Old bedding site still holding!

[Bonecrusher101]

So this is a story about my semi successful hunt yesterday. But I feel like I need to start at the beginning.

I found the beast in spring of 2015, and initally was skeptical of how much of its tactics I could find useful. However, The amount of scouting was the first thing I knew I needed to increase.

There's another hunter (Kevin) I met in a bow shop and we started hunting this military base in 2015. The base has a lot of red tape and strict regs but allows for hunters to kill bonus bucks. We started hunting the base in the fall of 2015. We had a bit of success and after reading these beast tactics I started hunting thick nasty areas where other hunters didn't go. It was giving me an edge.

Kevin and I decide to sign up and pay fees for spring turkey hunting to gain access to the base. We aren't turkey hunters, we were scouting different zones and burned up a lot of boot leather learning where the best places to hunt would be. This was spring of 2016. I marked on my gps and remembered a lot of bedding areas. As well as the best ways to access.

Kevin had family issues and my wife had twins in the fall of 2016 and 2017 didn't allow us to hunt the base either. This season we finally got back together and got back to hunting.

We signed up yesterday morning to hunt an undesirable zone that others don't see worth hunting. It's really long and narrow and most of it you can see through as you drive down the main access road. There is a rr track that is the backboarder and has a high chain link and barb wire fence beyond the rr tracks. Most of the zone is only a few hundred yards wide but it's also got lots of thicket briars and kudzu.

I had planned to hunt one end of the zone and try to setup a observation sit to get eyes on a shooter. As we were driving to our zone a doe and a buck ran through an adjacent field and across the road in front of my truck yesterday morning in the dark. I said there's a decent buck I'd be happy with killing and it was running into the zone we signed up to hunt.

I thought man, Dan can see a deer in a field and he knows where it's bedding. I felt like I remembered the zone well enough to have a good chance at seeing him. I told Kevin I was going after him and he was like what? Ok man if that's what you wanna try.

So I had Kevin drop me off on the rr tracks and I started headed towards where I'd seen them. I went slow had wind in my face and my lw and sticks on my back. I wanted to cut them off but didn't want them slipping back by me. They could have recrossed the road but I felt like they wanted to be in my zone because it had the best bedding cover.

I got off the tracks and climbed the embankment to look for deer or movement. I kept pushing the length and hadn't seen any deer. I looked down and saw a deer skeleton and a huge dead head. My biggest ever a stud 12 point! Score.

I started to climb a tree but only managed to take my stand off my back and lean against a tree and wait for more daylight. After an hour I determined I needed to stay moving till I found that buck. I kept my stand on my back got back down to the tracks because it's easier walking and I'm hidden and not skylined. So I popped up another 200 yards down by a cedar tree and stayed there staring for 45 minutes before moving again.

I'm not a very strong ground hunter, it's a big weakness for me but a stand Wasn't a good option to keep from being seen. There was one last spot I wanted to check out before I called it quits and it was the spot I had marked in 2016 that I had seen bedding. I knew it was my best shot at finding this buck. So it's 8:30a I climb the embankment one more times on my knees carrying my slug gun with my stand on my back.

All I can see is dead kudzu and vines but as I near the top I hear a deer busting through the brush running away from me. I hurry up and stand up and yell at the buck to stop and he paused at 80-90 yards and I hurried and shot with my stand on my back. The buck ran off like it wasn't hit. I was unsure of my hit. When I replayed everything in my mind I was fairly certain it was the buck I saw cross the road a 110 class 8 point probably a 2.5 year old with a chunky body, tall rack but not overly wide.

I went to where I had last seen him run through because it was open woods and not full of briars where he was when I shot. I found blood and followed decent blood and heavy tracks for a half mile. He never tried to bed down he simply ran for the hills. Blood started getting thin and I tried to grid search a bit but everywhere he ran through was very open. He had spots to lay down but he ran in practically a strait line passed them. I'd have to think it was a non fatal hit. I've never had one run that far and not try to lay down.

I thought that shooting a slug it would have hit him hard enough to slow him down or break his back or neck or cause enough trauma. I need to check my gun because it has had small bumps as the season has gone on. I also rushed my shot and may have pushed the shot.

I've been beating myself up about it. I think I had to have hit him high and grazed him across the back or neck. I hope he lives, I really feel awful about not doing better with my shot. I told the guard about it and gave him my number so if he finds him he can call me and I will come meet him.

I feel like I should be proud of how my hunt went but it's overshadowed by wounding a buck. Sorry this story is so long winded. Thanks for reading it! Feel free to add whatever you like! Will add a pic of the big 12 dead head.

[Bonecrusher101]

[AAAK]

Good post. Don’t beat yourself up to bad for wounding the buck it happens to everyone. Nothing is more of a kick to the gut then losing an animal. However Does a cheetah hang its head when a gazelle gets away? Nope it gets back at it. You should hang your head high that the hard work you spent scouting and educating yourself through the beast worked. The work you have put in led to that encounter and will most likely lead to more in the future.

[Bonecrusher101]

Good post. Don’t beat yourself up to bad for wounding the buck it happens to everyone. Nothing is more of a kick to the gut then losing an animal. However Does a cheetah hang its head when a gazelle gets away? Nope it gets back at it. You should hang your head high that the hard work you spent scouting and educating yourself through the beast worked. The work you have put in led to that encounter and will most likely lead to more in the future.

Thanks!

[justdirtyfun]

Congrats on your hunting journey. Seasons can sneak by so fast and building knowledge is so slow.