the afternoons from a pop-up with limited visibility & having to track in the dark & I definitely don’t like to send arrows when it’s wet and raining! My brother was gonna film and knowing he would have a much better view than me I decided to sit in the blind against my better judgment. Here's a pic I took right before I got in.
Typically I'll brush it in but with my decision to sit the afternoon and with time running out, this would have to do.
It’s about 3:30pm and I’m now settled in the blind patiently waiting to see what happens next. Had two nice piles of Buck Candy laced corn in each of my shooting lanes. The BC tub came with me in the blind for added cover scent! This place has been feeding BC for several weeks now and the deer took to it very well. A little after 4pm the deer slowly started to funnel in. Had a few groups of does come into my setup, but there was something they just didn’t like. Could it be the new bush with black holes that wasn’t there in the morning? Either way their finicky reaction to the blind had me doubting my decision to sit in the blind so soon. All but positive thoughts were running through my mind, should of this and should of that... Well, nothing I can do about it now, I’m in the blind and deer are coming in. Since I could only see about 25yds out of one lane and about 100 out of the other I was glued to my cell asking my brother for updates. At one point I told myself leave that phone alone already. I did just that. About 30 minutes went by and the deer were still acting very nervous and wouldn’t stay in either lane for more than a minute or two. What could it be? I kept blaming myself for getting in there too soon, not brushing it in, etc., etc... I pick up my cell and had a couple missed texts from Dave.
Ok, my buck is at the feeder so I put my phone down again and get ready. With bow in hand I wait for what feels like forever. Nothing but silence…
I grab my phone(which was actually only about 20 minutes later) and had a series of missed texts from Dave.
A few pics Dave took right before buck came into my setup
As I’m reading the last one “He’s going back to u!” I look up and see a set of wet horns slowly making their way to my lane, nose to the ground. Instantly I felt a shortness of breath and my heart rate went through the roof! Put down the phone, again, and latched my release. Nothing dumb with this buck. He sat and ate for several minutes facing me the entire time. He would eat his corn, look up at me, take a sniff, and continue eating. He slowly moved out of the lane and walked towards my other lane. This time he was coming in broadside. With bow in hand I’m in the zone and waiting. I sat there and watched him eat broadside for a few minutes, but only his head and neck were in my lane. I had no shot at his body. This deer kept his eye on the blind what felt like the entire time. He slowly walked out and went back to the first lane. This time he’s coming in broadside and it looks like it’s going to happen. Fortunate for him, he stood between me and a limb covering the better part of his vitals. All I need is for this buck to take one more step. “Come on, just one more step” I kept telling myself. Buck was now looking off towards the feeder at something that had his attention. Lucky for me he wasn’t paying attention to the blind anymore. He looked up, with ears postured back and as he started to step I started to draw. As I’m drawing I could see another buck coming in behind him. After the long wait here I am at full draw only to watch my buck chase off another deer. It was now starting to get dark and at this point I felt like this would have to wait till tomorrow. I quietly let off and watched the buck make a scrape about 50 yards out. I pick up my phone to see what my brother had to say. To say the last 30 minutes were intense would be an understatement.
As I’m texting my brother I look up and see that the buck is slowly approaching. I couldn’t believe it. Here he comes again. By this time all the highs & lows had gotten me to the point where I was now immune to the buck fever feeling and was ready to take care of business. He stepped into the first lane he originally came into, this time broadside. Again, the same limb is standing between me and this big old buck. I couldn’t believe it. Determined to make this happen I leaned off to the side of my chair in hopes of seeing a clearing to his vitals. Sure enough from the new angle, I would be able to squeeze an arrow through with nothing in the way. I drew my bow and waited for him to extend his front leg and open up the sweet spot. It seems like as soon as I settled the pin, he took the step and opened up his vitals. Trigger finger slowly touched the release and began the squeeze. Before I knew it the arrow had zipped completely through him and I watched as he darted directly away from me for about 70 yards. He stopped and circled towards me looking like he was about to go down. He stopped again and did a full 360 turn in the opposite direction and darted into the brush with his head down. Shot felt great and deer looked to be hurt pretty bad. Quickly I grab my phone to see if Dave watched him go down. It’s getting dark fast and the light drizzle is picking up. The nervousness began to intensify with every second that passed. Texts went like this.
A few years back I was the victim of early celebration when my buddy swore he saw my buck go down while he was sitting in a tower blind. Low & behold dogs found that deer about 5 hours later. I wanted to make sure deer was down before I started getting all happy & excited
.
