AMPUT8 (The Big Toe) Team #8

Logman · Oct 31, 2025 at 3:03 PM

AaronB said: ↑

Have had a couple exciting sits the past two days. Yesterday morning was really foggy in WI and I could hear grunting off and. on all around me from first light on, but couldn’t see more than 70 yards most of the morning. My 15 year old son Harrison was supposed to sit with me, but teenage kids choose sleep over hunting sometimes. It’s his first year bowhunting and I’m really trying to get him a deer, but also want to sit with him to educate on good shot choices and to be able to observe the shot when he does loose an arrow. He’s using a crossbow this year until we can practice more with the vertical. I switch back and forth as well depending on if I’m sitting in an open stand or hunting one of our covered stands.

Anyway, right about 8:30 I hear some more grunting and rustling south of me. I’m hunting a heavy fenceline surrounded by marsh grass, willows, cattails, etc. The bucks really like to push the doe into this thicker cover. I call it an observation stand because you can see so many acres, but it is also a great morning bow stand when the seek phase is in full swing. A doe breaks through the fence line up about 75 yards from me and heads my way. She follows my mown trail right to about 12-14 yards and takes another mown path heading northwest. She had a gaping broadhead wound in her armpit, but seemed no worse for the wear. In the meantime, I see a big framed buck pause just on the other side of the fence line and knew it was a good deer. Shortly after, he heads down the path toward me following the same path the doe took and I don’t recognize the buck but see that his right side looked a little funny compared to his left. Turns out, he has a broken G2, but he was at least a 4 year old mature deer. He stopped at 14 yards and offered a perfect shot, but I elected to pass. He probably would’ve been in the 125”-130” range with the broken G2, probably mid to upper 130s with it in tact. As he walked away, I filmed him on Snapchat to send to my son to lament the fact that he wasn’t out with me because it would’ve been an absolute slam dunk, no doubt shooter for him.

He works around the area for a while and bumps the doe up and down the field, in and out of the willows for a good 10 more minutes at about 75-125 yards. Saw a few other doe and a smaller 2 year old, but was a great sit.

My son was bummed, but vowed to get up this morning even though we didn’t get home from a family fun night at Six Flags until 1:15 AM. He fired out of bed and took his scent free shower before I did even.

We got on stand about 6:35 and got in pretty clean and quiet in the same stand I sat the day before. We had some early grunting and a doe blowing out in the field before first light, but then things were pretty quiet until about 8:15 or so. Saw a doe and two fawns working their way from the upper field toward us. They kept looking toward the fence line and were a little bit on edge. They worked down the field and along the fence line we could see a buck paralleling them just up from us. It was an ugly 2 year old with really short tines and about a 14” spread. He worked by us and then circled us, offering multiple shots, but my son said he didn’t want to shoot him so I said ok and reminded him he could shoot absolutely any buck that he wanted and got him excited.

Well after that, we were surrounded by deer for the next 45 minutes. I caught I glimpse of some movement behind us and way up the field about 200 yards away and glassed in that direction. Buck! Bigger frame. It was him once again. He was with a doe and suddenly she bolted in our direction. She came through the fence line and headed west. He was bumping after her and I told my son “He’s coming! Be ready.” Well, he saw the size of the deer and the anticipation that he might get a shot and that started him shaking pretty good. He didn’t follow the first doe, but a doe that had been behind us earlier was now heading down the trail to us. He stayed back just out of sight as she got about 35 yards away from us. She paused and looked up in our direction. Not sure if she caught us moving, but after staring for a while, she cut into the field instead of coming past us. The buck didn’t immediately follow, but remained just out of sight in the thicker cover. We figured he still had to be there. The wind was in our favor and none of the deer had any idea we were there other than possibly the one doe, but she didn’t spook badly.

What seemed like 10-15 minutes went by. Not sure if it was really that long, but we caught a glimpse of the buck through the branches of some trees closer to us. He worked back and forth about 100 yards away and then he turned and started coming down the path to us. Here we go! He got to 50 yards and slowly, methodically worked to smell where the doe had gone to. 40 yards. 35 yards. Never really holding still long enough to feel good about a shot. At one point, he was at 32 yards and quartered slightly away. Probably the best shot we had, but between my son shaking, him not being still, and some brush slightly in the picture, we didn’t get the shot we wanted. He worked across and offered another broadside 35 yard shot partially obstructed by brush and still moving. Again, it wasn’t quite right, but what a thrill! He eventually worked across the field and postured at some other bucks that were out there, but he was the alpha in the area for sure. We observed him until he vanished out of sight several hundred yards away. Saw a few other bucks including a smaller 2 year old 8 that offered a 10 yard shot, but Harrison wanted no part of that deer. We have a lot of season left he said and that he’d maybe shoot one like that late season. Right before we were ready to get down, we saw the big buck again. He had worked back toward us and was behind us chasing a doe toward the east side of the property. He did a big loop and was covering some serious ground.

Headed back out tonight! My son is kind of hooked now. It was a special experience to share together. Hopefully I can help him deal the deal on a buck in the next couple days. I would say the seek phase is in full swing by me. Good luck all! Sorry for the long read.
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AMPUT8 (The Big Toe) Team #8

Logman Die Hard Bowhunter

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AMPUT8 (The Big Toe) Team #8

Logman Die Hard Bowhunter

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