74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEAST!

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
BackWoodsHunter
500 Club
Posts: 3011
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:13 am
Status: Offline

74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEAST!

Unread postby BackWoodsHunter » Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:37 pm

Not sure where to start on this post but I'll start off by saying that due to pre-occupations this is a LATE post but my grandpa scored his FIRST BOWKILL EVER on Friday November 5th, 2010 at the ripe young age of 74. Due to other obligations, chasing deer, and some illness I haven't gotten together a good enough story to post. Before posting I have to put out a special thanks to Joe, better known as PredatorTC, and his family for posting a dandy crossbow at a dandy price for sale last fall, on BloodBro!(for those not familiar BloodBro was once a place many of us "beasts" called home) The crossbow is a PSE with a red dot scope and after half of last season and as far as we currently are into WI's bowseason, grandpa is truly in love with it!
The saga truly started a few yrs ago when I shot my first deer with a bow and got grandpa interested in bowhunting again. He used to go with my dad back in the day but was never successful. I pushed him to get walking/working out and maintain good health which he began doing but he had a knee problem. After undergoing surgery he decided since I wouldn't stop pestering him he'd do his best to pick up the bow, afterall his knee was better-he really had no excuse. So we dusted off his old compound, cranked back the poundage and it still wasn't an option. His joints/muscles didn't quite want to draw the bow as much as his mind did. Anyhow he decided a crossbow was in order but put off buying one until I found Predators post in the classifieds on bloodbro. I pushed and pushed grandpa and he was finally convinced to buy it. The next time he came to visit (i was living in milwaukee with parents at the time) we made the trip out to joe's house, took a test shot, and made the purchase. Grandpa was immediately intrigued with the crossbow and happy with his purchase. We target shot, and hunted the rest of fall neither of us successful. The off season prep and time we put in was great. I had grandpa clearing brush with me and putting in food plots. (spring of 2010 at this point) Our food plots seemed to be a failed endeavor but we did our best and thats all that matters. My clover is still green but the deer much prefer corn piles in our area.
The story continues into late August where grandpa placed a trail camera in front of his permanent stand (which he and I built when I was 12, including a wood stove, shingled roof, and skids for moving around with the tractor. He began baiting in front of the camera with kitchen scraps, apples etc.( i know its frowned upon here but I could care less I'm happy for him) As the season progressed and the velvet was shed he began getting some various buck pictures, we hunt north of Hwy 8 in Harshaw, WI so I can't say we got anything big but its neat to see the deer around anyhow. Well soon we began to know a spike buck very well he visited the camera daily and majority of the time we saw him in the daylight pictures only to return again later at night and the next day and so on and so on. He had a routine. Grandpa sent out an email to everyone claiming this deer as his own and he was going to harvest it. I might add here that due to shared land ownership, and family fueding, shooting any buck marked as "decent" or better with the bow before gun hunters got their "chance at him" causes big time fighting and arguements. That being said passing on a "decent" buck is required. We got many pictures all fall, and are continuing to get pictures of nice bucks so it is kind of a shame. Anyhow, on Saturday October 30th grandpa had his first date with the spike he laid claim on back in September. He came in broadside 15yards from grandpas enclosed shack and he let one fly. He watched the deer trot off unscathed-the arrow sailed right over him. To his amazement 15minutes later the same buck returned and grandpa repeated his error! This buck was asking for it and grandpa couldn't capitalize. The next morning he came back AGAIN-for one more rodeo. This time grandpa connected and the arrow proved to be covered in red blood...and a good amount of fat! The bow came with spitfire mechanical broadheads. I am a muzzy man and pushed him to change but old grandpa is stubborn and would not spend the extra money on muzzys he was going to stick with what the bow came with. That was a bad choice because not only did the arrow not make the best hit but the head never opened. I could tell grandpa was miserable. We tracked that deer over 4-40's winding back and forth on drops of blood. In one spot we found a couple pieces of blood soaked tallow off the deer. Either way, we never jumped the deer and never found it. Grandpa was pretty bummed about it but I convinced him to go to the store and he got new bolts and MUZZY BAD TO THE BONE BROADHEADS! Needless to say the next weekend I went up for 4 day visit and he drew blood!
We hunted what we expected to be the peak rut, or atleast a hot weekend, which was the following weekend November 4th-7th.Throughout the week we had two new bucks on camera and lots of daylight activity on the trail cams one being a nice 8point buck. We hunted thursday afternoon when grandpa "placed a small amount of corn in the wrong spot" as he said it. Basically he put some corn out 50 or more yards from his stand only to watch a handful of deer come in and feed on it well out of range!!! Friday morning was a new morning, grandpa saw no deer and I hunted portable from my lone wolf. We went in for lunch and headed right back out. Thats when it happened! Late afternoon the nice 8point buck newly on camera and a unicorn (busted up spike) came trotting out in front of him. As earlier stated due to family drama he kindly passed on the 8pointer and waited for the unicorn to give him a shot. He ended up waiting 30 minutes!! When the deer finally gave him a broadside shot grandpa let er' fly and put a muzzy right through his heart! He busted a rib on entry, put a three blade hole in the heart and busted another rib on the exit. It was awesome. We found the deer 40yards later right on an atv trail. We drove the truck up to it, gutted it with the headlights on and loaded it right up. It was a great end to a great season of hunting for grandpa. We put in hours of time and prep hunting, scouting, and maintaining the farm (as we call it, not actually much of a farm) in general. Its a bummer he had to wound one but he couldn't be happier, and neither could I, about his big bowkill. Grandpa and I have been hanging out and partners in crime ever since I was just a little kid. When my parents got divorced and I was 15 dad and I lost our family spot close to home to hunt so I really took up hunting with grandpa. I am now 20 and grandpa and I spend every other weekend together, if not almost every weekend together, hunting in the fall. I love hanging out with him and he's the coolest hunting partner around. I feel bad for the people my age who never get to experience the outdoors the way I do but more importantly I feel bad for those who don't have as cool of a role model as I do to pursue their favorite hobbies with. This buck grandpa shot is by no means a monster but its a trophy to us. He was there when I got my first bowkill and I was there for his! I could hunt areas closer to home, and I could hunt areas with bigger deer but I could never hunt them with my grandpa and I'd much rather do that. I personally don't think the size of the deer makes the trophy but the memories of the hunt can make a trophy out of any deer! Sorry for the long story but two weeks later I'm still jacked up about it. I think grandpa is hooked he's already talking about next year!

