2018 -'19 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

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Redman232
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Re: 2018 -'19 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Redman232 » Fri Mar 08, 2019 1:55 am

Every year it seems I have less and less time to devote to this game. I've come to terms with it, I know i'm going to have about 10 opportunities to get out. I spent 4 evenings sitting observation stands (last hour of daylight only) on various properties over the course of 2 weeks. I learned that does in the area were hammering standing corn (I was a bit surprised as there are still a lot of nuts on the ground) and that bigger bucks in the area were already on the first does that have come into estrus. I've had limited success the first week of November in the past. Generally the last week of October and Nov 10-17 are the best hunts of the year for me.



Saturday I felt like I'd seen enough to jump into an area I've killed a couple of bucks in when lockdown has occurred. After an hour and half I reached my destination at 2 pm. I didn't see the sign I expected, but I haven't hunted this spot in 4 years. I'll be honest, I was tired from sneaking and decided to setup even with the lack of sign. I sat for a 1/2 hour and decided to get down and scout to find a high confidence spot. I ended up in a location where a honey suckle thicket, meets a small patch of pin oaks, with a grove of sugar maples and pine thicket behind me. I found 2 big fresh rubs on hard maples, with the amount of leaves falling, ground sign was indiscernible. This spot is within 100 yards of 2 treestands and 2 trail cameras that get visited often.

With all the transitions coming together and the close proximity to a variety of food and bedding, I was confident this was a hub of activity. I ended up seeing a handful of does and fawns working their way off to a standing corn field a couple hundred yards away. Twenty minutes before closing I could hear deer in several directions around me. I'm pretty confident I would have killed, had it not been for another permission hunter driving a UTV down a trail 50 yds away. The deer spooked hard, but I was confident if I got back in early in the morning does would filter back thru and hopefully have a buck in tow. If nothing else a buck would for sure be thru at some point in time during the day with all the deer activity in this small area.

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Sunday morning started slow, the wind was out of the SE opposed to the forcasted NE. No great, but not terrible either, it was at least more or less consistent, which was a change from the previous day. By 8:00am I had not seen a deer, I was beginning to doubt the setup, thinking the spooked deer from the evening before were going to avoid the area. I thought about moving, running thru spots mentally that it made since to check out. I thought to myself "you need to stay put until noon, it only takes one cruiser". I sat down to give the legs a break, and two does came hauling mail in front of me. They stopped momentarily looking behind them and then continued on their hurried way. I stood bow ready for 20 minutes just waiting for what I though for sure was coming. It appeared to me a buck had been running them hard and they had lost him. At least that was the story that played out in my mind. After 20 minutes I sat down for a couple of minutes. I had good cover to my left, I heard and saw nothing. Then a puff of frosty breath caught my attention, 15 yards to my left stood what I thought was shooter, I have no idea how long he was there or where he came from, it still doesn't make any sense that he was able to sneak in on my from that direction. Regardless, as soon I saw him he started frantically searching for the does trail, with no shot opportunity in the direction he was headed, I started to reach for a grunt call. Lucky for me and unlucky for him he trailed them the wrong direction for 30 yards or so, no grunting needed. I drew as he moved and stopped him magically where his entire body was exposed at 35 yards. The shot broke as clean as ever and the arrow connected right where I was aiming. He went just out of site and I heard him flop over. The last buck I arrowed in 2016 I lost on what I thought was a slam dunk at the time. To confirm the hit this time, I used my binoculars to find the arrow, covered in good blood, but it appeared to have white hair on it. Got me second guessing what I thought happened.

I waited a half hour and snuck out the back door to walk back to my truck, in order to retrieve a knife. I had one in my pocket, but I convinced myself it was too dull. I needed a reason to walk away as a little doubt had crept in. By the time I got back, close to 2 hrs had passed. I snuck up to my arrow, what I thought was white hair was grey (the paranoia started to fade). I had specks of lung blood at impact and then nothing. I followed tracks for about 20 yards and then he started to open up. I happened to look up and saw him dead another 20 yards ahead. He was dead 30 seconds after the shot.

