95% to epic fail- gjs4s NY opener

[gjs4]

I havent been posting on here much...building preference points with the wife (as JLH says) and scouting. Lots of quality glassing and felt like i was sitting pretty having seen a number of mature animals basically coming from the same bedding location. A whole summers worth of notes on buck to wind movements....and a few studs showed up at the last minute. The season opened her last monday 10/1 and it was a NW wind. LW set the the SW corner of this swamp..taking my sweet time to stay quiet and concealed. All ready at 3:15 w a sunset near 7:10. At abotu 5 I see a coyote running the field..not good.....gets 50 yards away and knows something is up..so he cut in s the swamp...i anticipate his path- rangefind a tree at 42...he is just about there..i draw and wheels out. No big deal....though i usually only see 1 or 2 a year (and have seen 6 in 3 sets now- so i have a BIG issue). A little later i hear something right where the yote was and catch antler. Grab my bow, posture and see a big 9 emerge. This deer loves to tail wind so it made perfect sense... definate shooter...4 or 5 yo animal and 145-50+ inches....a giant for this state..and my biggest..he is wlaking the yote path sniffing it....i know where he is going....and without a care. I draw back...anchor...double check my string to nose tip, level, knuckle below ear....he stops broadside at the 42 yd tree.....gorgeous release and i knew right then..i was low.
Sure as could be...perfect left and right...and close enough he prolly felt flecth...if he dropped like they normally do on a shot he wouldve been smoked. He spun..bounced then walked back. Dont think he knew what happened. Hunted the stand two nights later almost identical conditions and had seen nothing. Pulled the set...hunting differently with a west wind and saw a few way (4-600 yards) away. Hoped to shoot a doe last night....the closest was one of the 400 yards away deer i just mentioned. Felt like i just placed in the olympics but broke my leg after the qualifier.

The youth guns season (also a first this yr) had some shooting nearby and in typical NY fashion the neighbor said some random kid was sneaking through the farm.

It could be way worse, but it almost hurts more to assemble the attack and fail then have not seen a thing...and i am stunned at how quick the action shut down there. My head is filled with another couple lessons but the fireplace has yet to get a mount (will only consider it with a 150" or aove). My buddies said i must have dropped to watch the shot...no idea what went wrong but will man up and say it was me and nothingelse.

A post that was somewhere between therapy and story telling....

[Bucky]

Been there.... those shots are tough as u replay them over and over.... hope you get another chance

[ Post made via Android ]

[kenn1320]

I think your experience confirms a few things. Your in an area with a nice buck, and you did 95% of the right things. Getting the shot is without a doubt the hardest thing. I wont say it was a long shot, but it wasnt a cake walk shot either. In my experience at that distance, the 2 shots I have taken the deer didnt drop at all. Coyotes are sneaky creatures and often bust ya when deer dont. I have a bit of concern with him busting you that far away. Was your scent going where you think? Did he bust your draw movement? Think about all the factors that had deer, specifically that buck in that spot. Was the morning wind from a different direction then the evening hunt? Did he bed there for a wind that was wrong for your location, then get stuck there during the day when the wind shifted and was right for your location, so you hunted? This could be why the spot has seemed to go dormant, maybe what caused them to be there that day has not happen again? Also dont forget the big ones have a way of hiding, or moving without detection. He could very well be there and just a bit shy to use that run again. Good luck, hope to see one on your wall soon!

[gjs4]

The replay is endlessly looped.

This coyote deal is a new one for me. Maybe 5 yrs ago i got a trail cam pic of one ....had shot 2 at that pt inc a 68#er..all during gun but never seen one otherwise..last year i topped 100 coyote pics but only saw one during spring turkey...this yr..only a co so far but there are at least 3 different dogs that are running a 60 ac chunk nightly. Crazy. He knew something was wrong in the field (and no where near my scent stream or tracks) and i had just hung this set an hr prior....and when i almost shot him he bolted w no haste.

