What a roller coaster this year has been so far. I run 10-12 cameras on the private ground I hunt. Things had been slow since I put them up in July, but a few good bucks were around, including a big block head, wide 9 pointer. About 3 weeks ago, while enjoying a cool October morning from a tree stand, I hear the sound of a chainsaw buzzing through the hardwoods down the ridge from me. The unmistakable sound of loggers filled the air as my heart sank. The property has been logged sporadically since 2008, but always in February. Dejected, I started weighing my options for this season as I lost a lot of faith in an area I spend a lot of my time hunting. Some ventures into public land yielded quite a bit of deer sightings, but no bucks carrying the head gear I was seeking. I decided to hunt the farm one afternoon a few weeks ago, and carry my Lone Wolf in with me to to a secluded beam field and see what I could find. I took a funky approach into the area, one I had never used before, but felt like it utilized the terrain and the NE wind perfectly to conceal my entrance. As I slipped through shin high water in the creek, next to an eroded cut, the 9 pointer stood from it’s bed not 15 yards from me and just slowly trotted off. I was able to get an arrow nocked and drawn,but no shot was ever presented. Still, the buck had no idea what or where I was. His bed was perfect. He was on a thick point where 2 creeks met. With the NE wind he could smell anything coming from the field behind him, and he could see the creek bottom in front of him...except along that steep cut that I had taken. My hunt that night yielded 1 doe sighting, and I took an even bigger loop out of there back to the truck, knowing the buck was probably still in that creek bottom somewhere. A few more hunts sprinkled in here and there on the public stuff and the farm didn’t produce too many exciting details. The 9 point continued to trickle through the trail cams every so often, but always in the middle of the night. I just sat on my hands and waited for another NE wind, and yesterday it finally came. I hunted a stand in the morning in an awesome little funnel for the first time this year, but the sign was minimal in there and I didn’t see a deer. A quick camera pull showed the 9 point was still around and with the NE wind, a little rain and wind mixed in, I grabbed the Lone Wolf and set off for his bed. I get into where I want to be and there is only one skinny tree that is filled with limbs that can support a stand. I actually have a stand about 40 yards away across the creek, but my previous trip through here showed a new trail being used where a shot would not be possible from the pre hung stand. I get to work quietly weaseling into the skinny, limb filled tree with my sticks and stand. Around 3:15 I’m settled in for the night enjoying the pitter patter of the squirrels around me. I am just a touch under 100 yards from where I jumped the buck a few weeks prior. The area is extremely thick though, and visibility is limited. My hope is the buck has returned to use that bed again with this wind, and he will get up and scent check the bedding area I’m below on his way out to the ag fields for his evening dinner. At 5:00 I stand up with intentions of standing the rest of the night. At 5:20, I hear what I believe is a buck working a scrape right by that bucks bed. I can’t see anything, and start to second guess that I just heard a squirrel jumping around. 20 minutes later, at 15 yards, I catch a glimpse of antlers on the trail I set up on. I almost fall out of the tree, as I see it’s the same 9 pointer I had set up for. He catches movement as I position myself and I freeze. He decides I’m just a windy limb and continues. A few steps later and he busts me again, this time getting my bow positioned over the limb I’m next to. For whatever reason, He keeps on walking again and I draw. This time he comes to full alert at 10 yards and I find my anchor and see my pin behind his shoulder and I drop the string. I see the arrow enter perfect as he runs off with visible blood coming off his side. I hear him crash further down the creek, and I start to lose my crap with excitement. Not my biggest buck ever, but exciting how perfectly he followed the script that I had conjured up in my head. My friend meets me at the farm and 100 yards later after an impressive blood trail, I put my hands on the buck. I’ve always wanted to take a buck on Halloween, and to do so in a well laid out,planned hunt is just icing on the cake. It literally just takes a few seconds and being hard headed enough to keeping hitting the woods, to turn what looks to be a crummy season into one I won’t soon forget. Best of luck to everyone. Shoot straight and hunt smart.
Congrats! I was just expressing my surprise this morning in the Live from the Stand thread about the lack of Halloween bucks. Good to know someone did indeed connect. Heck of a buck!
I’m running low on room, but I believe I’ll be able to make some for this dude! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Congrats on a great buck! Gotta love it when a plan comes together! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I am a little late to the party, but congrats on a great buck. A good friend of mine in PA took a nice 11pt the same way, sneaking into a bucks bedding area and hanging his LW and hunting it the first time and killing the buck.