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This buck came off of an 80 acre private parcel with 17 treestands (1 is mine, that might get hunted every other year) and 5 other hunters with permission. It gets hammered, but I know it like the back of my hand. There are buck here all season, but you usually have to be right on top of them to have encounters. The ladder stand in the background isn't mine, but I smile everytime I see this picture.

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Re: 2018 -'19 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby checkerfred » Fri Mar 08, 2019 6:09 am

This year was a tougher season for me. Early season I was fired up and had some great strategies laid out to kill a buck in the swamps. I had done a good bit of early season scouting and was feeling confident. Turns out those strategies didn’t work out due to things outside my control, but I kept plugging along. Ended up getting a shot on a decent 8 with my bow but couldn’t find blood. Went back the next day and never found any sign of the hit. After lots of thought, I came to the conclusion that my shot deflected off of a limb and hit the low leg area and maybe low brisket. This took the wind out of me and I didn’t hunt much until later in the month. I started hunting hills and had made several hunts but something had also changed in these areas. I wasn’t seeing the deer I normally do. I did get busted a few times going in but otherwise, I wasn’t in the game. On the morning of 11/26, I went in early reading the sign as I went in. I found several fresh beds and high traffic areas and decided to set up in a pinch point between the two. At first light I got busted by a doe possibly from movement as I was saddle hunting and still working out the kinks in on getting comfortable. A little later on two more does worked my way. Once they got 70 yards from me they were looking around and then busted out. I figured they had scented me. Frustrated I thought of getting down and moving, but I stuck it out. About an hour later I see a buck working the way they ran and back to me. Due to the cover I didn’t have much time to field judge him but he looked to be a decent 8. I put the crosshairs on him but he had just moved behind some brush. He stepped out and only having a quick shot opportunity, I pulled the trigger. He mule kicked and ran but I didn’t hear or see him crash. I gave it a little time then went to look. He had only ran 30-40 yards and ended up being a 10...ground expansion! Haha. Now the hard part. I was deep and in steep terrain. I capes and quartered him. Luckily I had taken my deer cart halfway in. I brought it close and packed the meat and cape on it. This was fine until I hit the steep stuff. I was having to literally crawl out while inching the cart up for about 100 yards or so. It took me 5.5 hours to get him out. I was physically drained and when I got in the truck, I had instant leg cramps. I couldn’t have went any further. The satisfaction though from killing the buck and getting him out alone was something I won’t ever forget.

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The December and January were tough hunting as well. It seems like all of the scouting I did last year was for nothing. The swamps were tough and areas I had high hopes for were getting pressured. I had seen some does and even shot one with my bow, but only saw a few small spikes. This even carried over to my private land. Areas that were hot during rut we just cold. I had seen a few does but no bucks. I decided to do some scouting. I was walking an old grown up road on private, around some cutover, and for some reason I had this gut feeling that I needed to stop and look. I’m not sure why, but I just felt like a deer would be close by at that moment. Heck I had walked this road in the past years and never seen a deer here, but I stopped and looked. Not seeing anything, I walked forward slowly. That’s when I saw what looked like a heavy body deer literally sneak out of the thick cover. This deer had its belly low to the ground and almost crawled out. There was no blowing, no high tailing it out. I didn’t see any antlers however. I started thinking about how it acted and knew it had to be a buck. I circled the bedding and setup on the other side of the thick stuff hoping he would circle around at dark, but no luck. I decided the next morning that I would setup directly over the bed. I got up really early the next morning and took a climber in. I knew I needed to get high due to the terrain. This is on the lower side of a ridge and there’s a sheer cliff that keeps them from going up the ridge. He was bedded wind at the back watching the road while also catching thermals going up the ridge or falling down it. I climbed up 50 yards away from the bed about 35 foot high and was settled in almost two hours before first light.

Green is the bed and yellow is the road I was walking.
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At day break I was ready, but nothing showed. At about 8:00 I was getting antsy. Then I noticed some briars/bushes moving. Looking right into it I didn’t see a thing. All of a sudden I see antlers and I get that rush. I put the crosshairs on the vitals and shot. He ran off and once again. I don’t hear a crash. I heard him grunt thought. Unsure if something happened with the shot, I decide to give him some time. About 45 minutes into my wait, out comes a coyote. I put the crosshairs on it and shot and she dropped. I climb down and go look for the buck and instantly found blood sprayed everywhere.