Image


Image

Image


"The history of the bow and arrow is the history of mankind." Fred Bear
hunt n nut
500 Club
Posts: 554
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:58 am
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby hunt n nut » Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:38 pm

Pretty cool 8-) congrats to your g-pa
User avatar
huntinfool14
500 Club
Posts: 601
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:17 am
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby huntinfool14 » Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:47 pm

very cool! congrats to your grandpa!!
ttsbuck
500 Club
Posts: 1115
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:02 pm
Location: TWO RIVERS WI
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby ttsbuck » Thu Nov 18, 2010 1:51 pm

Great hunt for you and your Grampa. What a super relationship.
User avatar
Dor
500 Club
Posts: 2187
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:15 am
Facebook: Chris Dornack
Location: SE MN
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby Dor » Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:17 pm

Wat to gramps!!
Image

Call The Footed Shaft to order Kwik-Straps 507-288-7581 or order at the kwik-strap.com
BGHUNTER
Posts: 651
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 1:31 am
Facebook: bgrangerhunter@live.com
Location: Crystal River, Florida
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby BGHUNTER » Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:30 pm

Cool story. Thanks for sharing.
DropTyne
500 Club
Posts: 924
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:26 pm
Location: Cheese
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby DropTyne » Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:35 pm

Cool. Great Story!
DROPTYNE

"Obsessed is a Word the Lazy Use to Describe the Dedicated"
BigRed
Posts: 214
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:07 pm
Location: SE MN
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby BigRed » Thu Nov 18, 2010 3:31 pm

Thats a great story. My grandpa is 92 and stopped hunting when i was younger, but just last night we were talkin and he was sayin how he wanted to get some new long underwear so he could go yote hunting with us this winter even though he knows he isnt able to anymore. The spirit is willing but the flesh is week and the passion never goes away.
User avatar
Hodag Hunter
500 Club
Posts: 3837
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2010 5:14 pm
Location: Northern WI
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby Hodag Hunter » Thu Nov 18, 2010 3:45 pm

Great story and a fine looking buck. Congrats sent out to him and yourself for all your hard work paying off. 8-)
Troutking
Posts: 250
Joined: Tue May 11, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Jefferson City, Missouri
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby Troutking » Thu Nov 18, 2010 3:50 pm

Glad to hear he is getting after it! Never too old start, Ha! Congrats and great story. :D
The less you have the more you got so don't you cry for more--Widespread Panic
Bucky
Posts: 5586
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 12:35 am
Location: Appleton WI
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby Bucky » Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:10 am

:D
"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values, with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." Fred Bear
Wrinkleneck
500 Club
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:18 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby Wrinkleneck » Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:12 am

CONGRATS to him!!! I hope I can still take some whitetails down when I'm 74 :D
solocam88
500 Club
Posts: 1171
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:10 pm
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby solocam88 » Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:36 am

Thats a great story. Congrats to him.
User avatar
PredatorTC
500 Club
Posts: 2742
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:50 pm
Status: Offline

Re: 74yrs young and still gettin' it done! My grandpa is BEA

Unread postby PredatorTC » Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:40 pm

Sorry i missed this, but thats freekin awesome!! Glad it worked out so well for him!!! Congrats!!


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Brad, Google [Bot], Rsnyder, Southern Buck and 51 guests