My buddy and I went for a sit near Wimberley this AM. We have an agreement to lay off the shooter bucks until his son and grandson have a crack at 'em (this weekend). So, we meet at the gate at 0630, chat a bit, and I head to the upper stand, he goes to the lower one. I bump two headed from the parking spot to the stand, but can't tell buck or doe. Get in the stand, put out the hand corn, and settle in and shortly hear some steps but can't see a thing. Next thing I know, I hear something crunching corn. It's still too dark to see, but eventually I see the white inside of a deer's legs at about 12 yds. Can't tell anything else. It gets lighter and I see a smallish deer but can't tell if buck or doe. Then I hear footsteps coming from the left, headed to the feeder. It's a 10 pt, about 14" wide, nice and dark horns. Behind him comes an 8-pt, maybe 16" wide. The 10 owns the feeder, keeping the 8 away, and runs at the little deer which happens to be a spike with some "wanna-be" points out on the ends. This goes on for about 10 minutes until the feeder spins. Panic, deer scatter, then the 10 gradually works its way back in. About 15 minutes later, the 10 comes to attention and stares hard to my right and then I hear "crunch, crunch" and see antlers coming. It's another 8, not too wide but tall and dark. Comes on in and gets the rush from the 10 but heads to some hand corn. Then they both stare back to my right, and I see big horns. It's a large-bodied buck that turns out to be either a 6x4 or 6x5, with a split G2 and a very small G1 which may not make a point. He circles around, and is clearly "respected" by the other two. The little spike won't even come close now. Next thing I see is another buck coming from the right front--along the edge of the ridge drop-off. Strange looking--only one antler with 4 pts. Then he turns his head and I see the right antler, broken at the base and grown down alongside his head. It has 4 pts also, and the tines are horizontal, pointed away from his jaw. He comes on in but is jittery and after about another 15 minutes all of them wander off. I sit another 45 minutes or so, then climb down and head to the truck. On the way out I notice a good scrape under a live oak, where the big buck was standing before he came to the feeder. Great morning for me.
Oh yeah-what about my buddy? Well, I will reveal no names but I will say he saw 13 different deer, including the broken-antlered buck, but just watched, as he forgot something important--his "bullets" which were laying on his workbench in his garage.
Oh well, still a good morning with previews of what's to come.
Oh yeah-what about my buddy? Well, I will reveal no names but I will say he saw 13 different deer, including the broken-antlered buck, but just watched, as he forgot something important--his "bullets" which were laying on his workbench in his garage.
Oh well, still a good morning with previews of what's to come.
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