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He didn’t make it 30 yards with the double lung shot. This was my first buck out of his bed. I’ve had chances before, even letting one walk, but I finally had taken my first from a bed with a coyote to boot.

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Re: 2018 -'19 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Ack » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:07 pm

To sum things up I have to say that 2018 turned out to be a pretty good season…. not many good buck sightings, but a few new observations, meat for the freezer and a euro mount for the living room was good enough for me.

The first few weeks of season were fairly uneventful for me…..couldn’t seem to get the winds I needed for my best bedding areas, and the pressure was off the charts as usual. More than once I went into an area I wanted to sit, only to find another stand of some sort that wasn’t there when I scouted it…… oh the joys of high pressure land in Michigan. I did spend more time in-season scouting however, and was able to make a few observations that would ultimately get me in the game more than once during the season.

One of the areas I scouted was where I shot my avatar buck back in 2016. I discovered this spot several years ago by soaking a cam and getting good buck pics toward the end of October, so I typically stay out until that time. But me, trying to be proactive, decided to walk it early and see what the sign was looking like. For the most part it looked pretty dead, but I did notice some new trails coming from a swamp that were about 50 yards downwind of the tree I had originally prepped….. not going to work. I ended up finding a different tree that would still keep me in the same general area, but allow me to stay downwind of these new trails.

I had to slow down for about a week in mid-October after tweaking my lower back….. could barely lift any weight without throwing it out again, so hanging and hunting was put on the back burner until it was feeling better. As hard as it was staying out of the stand for a few days, I really needed to be back to full strength for my upcoming two week vacation during prime time. My time, once again, was spent doing some scouting, as my back could handle a little woods walking without any troubles.

Fast-forward to the last week of October……. I started sitting in the typical scrape and doe areas and was seeing some pretty good pre-rut action by the younger bucks, but still hadn’t laid eyes on anything I was interested in. I did have one decent buck get by me as it was too thick for a shot, and almost got back on him a few days later. After moving to another tree, a different buck chasing a doe right at closing time ultimately took him another way as he was exiting of the bedding area…..so close, but not quite. It was time, though, to get back into the swamp area I mentioned earlier, as this was typically when it would start to heat up.

On Friday, November 2nd I finally made the long trek back to my “hotspot.” Early that morning I had a couple different bucks chasing out in front of me, but couldn’t lay eyes on them because it was just too thick to see. That would end up being all I saw, as the rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. I finally got bored and couldn’t stand it any more…. I had to scout for some fresh sign. I got down and to my surprise immediately saw some smoking fresh sign that I couldn’t see from the stand. Decent sized fresh rubs in the tags told me there was a good one in the area, so I knew I would need to come back soon and give it another shot. I’ve noticed over the years that as soon as the rubs show up, I’d better get in there, because there is only a short window when I might see the buck laying down the sign.

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I could not hunt over the weekend, so come Monday the wind direction was still good and I decided to dive back in to that new tree setup, hoping to see the buck making all of the fresh sign. I saw a doe and a couple fawns around 8:30 or so, but other than that it had been a slow morning. Around 9:30 or so that all changed, as I just happened to look out in front of me to see a buck moving at a good clip right towards my tree. I quickly stood and grabbed my bow, and by the time he stepped into an opening 12 yards out at my 2:00, I was already on autopilot and at full draw.

I let out a quiet “maarp”, he stopped, and I dropped the string and saw a perfect hit as he crashed off…. then all was quiet. Sitting in that new tree was absolutely the right thing to do, as I would have had no shot with him running directly under the old tree I had prepped. And to make things even sweeter, he died only 15 feet from the exact spot I took the shot on the buck back in 2016.

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One other note about this spot...... a few days after shooting the buck I had to return to the scene of the crime because I forgot to grab my arrow when we pulled him out. After a short walk around the area I noticed no less than six different stands within 150 yards of this area. Now that's not really uncommon for Michigan public land, but being mobile allowed me to slip in among the other setups to the exact spot I needed to be for the kill that day.

