One more year in the books......and a strange one at that, full of doubts, second guessing and in the end elation and relief. I started the year out with high hopes and brimming with confidence.......last year still streaming through my memories as I scanned the foliage expecting the deer to just give up and walk out waving the white flag........reality slowly settled in as I sat for 35 hours before seeing my first deer. I couldn't even find one, let alone a buck......so I REALLY started to question the placement of my stands and that was a real gut punch because I put a lot of work into hanging some lock ons where I thought gave me the best shot at a decent buck and surely some good deer.......I just couldn't figure out how I got it SO wrong, confidence needle dropping like a rock. I tried my luck elsewhere......couple hours away at my brothers where I finally saw my first deer (on my 9th sit) a 7 point buck that would have been a nice buck to get with a bow around here.......I drew and he didn't walk out where I expected and all I got a view of was his arse, 1 lung shot at best so I just watched him walk away with no remorse......later I saw a small doe and actually felt good about it because at least I saw some deer. Bad weather sent me back home and work kept me busy for the next week or so.......our season this year in NY is less then a month so the clock was ticking and I felt like I wasn't even in the game yet. Fast forward to this week and the more I sat at work the more sure I was that I was right about where I hung my stands and even if I wasn't I was gonna go down swinging. Back in the woods my spirits were lifted as the buck sign around one of my stands was really picking up......the rub line I was facing had 2-3 fresh rubs and a brand new scrape was 18 yards directly in front of my stand......again I sat and again the deer didn't come, I saw a doe and 2 fawns over the next 3 days in multiple stands........I just sat there holding my bow KNOWING a buck HAD to show up sooner or later but he never did.......3 days left in the season and I had seen 1 ok buck and maybe 5-6 does........I just wanted it to end to be honest. On the 11th I went back to the stand on the rub line and sat and about 4:30pm I saw a doe and she was alone (good sign) and a spike buck came down her path about 20 minutes later (hopes rising).......right before dark I see a larger bodied deer coming down the rub line in the opposite direction of the rubs and I grabbed my bow and thought this was it.......he worked his way down to me but stayed in some thick stuff, he was a small 6 point and I just KNEW/hoped he wasn't the deer making the sign I was hunting, fun encounter but with the fading light and his path I never even thought about drawing. That night after chatting with my buddy I saw a bunch of bucks on the way home and just knew I needed to be in the woods the next day. 11-12-08 Forgot to set the alarm and woke up at 9:00am Morning is toast and I am fuming......only thing keeping my sanity is a favorable wind to hunt that same stand and the fact that the "action" I saw was in the evening. In stand and all is quiet until 4:30 when a doe stands up and walks around (didn't even know she was bedded by a blow down pine).......she wanders off towards my brother as I hope he drills her for some meat. At 4:50pm I hear a shuffle and look over to curse another chipmunk only to see a large body in the thick stuff along the rub line.......that second I knew I was shooting whatever it was if given the chance......I grab my bow and clip on the release only to look back and see the deer moving at a decent pace from my right to left......I now see the rack and body and quickly regain focus behind the front shoulder......just as I go to draw he changes direction and begins to head on a path which will take him behind me over my right shoulder. I shuffle my feet and get set as quick as I can and draw, a quick look around the bow finds 2 spots I can stop him in for a clean shot.....he steps into the first one and I "meee
Stinger Buzzcutt.........2 big holes, buckets of blood and fell in sight, caught both lungs and sawed through top of the heart.
can't see the pic but congrats man. I'm on my 5th season without a deer. This is the first year in the 5 that I have actually seen a deer so I know about the patience thing. Way to go!
Sometimes this stuff gets lost in the mix of chasing antlers and so on but the meat I get from these animals is as important to me as anything else (maybe more).......just something I find intensely interesting and enjoyable.......I love to process deer as well as hunt them. Some big ol' straps, tenderloins, and neck on this fella
65 quart bags full (over 80lbs) of meals really helps the freezer out. Hopefully we get some more with the guns.
Nice job man. You are a more patient hunter than I am, that's for darn sure. 2-3 sits without seeing a deer and I'm out looking for a new spot to hang my stands, or going crazy and jumping out of my tree with my harness not attached. Congrats on a fine buck and sticking to it. Persistance pays, of that there is no doubt.
that is what it is all about! thx for posting the pics of you processing the deer! i started processing all of my own a few yrs back and that part of the hunt like you say gets lost! keep up the great hunting
You know, seeing the lack of fat on that deer makes me think of our deer last year. There was literally almost nothing on them. It was weird. Good job.
Very nice buck and great story. Good job staying with it too! If you believe in your area it's best to stick it out and put in your time. I shot my buck on the 7th day of a 10 day hunt this year. I always make sure I have a couple of stands up and only move if I feel that I'm burning out an area. Nice job on the processing as well.