The buck never knew a thing IMO beyond the coyote was there. Perhaps he came back after dark and smelled the area....i left that set there for a few days and hunted it a second time. Sat a different area near that swamp tonight.... 8 or 9 does but no bucks.

This swamp has had a number of mature bucks in it all summer....to the point of seeing at least one almost every night i glassed it. The night before opening day was the most amazing night of glassing i ever had...the front 40 had just about every good buck on the farm there...and a co new ones....so it was hunting the wind right and a concealed approach....not that i though hey the 9 will tail wind out as much as knowing these guys popped the lower left corner w a NW wind...and they bed the opposite side of the wind direction at dawn. They graze the field and work north t the corn w a west or northern wind. East winds had no action and s winds i saw deer, inc bucks...but w no consistency. I had a lot figured out but was not nearly as smart or admirable with my "patterning" as I would like to claim. lol

Thinking there is a pattern shift hitting and with our without my screw up- that kind of movement is done...the chance was there and I walk away smarter (and carrying my darn buck tag)

[Czabs]

Your on the right track...hunt smart and keep at er you'll come up with something. Good luck.

[jlh42581]

Ill bring my fox pro up in fawn season and we will put a hurtn on any predators. Can also guide you to trapping them if you want.

Ive only ever shot under one deer, the others I have shot over. The one I shot under I was on a side hill and didnt have an angle compensating range finder at the time, just my own guess as to yardage.

Hope to get out some this week, I was building preference points this weekend with a wedding. We went to her parents which I spied out some spots this past winter to hunt. She neglected to tell me we wouldnt be leaving their house till 330pm. I had plenty of time to go on a morning hunt but wasnt aware of it.

Regroup my man, youll get on one again soon.

[phade]

They're in there, no doubt.

Just a matter of time before your ground gives up the ghost of that buck or one of the other shooters.

Probably a good idea to plug a doe...just to get "back on track" with the actual shooting, although I'm sure this was more or less just a miss that we've all suffered at one point or another. Nothing problematic to be concerned about.

[Spysar]

I have files of missed shots, and worse yet, wounded deer, on video. It's worse when you can actually play it back on tape. I can't even watch those clips without being upset all over again....

[gjs4]

Treestand therapy sessions have helped some..but then again I havent had a deer in range (and 40 is actually beyond desired) since opening day. God, Murphy or someone must hear you when you say I want to shoot a doe or 4......all chase phase i bet theyll be surorunding me. lol

J- the offer was there for deer but i will beg for you to kill, or help me kill these darn baby eating dingos. Where di they all come from? I would be all about trapping them too....they have to be hammering the fawns.

Ironically, Spystar, I was going to buy one of those phone adpaters to film....I am glad.....and thats got to be tough.

Thanks for the confidence Czabs.

How many acres of corn can we cut with machetes and weedwhackers Brad?

[phade]

Treestand therapy sessions have helped some..but then again I havent had a deer in range (and 40 is actually beyond desired) since opening day. God, Murphy or someone must hear you when you say I want to shoot a doe or 4......all chase phase i bet theyll be surorunding me. lol

J- the offer was there for deer but i will beg for you to kill, or help me kill these darn baby eating dingos. Where di they all come from? I would be all about trapping them too....they have to be hammering the fawns.

Ironically, Spystar, I was going to buy one of those phone adpaters to film....I am glad.....and thats got to be tough.

Thanks for the confidence Czabs.

How many acres of corn can we cut with machetes and weedwhackers Brad?

I'm thinking a solid day or two post-deer season with targets on the yotes will make you feel better. We can hammer them with lead and then maybe see what we can do about trapping them. Trapping will really work, but it's an ongoing thing, though.

Patience...that corn will come down and you know where they are going when that happens. Just a matter of time - you know too much about those bucks to not have another encounter. I still am 50/50 on the level to which those bucks will bed in the corn or stick to it...some do, but I know some won't. I think you probably have a few of those bucks on your ground somewhere right now.