For once in I couldn’t tell you how many years I was ever so close to filling both of my buck tags on good deer, but unfortunately the second buck just wasn’t meant to be. During a cold snowy afternoon in rifle season I had a shooter buck dead to rights at 25 yards, only to have my powder not ignite in the muzzleloader. Once again….. so close, but not quite. These deer were feeding hard on the wintergreen buried under the snow, as there was a serious lack in acorns on the public for them to feed on. Again, finding the hot sign got me onto this buck even if it didn’t result in a kill.

And to finish off the season strong, I was able to top off the freezer with two does during the December muzzleloader season which, after a “deerless” season last year, was desperately needed.

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All-in-all, a successful season in my book. In-season scouting, observations and tree adjustments were the name of the game to ultimately get shots at bucks this past season…. and I can’t wait to do it all over again this fall!
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Arrowbender
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Re: 2018 -'19 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Arrowbender » Sat Mar 09, 2019 2:50 pm

I was very fortunate to have an incredibly fun hunt in Western WI on Sat. October 20th.
I decided to hunt a small hub, NW of a steep sidehill, NE of the top of a ravine and on the E end of ridge created by an ever steeper, deeper ridge to the N.

I had scouted out some pretty well used Buck bedding areas along that ridge during turkey season. My plan was to use the NW wind to give me access to the hub and blind call to any bucks (deer really, my doe tag is unused as well) bedding within earshot.

I consider this an early season hunt as I had really not witnessed any type of rutting activity thus far, and really other than the rubs and small scrapes; not much pre-rut activity yet either.

It was a good 1/2 hr before sunset and maybe 5 minutes since my last grunting sequence when i spotted a large bodied deer. No sooner than I got my binocs up I see a closer, and apparently equally large bodied deer heading my way.

I confirmed bouncing ivory on the closer one with the optics, although only yearling antlers, they were riding on a 3 yr old body (or so it seemed). He came way too close but never really busted me, although he seemed to suspect something was awry.

I let him get safely passed me and then focused my attention on finding the other buck that I had previously spotted. It did not take long to find him as he was also on his way toward my position. It was apparent, even without optical enhancement, to see that this one had antlers more proportionate to his large body. Yup! I was thinking get ready......I will kill him if he gives me a chance.

This buck did not take the path as direct as his younger cohort, but appeared to be getting closer at a fairly steady pace.
He seemed to have no agenda what-so-ever as he meandered toward the ridge edge and then back to the middle again.

I got my grunt tube ready to encourage him several times as he neared leaving my ridge-top. He didn't need the coaxing. Before I knew it he was shredding a small tree and really working over the "holly" sprigs above it at barely 25 yds, waiting for a kiss from my Elite.

He was now on the same path as his little brother and I was fairly confident he'd offer me a better shot directly.

He finally came down the same path as the under achiever, and as I pulled back, my upper cam screeched into full draw. He instantly looked up at me.

Luckily I was at full draw and watching him through my sight window (I hadn't drawn my bow since the previous nights round of practice, and I had been caught in a few rain showers the previous few hunts. I found the upper cam bearing was thirsty, and needed a shot of oil. This oversight nearly cost me a great buck!).

In the middle of swapping ends, he was looking directly at me, head on. He didn't look spooked but I could tell he wasn't sticking around.

As soon as he committed to reversing directions I forced the shot before he started to accelerate. He was a tad under 20 yds.

The shot looked perfect. Just in front, and above the shoulder "knee-cap".

But as he ran off I could see the protruding arrow and could tell that there wasn't the penetration that I was hoping for. I watched him run 80 yds and stop. I had a pretty good view of him through the binnies and could see blood running out of his snout.

It was pretty surprising that he didn't fall or lay down right there. He was definitely lethally wounded and wasn't going to last much longer. He slowly walked out of sight. I waited another 20 minutes for darkness and snuck out to wait until morning. The overnight temps brought frost and I was confident it would be an easy morning recovery (of course that doesn't guarantee any type of blissful sleep).

I found him less than 80 yards from where I last seen him. Autopsy showed near side lung blown up and some heavy damage to the pulmonary veins between the lungs and around the heart. The off side lung and heart were not cut. The arrow had a good 8" of penetration into the thoracic cavity, but was well short of a pass through. The biggest win of the day though was that the Flipping Song Dogs did not find him and ruin my bounty for the coming year.

