So when the season opened I filled my 2 doe tags on public and my friend had got a 2y/o 6pt and he offered me to come sit in one of his stands. He was about 50 yards away. I had 4 or 5 different bucks come in throughtout the night. From spikes to a 6pt. When legal light hit he was all over me asking why I didn't shoot one of them. Well I had been listening to the wired 2 hunt podcast all summer remember? They talk about mature bucks non stop and I grew up watching guys holding their yearling bucks so proudly and those memories reinforced the "let em go so they can grow" feelings I was developing listening to the podcasts. Well I got an ear full all season as I kept passing young bucks. Eventually he got mad, told me people who shoot big bucks were lucky or on tv and to not bother coming back to his place because I wasn't going to shoot his "small bucks". I tried to explain it wasn't size it was age but he didnt want to hear it. I ate my buck tags because I couldnt get on any mature bucks during gun season on public. At the end of the season after listening to dans episode of wired to hunt probably 400 times I started getting into buck beds.
That summer I scouted every inch of the smallish parcels of public I was hunting. I think I found every buck bed on the 3600 acres. But what had me disapointed were the sheds. I found a garbage can full of 6 points and under. 1 set from an 8 point and half of another 8 points rack. This public land gets hit HARD. They have a PORTA POTTY at the main parking lot during the season. Well I figured the 8 point I had the set of was probably 2 years old at least that season and my goal was a 3 year old so ok Im hunting that one buck. There were 2 beds within 400 yards of the bed I found the pair in. I figured he was using them all. During that summer I would drive 25 minutes out of my way to and from work so I could watch the field he would hopefully be eating in. I seen him all the time. It got to where he would be leaving the field as I was passing it in the morning almost every single day. Fast forward to the season opener. I sat the edge of the field the first 2 days just like I did the year before. I was maybe 250 yards from my car. All the hunters try to "go deep" on this small property thinking they were being smart. What happens is they all end up sitting together in the middle of the woods in a 100 square yards. You can literally watch them all walk out together. Well the does know this and come into the fields like normal during the early season and I wack my 2 the first 2 days. Opening day everyone's asking where I sat because maybe 7 guys are coming out walking through the field together as Im dragging my doe beside them. They're all complaining about not even seeing doe. I tell them exactly where I sat because I had a plan. The second day I get there extra early sit in the same spot. This time a couple guys walk past and set up up wind of me maybe 150 yards and I yell at another for trying to set up damn near on top of me so he goes across the field. I was nervous because he trampled all through the doe trail I was sitting. A single doe ends up coming out right at last light and she was big. She stopped behind brush smelling and I figure shed bolt. I was pumped because she was so big. I had no idea she was in the area as I'd never see her in the field. I shot her at 12 yards and she runs right into the middle of the field SCREAMING and dies 50ish yards out. Everyone of those guys seen and heard her so I packed my stuff up and one of them helped me drag her the 200ish yards to the truck. So the next day I get there purposely late park in the same spot but walk down the street and take a route to hunt the bed I found the shed in. I knew he would be bedded there on a south wind, which it was in the morning but switched to sw around 3pm. So I set up anyway hoping I'll have enough leeway that I would see him before he hit my scent. After I got set up I thougt I heard him walking but it was the wrong direction and it sounded much more like a humans footsteps. I got a little worried about it but as prime time came around I forgot about it as I see that my buck had snuck in on me. He was standing directly in my scent trail. I didnt have alot of experience but I could tell he was on high alert. His back leg was up like he was gonna bolt. I was standing up with my bow in my hand praying for him to come another 10 yards. Eventually he trotted away. Maybe 2 minutes goes by and I hear THWACK and suddenly he's bolting back to where he came from. I'm shaking and angry I knew he'd been hit. As it got dark I see a flashlight and I get down and go over to him and hes yelling DID YOU SEE THAT BUCK? I recognized him from opening day, he was the only guy with a crossbow. He'd seen me the first 2 days and waited for me on the 3rd. He followed me in and sat on the ground. I was so pissed at him and the situation. He was lucky he sat downwind of the bed. I played it cool and told him "atleast he didnt shoot the big buck I was after" I helped him drag it out because he was old and made a perfect shot. I sat out the rest of the whole season. I had told my friends who hunted about it. No one believed me, just like they laughed when i showed them all my sheds and buck bed pictures. They thougt I made it up because I hadn't shot anything.
This year I found much MUCH bigger land but it was about a month before season so I couldnt scout on foot. I found a bunch of marshes and good odds on some buck bedding. After a long talk with my dad I decided I was going to shoot a young buck. He insisted I do it because guys don't "just go out and shoot big bucks" and I "needed one under my belt". He didn't understand it was about age not size either. He thinks he's such a great hunter because he sat 40 days of the year in 1 stand on his fathers land and shot 1 or 2 year old bucks every year. So its october 9th my gf ball buster told me to go out. I havent shot a doe yet this year because I'll never go back to the other public spot again. I set up in a new area where I thought I'd have a good chance. 10 minutes after sundown a doe comes by moving fast I stood up and drew on her, had the pin settled and out of the corner of my eye I see a much bigger body. I change over and let the arrow fly. My nocturnal entered right in the crease and I realized it was a buck. I had time to think "perfect". Watched him run a half circle around my stand and drop about 35 yards behind me. I had thought it was a spike because of the brief antler but it ended up being a 7 point. Regular 6 with a little kicker at the base. Dnr aged it at 2 years. I wasn't proud, yeah it was nice but I felt robbed. I dropped my goals just to relieve some peer pressure. I didn't get the shakes or anything. Didnt celebrate just focused on the long drag out. I refused to call anyone for help and it was 1am before I had him in te truck. I've had amazing encounters with mature bucks this year but the hunting pressure came and I lost my sightings. As I type this my regular bow season is over. My daughter goes in for her 3rd heart cath on Tues so I won't be hunting much. Maybe a couple days of the rifle season. I'm happy I got a buck using beast tactics. Im sad because I dropped my standards and goals because of others. I'm looking forward to spring scouting this huge land and putting down some beasts next year. Theres a special place for dan infalt in my hunting soul for sharing his knowledge. I never thought there would be a better feeling than blowing on a coyote howler and have a 50lb coyote come running in hackles raised...but I never thought I'd be hunting an antlerd beast with a bow in my hand either. . Thanks for everything and I'm looking forward to checking out this site everyday.
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Congrats on your buck. Everything takes time. It sounds like your putting your time in scouting and you'll be on too bigger bucks in no time. Even though you may have lowered your standards for this buck, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Every deer is a trophy, especially for those that are taken with a bow. I think that it is a big accomplishment.
