After hunting hard for 4 days and getting soaking wet I move my stand to another location. My feet are cold and I did not bring a dry pair of socks with me. I setup over looking a nice food plot and where I shot a nice doe my first year up there.
At 4:30 I am eating a snack and hear a deer blow close to me. I am thinking the deer heard me chewing. I freeze and wait. In a matter of minutes the field 12 deer are feeding on the clover and whatever else was out there. After about 30 minutes all the deer start looking back into the treeline to the west.
Just like in those TV hunting shows on land I will never get to hunt walks out a beast. I did not even have to question if this deer was a shooter. Huge brute! He grunts so loud and deep the doe move about 20 yards away from him. One doe runs to the other side of the field. I am keeping my eye on him. He will not come to grunts, snort wheeze or bleats. That doe turns around two minutes later and runs out of the field. Taking all the deer with her. Man this was intense!!! The buck was a main frame 8 in the 150 range.
The next days hunt was a bust. A local hunter came walking across the field at 6:45 in the morning and leaves at 9:20. He comes back at 3 and leaves at 5:30. I was coming to full draw on a doe and they see him.
Chance you take when you hunt public land. All the doe in the field leave.
I get down and head back to my truck only to find him with an arrow knocked and what appears to be him coming to full draw on a deer(too dark to make it out) to my right. He sees me and lets down. We chat for a bit and leave.
The next morning me and Carey are worn out from hunting all day for the last five days. We joke about shooting spikes and little bucks. I get to my climber(Thanks Larry) and settle in for another long day.
At 7:00AM a deer blows but I am downwind of the deer. The deer movement in the morning has been super slow and I do not expect to see anything. I grunt a few times and bleat. I do it again, but do a tending grunt for about five minutes. It really wasn't two minutes before I hear something cross the creek and I spot a nice 120 inch 8. I am excited and prepared to shoot it.
That buck walks right into my shooting land and I am about to draw when right below me at 13 yards walks out a massive 10 point! He walks right up to my drag rag and is sniffing it. I have to wait for him to clear so I can shoot. I get to full draw and put the pin right behind the shoulder and let go.
Watermelon THUMP and the buck runs a short distances and stops. It runs off and I cannot stand up any more. I watch it run back the way it came, but I do not hear it crash. I wait an hour and go look. My arrow is covered in blood, but no blood trail for 50 yards.
I follow it and found the buck has crossed the creek and ran up hill. I back out and get some help. We blood trail it through two huge cedar thickets, another creek, and then back up another small rise. I text Landrover send dog need help. I text my buddy who is hunting 5 hours west of me. He has a dog.
My buddy cannot make, but calls the troops and we have dog coming. We back out at 12:30 and go back to the motel. Pretty the blue Carey says call the game warden and let him know we will be out there with a dog. I call the office and he states tracking dogs are illegal. Thanked me for being honest and said he did not want to confiscate my deer. Told me I could stay out there all night looking. Just could not shoot the deer after dark if I found it alive. I call Mike(dog handler) and tell him not to come over. I am truly blessed Mike was willing to come all the way over and help me.
Carey and I load up and look even longer. Finding blood in a cedar thicket is nearly impossible. We back out and start again first light. We track all over the place. Grid searching and looking for blood. Limited on time we crawling around all the cedar thickets because this buck loves going into them. Out of time we make a long pass through to the east and back to a creek. Just as Carey is about to step out we find blood again. Buck circled around or something 160 yards the other way.
We look even harder and nothing. My heart sinks. We have to leave and get checked out of the motel and head home. We never found this buck.
This buck was massive in tine length and mass. This is why I go up there. Huge thanks for Brian and Mike for the help in getting a dog lined up. Huge thanks to Carey for giving up his afternoon and morning hunt to help me track this deer. I am truly blessed to have such good friends. I am also sick to my stomach. I hate this part of bowhunting.
At 4:30 I am eating a snack and hear a deer blow close to me. I am thinking the deer heard me chewing. I freeze and wait. In a matter of minutes the field 12 deer are feeding on the clover and whatever else was out there. After about 30 minutes all the deer start looking back into the treeline to the west.
Just like in those TV hunting shows on land I will never get to hunt walks out a beast. I did not even have to question if this deer was a shooter. Huge brute! He grunts so loud and deep the doe move about 20 yards away from him. One doe runs to the other side of the field. I am keeping my eye on him. He will not come to grunts, snort wheeze or bleats. That doe turns around two minutes later and runs out of the field. Taking all the deer with her. Man this was intense!!! The buck was a main frame 8 in the 150 range.
The next days hunt was a bust. A local hunter came walking across the field at 6:45 in the morning and leaves at 9:20. He comes back at 3 and leaves at 5:30. I was coming to full draw on a doe and they see him.
Chance you take when you hunt public land. All the doe in the field leave.I get down and head back to my truck only to find him with an arrow knocked and what appears to be him coming to full draw on a deer(too dark to make it out) to my right. He sees me and lets down. We chat for a bit and leave.
The next morning me and Carey are worn out from hunting all day for the last five days. We joke about shooting spikes and little bucks. I get to my climber(Thanks Larry) and settle in for another long day.
At 7:00AM a deer blows but I am downwind of the deer. The deer movement in the morning has been super slow and I do not expect to see anything. I grunt a few times and bleat. I do it again, but do a tending grunt for about five minutes. It really wasn't two minutes before I hear something cross the creek and I spot a nice 120 inch 8. I am excited and prepared to shoot it.
That buck walks right into my shooting land and I am about to draw when right below me at 13 yards walks out a massive 10 point! He walks right up to my drag rag and is sniffing it. I have to wait for him to clear so I can shoot. I get to full draw and put the pin right behind the shoulder and let go.
Watermelon THUMP and the buck runs a short distances and stops. It runs off and I cannot stand up any more. I watch it run back the way it came, but I do not hear it crash. I wait an hour and go look. My arrow is covered in blood, but no blood trail for 50 yards.
I follow it and found the buck has crossed the creek and ran up hill. I back out and get some help. We blood trail it through two huge cedar thickets, another creek, and then back up another small rise. I text Landrover send dog need help. I text my buddy who is hunting 5 hours west of me. He has a dog.
My buddy cannot make, but calls the troops and we have dog coming. We back out at 12:30 and go back to the motel. Pretty the blue Carey says call the game warden and let him know we will be out there with a dog. I call the office and he states tracking dogs are illegal. Thanked me for being honest and said he did not want to confiscate my deer. Told me I could stay out there all night looking. Just could not shoot the deer after dark if I found it alive. I call Mike(dog handler) and tell him not to come over. I am truly blessed Mike was willing to come all the way over and help me.
Carey and I load up and look even longer. Finding blood in a cedar thicket is nearly impossible. We back out and start again first light. We track all over the place. Grid searching and looking for blood. Limited on time we crawling around all the cedar thickets because this buck loves going into them. Out of time we make a long pass through to the east and back to a creek. Just as Carey is about to step out we find blood again. Buck circled around or something 160 yards the other way.
We look even harder and nothing. My heart sinks. We have to leave and get checked out of the motel and head home. We never found this buck.
This buck was massive in tine length and mass. This is why I go up there. Huge thanks for Brian and Mike for the help in getting a dog lined up. Huge thanks to Carey for giving up his afternoon and morning hunt to help me track this deer. I am truly blessed to have such good friends. I am also sick to my stomach. I hate this part of bowhunting.
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