I can't explain the satisfaction in this hunt; be it the calling, or the earliness of the kill, or the Beast style set up; but it ranks way up there in my resume of successes. Just a super great hunt that still puts a smile on my face.

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Re: 2018 -'19 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Jonny » Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:58 am

Originally wasn't going to write a kill zone post for it, but Oldrank inspired me to do so. Sometimes I need to not be hard on myself and enjoy things in life without worrying what others think.

So this season was the 10th season I have been bowhunting. Up til this season, I have missed 3 deer, and wounded/lost a spike and a nice 8 pointer that ran onto private land. So its been rough for me to say the least. I did manage to kill one spike my third year, but to say I was lucky on that shot is an understatement. Hit a kill spot the size of a quarter, and I missed my target point by about 3 feet. Not proud about that one.

This season my goal was to finally get either a nice doe or a 2.5 y/o buck down with the bow. Didn't care too much about gun season since I have found a spot with pretty consistent success on decent deer for my area. Bow was my goal.

The spot I ended up hunting (and pretty much pounding) for rut, is one I have dialed in after a couple years of observations. I always had seen deer in this area, but never could get them close enough to me since only a couple trees worked with my climber, and I was always 40-50 yards off from where I needed to be. Finally this year I had the sign in the area I needed, and the stand to get in the tree I needed. I always had seen deer mingle and move around a small point on an old clear cut that is now all saplings 3-4" diameter and tall. But still thick. I picked out a tree right on that point so I could cover the edge/transition, and the buffer zone +/- 15 yards on either side. I've seen deer stay thick, and seen them come out in the hardwoods. This tree gave me both shots. My dad isn't very mobile so when he finds a spot he likes, that is where we keep going, so I'm a bit short on spots to hunt in the immediate area, and there isn't much time to scout.

Anyways the first hunt was on the 27th. Ended up seeing 2 really nice bucks, a doe, and then the basket rack 2.5 y/o buck I ended up wounding and never found. Searched the rest of the weekend with no luck. And this one stung real bad. Still bothers me some nights.

Sat their the next weekend and saw one spike that I had a marginal 20 yard shot on but I never drew back. Just didn't flip the kill switch. Ended up seeing a couple more deer off in the distance. Only deer I saw from the stand that I couldn't have taken a shot at. Never had that with a climber.

The third weekend and last one before the guns started, was cold with two day old snow. Busted out the iwom. Didn't see any good sign by my stand but saw enough in the general area to warrant sitting the stand again and I kept seeing deer every sit so I felt it was my best option that day. I still believe the first sit is the best sit, and I saw the best bucks that day as well. Anyways around 9, I had two does come through. I don't have a doe tag for this area so I just sat back and enjoyed watching them. They were extremely loud as well. Have a video on my phone just listening to them walk. I was so focused on them that I lost focus on my backside, and sure enough could hear more footsteps behind me. Looked over my shoulder to see a spike rubbing a sapling, in the same spot I passed a spike the previous weekend. I think it was the same one.

At this point I forgot about my initial goal and picked up the bow, turned and drew back in one movement. Kill switch just turned on for me. Lined up the pins and settled the finger on the trigger. Then he started walking at me. After the previous buck I wounded, I knew I had to focus on the exit. I did my best to visualize the back shoulder, so when he gave me a quartering to shot at 10 yards, I took it. Watched him run off, and could see the arrow sticking out of both sides of the buck. To say I was sick to my stomach was an understatement.

Texted my dad that I hit one, but wasn't confident in the shot. He told me to wait a bit and he would come over. While I was typing a reply, I heard some crashing in the direction the buck ran. Not wanting to jinx myself, I didn't put too much faith in it, and I just put the phone away. Bout 2 hours later my dad came over to help look. I tried to guide him from the stand but open hardwoods is tough to pinpoint exact areas. Eventually I gave up trying to guide him (doesn't like to listen too well). I went to the point of impact, found a bunch of brown hair and some blood. Followed the tracks to more blood, and eventually tripped over the buck in a small pothole swamp. Really happy I had snow for that one. Helped a ton, although the crashing gave away the general area so I know I would have found him. Nothing spectacular, but I finally got that first one down with the bow. Hit was a couple inches back and I went through the shoulder, but still got lungs, liver, and just nicked the stomach. Broadhead unscrewed itself and the arrow snapped in half. Found both ends though. Not the best shot placement, but I'm shooting a long draw, heavy poundage, and throwing some good weight so I feel like for a younger deer the shot was ethical and moral for me.