I probably waited a total of 15 minutes before I decided to walk out and take a look. With no light other than the one hanging under my cap, I slowly walk in the direction I saw the buck go into the brush. By this time it is completely dark and with a wet ground everything was reflecting off my light. There was no way I would be able to spot blood on this track. As I got to the area where I saw the buck spin I look over to the right and can see the white belly laying some 20 yards in the brush. Yes, Victory!!!! Man that felt good. Sent my brother a text to come on down and help me get this bad boy to the nearest clearing. With all the rain we didn’t get to take as many LDP’s as I would of liked, but in the end, I got a nice set of horns to remember the hunt. Let me tell you, finding a buck, setting up a blind and taking him down on the same day is quite the feeling of accomplishment. I'm really happy I was able to share this hunt with my brother. Nothing gets me going like a mature big bodied buck, and this buck was no exception. Time for some LDP's.
Let me say that none of this would have been possible without the help and support of my lovely wife. While I'm sitting in a blind having a great old time she's back at home with my two boys, 2yr old and a 7month old baby. Even though I haven't spent 1/2 the time that I'm use to in the brush I'm very lucky to have someone that understands my addiction (well, somewhat
) and deals with it as best as she can Love you babe, can’t thank you enough!
Thanks for looking
Week before Christmas we’d finally been getting a lot of much needed rain so to not tear up the roads at our lease we decided to stay away from the ranch for the weekend. With the rut kicking in and my need to be out in the brush I went out to a buddies lil 650 acre low fence ranch some 12 miles north of town. This is a special piece of property that sits between two large (7K & 5K acre) ranches that just don’t get hunted. It isn’t uncommon to see some 50+ animals in a sitting being there isn’t another feeder for miles. A great honey hole near town where one can enjoy nature and soak in some great outdoors.
I’m sitting in a blind Sunday morning and watching a few of the regular bucks when all of a sudden this stud of buck comes out and literally dwarfs all the other deer body wise. I grab my camera and take advantage of the opportunity given. (I remember thinking to myself that he looked a lot like a buck I had tried to shoot the season before but when the opportunity was given, he never showed) I quickly sent some pics to my buddy letting him know of the buck I had just seen. Text went like this.
Buck Pics I took
He told me he would call me around lunch time. About 10am I get off the blind and starting looking for an area to set up a pop-up, just in case
. Found the spot and as I’m walking to my truck these curious corn crunchers decide to come by and hang out for a bit. Got some pretty cool shots. Finally around lunch time my buddy calls and I offer to set up a blind and help him go after this buck. He tells me nah, but I can set up the blind if I want. I ask, if he shows do I let one fly? F yea was his answer! Instantly I got that nervous feeling one gets when you know something good is going to happen.
My dad and brother had plans to take a trip out to the lease and see if the roads out there were any better. Since I would be alone my plan was to set up the pop-up, corn it and sit in the blind and see how the deer reacted to it. Then I would start hunting him in the am. I was going to set up about 20 yards in front of the blind close to the trail the buck came in on. As I’m loading up the truck a light drizzle starts to come down. My dad walks out and tells my brother, no need to go, it’s gonna be wet. My brother, Dave is standing there disappointed so I ask him to come with and help me set up the blind. We show up at about 2pm and quickly start clearing the area to set up the blind. We got her up and ready in about an hour. Shot a couple practice shots through my two lanes and was feeling very good with the setup. Now that I had a spotter, I decided to go ahead and sit in the blind and if the buck showed, I was gonna let him have it.
I really had to get out of my comfort zone with this one. I usually don’t sit in a freshly set up blind, I don’t like bow hunting the afternoons from a pop-up with limited visibility & having to track in the dark & I definitely don’t like to send arrows when it’s wet and raining! My brother was gonna film and knowing he would have a much better view than me I decided to sit in the blind against my better judgment. Here's a pic I took right before I got in.
Typically I'll brush it in but with my decision to sit the afternoon and with time running out, this would have to do.
It’s about 3:30pm and I’m now settled in the blind patiently waiting to see what happens next. Had two nice piles of Buck Candy laced corn in each of my shooting lanes. The BC tub came with me in the blind for added cover scent! This place has been feeding BC for several weeks now and the deer took to it very well. A little after 4pm the deer slowly started to funnel in. Had a few groups of does come into my setup, but there was something they just didn’t like. Could it be the new bush with black holes that wasn’t there in the morning
? Either way their finicky reaction to the blind had me doubting my decision to sit in the blind so soon. All but positive thoughts were running through my mind, should of this and should of that... Well, nothing I can do about it now, I’m in the blind and deer are coming in. Since I could only see about 25yds out of one lane and about 100 out of the other I was glued to my cell asking my brother for updates. At one point I told myself leave that phone alone already. I did just that. About 30 minutes went by and the deer were still acting very nervous and wouldn’t stay in either lane for more than a minute or two. What could it be? I kept blaming myself for getting in there too soon, not brushing it in, etc., etc... I pick up my cell and had a couple missed texts from Dave. Ok, my buck is at the feeder so I put my phone down again and get ready. With bow in hand I wait for what feels like forever. Nothing but silence…
I grab my phone(which was actually only about 20 minutes later) and had a series of missed texts from Dave.
