Late Season Blues

[TreeFreak]

As the season winds down here in Missouri, I am left with an unfilled buck tag with only 13 days left to get it done. It has been a season of ups and downs, smiles and frustration. As it usually is. I have had good leads on bucks throughout the entire season and have had a blast chasing them down, but have not managed to seal the deal. I have areas north of my home that I usually spend most of my time late season that consists of large tracts of marsh surrounded by agricultural farms. Unfortunately, the Missouri and Mississippi river flooded a lot of these areas over the summer and it had a large impact on the farms preventing the farmers to be able to get their crops in (bad year to be a Missouri farmer in this area). With this being the case, i have focused my efforts this late season on a small 175 acre piece of public that is very close to my home. This property usually sees a ton of bow hunting pressure which makes it difficult to hunt with the tract being so small. HOWEVER, with the river flooding it resulted in the majority of this particular property being under water. Once the river subsided the middle of the property turned to swamps (between a main levee and secondary levee). This was good news for me because the deer made their way back to this property and were using the swamps for security. At the beginning of the month i cut the tracts of a large buck. I scouted heavily in the area to get a bead on him. I wound up locating him and was able to nail down a pattern. So the chase began. After a series of encounters with this buck i noticed he started to run with the same two does consistently. In my mind, this was going to make things easier for me as far as patterning. I was able to pattern three deer rather than one. Well, yesterday afternoon i took advantage of the southwest wind and circled the downwind side of the property and set up on the edge of the expected bedding for these deer. With about 7 minutes left of legal shooting time i see the two doe's making their way towards me. They were going to be passing by at 10 yards through one of the windows i had to shoot through. I could see a third deer hanging back about 50 yds or so. With the body size, I was certain it was the buck ive been after. I let the does pass by and readied for the shot. I drew back in anticipation of the 10 yard shot. As the buck walked into my shooting lane i noticed something... There were no antlers on his head! I let the deer pass through while holding at full draw. I am 90% sure it was the buck and I am assuming he shed his antlers already which seems early to me but have seen it happen in the past. I plan to get back out there tomorrow and scout the property to look for his sheds to confirm. Now the work begins in getting tabs on another shooter before season ends.

Side note - I saw the buck with the two does 12 days ago sporting the rack.

[headgear]

Hey that is nothing but a win, probably the buck you were after and he was right there, the antlers just didn't want to cooperate. Those "down" years are sometimes good for us, make the years you do connect all the better and more rewarding.

[TreeFreak]

You are definitely right. Ive had a fantastic season in those regards. At the beginning of the season i had a big wide 8 i was hunting down only to muff the shot at 18 yds . I am actually heading out to that property to see if he made it through gun season. He was living a mile back in a marsh. The area holds some slammers, so my hopes are high!

[tundra@1]

This is another year, where I have chosen to pass bucks. My dilemma is I can not kill a doe. Its unbelievable how they zig, when I need them to zag. Now I am talking bow....... Gun was no problem. I have until Jan 31 to hunt, so anything can happen. Last year I missed my best buck on Jan 12th,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, My best bucks were taken late season, so I have along time to go, its all weather dependent.............................I can say this, there is no pressure now on the public around my area,,, I mean nothing, and I keep tabs on all of it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, My friend the other night saw 20 deer come out, during shooting time, where as a month ago, nothing moved till well after dark......................

[mheichelbech]

My last weekend around here...deer have been almost totally nocturnal all week and it’s been an unsuccessful dance between getting close enough to bedding for any daylight movement versus too close and spooking them. Hoping that changes this weekend!

[tgreeno]

I've struggled this season...But I'm just getting my second wind! I've got another month to make it happen

[TreeFreak]

Good luck, let us know how it goes !