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Not my goal from the start of the season, but I couldn't have been happier to finally get one down. Finally got the monkey off my back. Sure hope the next one doesn't take 10 years.

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You have a monkey Mr. Munson?
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Re: 2018 -'19 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby hunter_mike » Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:34 pm

bigbucks1234

Quiet confidence validated,,,, not to be confused with arrogance or cockyness. This is the stage im at on year 3 of following the BEAST. I can't say this happened overnight by no means but this spring after numerous scouting missions to this area that i hunt the pieces of the puzzle are really starting to come together for me. Ive been hunting this hill country public for 20 years now with linited success = kills. And even with the success i did have, looking back it's been mostly luck. These last 3 years of asking the why??? And when??? And getting answers to these questions from this unbelievable site,,, things just make sense to me now.
Anyway, about the hunt. I have 2 youner brothers and a brother in law that join me the week before gun season here in Minnesota. So my first hunt i arrived 8 am to the parking spot after a 3 hr drive, soon after i started my 1 mile trek to the base of the ridge i was going to climb. My plan was to quietly climb the ridge along side a deep cut or ravine i cyber scouted until i felt i was near a ridge top crossing. As i made my way up top i noticed the lack of sign,,, but it didn't bother me as i new im in the time frame of cruising bucks and a good travel funnel would produce much better than most sign i had grown accustomed to look for and setup on. And sure enough as i was almost finished hanging my assualt i here something i look out and here comes a nice 8 pt. He ends up coming to 22yrds. Figures something is wrong and carries on to my east,,, towards my brother 300 yards away. So i finish hanging my stand and get settled in and soon after my brother calls me and says he arrowed a beautiful 8 pt.... So i get down and meet him to look for his deer. We get on the blood trail right away and came upon him within 15 minutes of looking... Turns out it was the same buck that came in to my setup just an hour earlier. Pretty cool story and my brother was happy as heck him. So after we gutted and drug him out i made the trek back to my stand on the ridge top. I was sitting by 3 pm again, it was pretty quiet up until about 530. I had a doe near me feeding on acorns. Also had a buck just out of site making rubs for about a half hour. I actually was thinking nothing was going to happen but right at closing time i hear the unmistakable sound of a buck closing in. He's coming at a brisk pace at 40 yrds and im trying to decide where the shot is going to happen, i find an opening take a peek at the buck and hes almost there and i decide he's one id take. I start to draw and my arrow squeals i let down and pull back again quietly, put it on him and pulled the trigger as he's in the opening. He immediately runs 30 yards behind me and stops and doesn't move ,,,,,, forever. At this time it's black out so i decide to quietly sneak out. As i do this i can hear him walking away very slowly and stumbling. I did not have a good feeling about the shot at all :o So the following morning i snuck back in there early and just sat in my stand waiting for the sun to come up. As soon as it got light enough out i climbed down and looked for blood at the shot site and only found about 10 inches of my arrow and no blood. This turned into a body search. I followed the ridge line he was on and spotted his white belly only 50 yards down the ridge. Relief!!!! I'm not proud of this but turns out i gut shot him. After reliving the shot,, at his brisk pace, i did not stop him for the shot and i believe that's why i shot back on him. Anyway back to my title, i just had this feeling i would be able to get myself on deer this year and i did on the first day,,,, twice.... I realize these bucks are probably only 2 1/2 year olds, not monsters that most of you guy's are killing but im getting there. I'm confident im getting there And again i can't thank Dan and Joere, Ridgerunner and many others. I believe i have read every post you guy's have contributed. This site is unreal.. :clap: :clap: Sorry for the long winded story, thanks for reading.
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My boys(Forkhorn on left) with the buck[
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”


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