I'll admit that this buck was more of a lucky kill than a beast kill. I had been having a tough 2017 season, I think I went the first 10 sits of the season without as much a 1 deer sighting from the stand. Around mid October I started seeing deer, just not the caliber that I was looking for. I wanted a 3 1/2 yo plus buck and I knew of several around. November 8th - 12th I spent more time on the stand/in the woods than I did out of it. I had 5 mature buck sightings in that stretch and almost sealed the deal on the morning of Nov 11th. The biggest buck I have seen on our property came by just as it was light enough to start seeing. I grabbed my bow and he stopped 20-25 yards away with his vitals covered by a cedar tree, looked around for a moment and continued on. My heart sank a little watching him walk away, wondering if i would catch a break this season. Below is a trail cam pic of that buck.
The following weekend (Nov 18) marked the opening of Rifle season. Unfortunately I had to work that Saturday morning
. Luckily I was able to get out for an evening hunt. A couple young does and a spike were all I saw. The morning of November 19th was a beautiful morning for the Rut in SE OK. There was a heavy frost on the ground and it was 30 degrees with a light WNW wind. I went to a permanent stand that hadn't been hunted yet this season with hopes of catching up to a nice 3 1/2 yo 8 point that had been on trail cam around the area. Just as it started breaking light there was a buck pushing 2 does around on the hill above me. The does ran right by my stand at 20 yards full bore. In tow ran the buck I was after, I tried everything to get him to stop long enough I could get my crosshairs on him but he was hot on the trail. Off they went. I could hear them thrashing around the woods for the next 5 minutes. Once again I'm sitting there wondering if I'll ever catch a break.
About an hour goes by and I'm scanning the woods looking for any signs of life when the sunlight catches a flicker about 80 yards to my North and up the hill. I pull my binos up and see a deer eye looking my direction. Thinking the deer was gonna be walking my way I keep watching for about 5 minutes before I finally realize the deer is bedded down behind a brush pile. Finally about 10 minutes later the deer turns its head to lick its side and I see antler bases and what looks like a decent size g2. I watch the buck for another 10 minutes or so and get a couple more glances of his rack and decide to try to line up a shot. I mentally marked the land marks of tree limbs and trunks that I needed to find him in thru my scope. The opening was only about 6" in diameter and 80+ yards away. Finally I find him, unfortunately the elevation I have to have my rifle at to see him and get a shot I had no support for my rifle to get steady. I knew I couldn't make the shot unsupported so I had to get creative. I dug around and got my grunt call out to use as a shooting stick. I worked perfectly. I got my crosshairs on the buck, safety off, just waiting for him to turn his head again so I can put the shot in the top of his neck. Finally after the longest 5 minutes I've ever had hunting he turns his head, I take a deep breath and squeeze the trigger. BOOOOOM! The shot breaks the almost dead silence of the cold morning. I didn't see a deer run off, surely I got him. I gathered up my stuff and figured it was either a clean miss or a clean kill. I climbed down from the stand and went to see the outcome. I was shocked when I walked up on him laying there dead in his bed. He is a much larger buck than I thought he was when I shot.
I'm still trying to figure out why he was bedded there and if it was just a rut bed to try and catch does or if it is used outside of the rut as well. One thing for sure is that I will be keeping an eye on it to try and figure out.