A few pics Dave took right before buck came into my setup
As I’m reading the last one “He’s going back to u!” I look up and see a set of wet horns slowly making their way to my lane, nose to the ground. Instantly I felt a shortness of breath and my heart rate went through the roof! Put down the phone, again, and latched my release. Nothing dumb with this buck. He sat and ate for several minutes facing me the entire time. He would eat his corn, look up at me, take a sniff, and continue eating. He slowly moved out of the lane and walked towards my other lane. This time he was coming in broadside. With bow in hand I’m in the zone and waiting. I sat there and watched him eat broadside for a few minutes, but only his head and neck were in my lane. I had no shot at his body. This deer kept his eye on the blind what felt like the entire time. He slowly walked out and went back to the first lane. This time he’s coming in broadside and it looks like it’s going to happen. Fortunate for him, he stood between me and a limb covering the better part of his vitals. All I need is for this buck to take one more step. “Come on, just one more step” I kept telling myself. Buck was now looking off towards the feeder at something that had his attention. Lucky for me he wasn’t paying attention to the blind anymore. He looked up, with ears postured back and as he started to step I started to draw. As I’m drawing I could see another buck coming in behind him. After the long wait here I am at full draw only to watch my buck chase off another deer. It was now starting to get dark and at this point I felt like this would have to wait till tomorrow. I quietly let off and watched the buck make a scrape about 50 yards out. I pick up my phone to see what my brother had to say. To say the last 30 minutes were intense would be an understatement.
As I’m texting my brother I look up and see that the buck is slowly approaching. I couldn’t believe it. Here he comes again. By this time all the highs & lows had gotten me to the point where I was now immune to the buck fever feeling and was ready to take care of business. He stepped into the first lane he originally came into, this time broadside. Again, the same limb is standing between me and this big old buck. I couldn’t believe it. Determined to make this happen I leaned off to the side of my chair in hopes of seeing a clearing to his vitals. Sure enough from the new angle, I would be able to squeeze an arrow through with nothing in the way. I drew my bow and waited for him to extend his front leg and open up the sweet spot. It seems like as soon as I settled the pin, he took the step and opened up his vitals. Trigger finger slowly touched the release and began the squeeze. Before I knew it the arrow had zipped completely through him and I watched as he darted directly away from me for about 70 yards. He stopped and circled towards me looking like he was about to go down. He stopped again and did a full 360 turn in the opposite direction and darted into the brush with his head down. Shot felt great and deer looked to be hurt pretty bad. Quickly I grab my phone to see if Dave watched him go down. It’s getting dark fast and the light drizzle is picking up. The nervousness began to intensify with every second that passed. Texts went like this.
A few years back I was the victim of early celebration when my buddy swore he saw my buck go down while he was sitting in a tower blind. Low & behold dogs found that deer about 5 hours later. I wanted to make sure deer was down before I started getting all happy & excited
.I probably waited a total of 15 minutes before I decided to walk out and take a look. With no light other than the one hanging under my cap, I slowly walk in the direction I saw the buck go into the brush. By this time it is completely dark and with a wet ground everything was reflecting off my light. There was no way I would be able to spot blood on this track. As I got to the area where I saw the buck spin I look over to the right and can see the white belly laying some 20 yards in the brush. Yes, Victory!!!! Man that felt good. Sent my brother a text to come on down and help me get this bad boy to the nearest clearing. With all the rain we didn’t get to take as many LDP’s as I would of liked, but in the end, I got a nice set of horns to remember the hunt. Let me tell you, finding a buck, setting up a blind and taking him down on the same day is quite the feeling of accomplishment. I'm really happy I was able to share this hunt with my brother. Nothing gets me going like a mature big bodied buck, and this buck was no exception. Time for some LDP's.
Let me say that none of this would have been possible without the help and support of my lovely wife. While I'm sitting in a blind having a great old time she's back at home with my two boys, 2yr old and a 7month old baby. Even though I haven't spent 1/2 the time that I'm use to in the brush I'm very lucky to have someone that understands my addiction (well, somewhat
) and deals with it as best as she can Love you babe, can’t thank you enough!Thanks for looking
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