I went out to the ranch to hunt yesterday afternoon. I got into the stand just shy of 3pm. This set has been up for several months and only hunted a handful of times.
Getting into this stand is a dream. It's about 200 yards from the ranch house and is about 45 yards into a thick wooded area that opens up allowing for several prime shooting lanes as long as the wind is right.
We had intentionally stayed out if this set up for the past several weeks. The south winds that have plagued the hill country have kept this stand very protected. But yesterday's strong east wind made this set a viable location.
After 10 min of being in the stand I had a young 4 pointer walk right below me and bed down about 25 yards from me. With in 10 min of the forky showing up... I had a young 6 point buck come in from the north and bed down also. In less than 30 min of getting on stand I had two young bucks dang close to my set.
I don't know how long it was before another 6 point showed up. I didn't even see him come in. I just heard him thrashing. I looked over my shoulder and saw this non shooter buck working a scrape and doing deer stuff.
This deer was just toying with me. He would walk to the feeder. Nose around in the grass. Scratch his ears with his hind legs. And make all kinds of vocalizations I had never heard before.
After an hour of these three young bucks loitering about. The first 4 point got up and headed down a trail toward another feeder that and setup that's about 200 yards away in a clearing. The other two went with him in tow.
They hadn't been gone 5 min before a yearling 3 point buck came skipping down the path too. I had so much action in such a short time. It was great to see these youngsters moving about.
I was texting back and forth to a buddy of mine who now had two deer at his feeder. He texted me that one of his bucks were starting to get freaked out stomping and blowing. That buck went nuts because I heard it bawl three times the tear off thoroughly the woods at break neck speed making all kinds of ruckus.
Neither of us had any idea what caused the commotion. And we made several jokes about it. Then on the far side of my feeder about 70 yards out I saw movement.
Slipping through the woods was a limousine sized hog. Coming down the trail. It closed to 60 yards and made a sharp turn attempting to make a large circle around the set. I watched move from brush pile to brush pile checking the wind.
The feeder goes off and I watch the cloud of buck candy billow towards the black limo hog. It picks up the pace a little but keeps to circling the set up.
At 35 yards it stops on the trail I had walked in on. I had also poured a mound of bc there to help conceal my scent. The hog lifted it head high into the air and curled its nose full into the wind and popped its jaws.
It buried it's nose once more into the bc and started into the feeder. At 20 yards it passed behind a thicket and out of sight. I drew back.
The pig stayed hidden for several moments. My heart was throttling in my ears. My breath was fast and shallow. I could feel the release of endorphins and adrenaline coalescing through my body.
I mentally fought my self to settle down. Just as I got under control the hog moved into my shooting lane. I put the pin on the vitals and looses my arrow. WHACK!
That sound is unmistakable. The pink spurt of blood... Was a great indicator that my aim was true.
The blood trail was easy to follow. But stretched over 400 yards onto the adjacent property. I went and got my buddy and together resumed the tracking.
After another 150 yards or so. I saw the glow of the Luminock and the black hulk of the hog laying in the thick brush.
Tebow time
Getting into this stand is a dream. It's about 200 yards from the ranch house and is about 45 yards into a thick wooded area that opens up allowing for several prime shooting lanes as long as the wind is right.
We had intentionally stayed out if this set up for the past several weeks. The south winds that have plagued the hill country have kept this stand very protected. But yesterday's strong east wind made this set a viable location.
After 10 min of being in the stand I had a young 4 pointer walk right below me and bed down about 25 yards from me. With in 10 min of the forky showing up... I had a young 6 point buck come in from the north and bed down also. In less than 30 min of getting on stand I had two young bucks dang close to my set.
I don't know how long it was before another 6 point showed up. I didn't even see him come in. I just heard him thrashing. I looked over my shoulder and saw this non shooter buck working a scrape and doing deer stuff.
This deer was just toying with me. He would walk to the feeder. Nose around in the grass. Scratch his ears with his hind legs. And make all kinds of vocalizations I had never heard before.
After an hour of these three young bucks loitering about. The first 4 point got up and headed down a trail toward another feeder that and setup that's about 200 yards away in a clearing. The other two went with him in tow.
They hadn't been gone 5 min before a yearling 3 point buck came skipping down the path too. I had so much action in such a short time. It was great to see these youngsters moving about.
I was texting back and forth to a buddy of mine who now had two deer at his feeder. He texted me that one of his bucks were starting to get freaked out stomping and blowing. That buck went nuts because I heard it bawl three times the tear off thoroughly the woods at break neck speed making all kinds of ruckus.
Neither of us had any idea what caused the commotion. And we made several jokes about it. Then on the far side of my feeder about 70 yards out I saw movement.
Slipping through the woods was a limousine sized hog. Coming down the trail. It closed to 60 yards and made a sharp turn attempting to make a large circle around the set. I watched move from brush pile to brush pile checking the wind.
The feeder goes off and I watch the cloud of buck candy billow towards the black limo hog. It picks up the pace a little but keeps to circling the set up.
At 35 yards it stops on the trail I had walked in on. I had also poured a mound of bc there to help conceal my scent. The hog lifted it head high into the air and curled its nose full into the wind and popped its jaws.
It buried it's nose once more into the bc and started into the feeder. At 20 yards it passed behind a thicket and out of sight. I drew back.
The pig stayed hidden for several moments. My heart was throttling in my ears. My breath was fast and shallow. I could feel the release of endorphins and adrenaline coalescing through my body.
I mentally fought my self to settle down. Just as I got under control the hog moved into my shooting lane. I put the pin on the vitals and looses my arrow. WHACK!
That sound is unmistakable. The pink spurt of blood... Was a great indicator that my aim was true.
The blood trail was easy to follow. But stretched over 400 yards onto the adjacent property. I went and got my buddy and together resumed the tracking.
After another 150 yards or so. I saw the glow of the Luminock and the black hulk of the hog laying in the thick brush.
Tebow time
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