Sorry it took awhile for me to write this up, but I've been busy between work, hunting, and deer processing. So some of you guys know that I absolutely did not want to pick up a rifle to hunt with. I love my bow, and haven't even used a rifle to gun hunt with in several years. Well, after not being able to close the deal on several encounters with some mature deer, my wife and brother talked me into using a gun. It was tough for me to do, but I figured that I better kill a mature buck any way that I can. The weather was absolutely perfect on November 21 for me to hunt my favorite stand. I had an east wind and it was in the high 20's. I was hunting right against the river with my wind blowing out over the water. Every time that I had sat this spot I had seen a shooter buck, so I was pumped to say the least. The first deer of the morning happened to be a 2.5 year old busted up 7 pointer chasing a doe right under me. This was followed by 3 other small bucks out cruising for some romance. At one point I caught movement to my right and watched a shooter moving through the brush before I could get a shot. No big deal I thought, it was still early. Approximately 45 minutes later I see another deer moving to my left. Somehow it was the same shooter that was to my right earlier. The difference this time was that he was working towards me and would give me about a 100 yard shot. I waited til he hit a shooting lane and gave him the customary "meh". I lined the shot up, steadied my breathing, and CLICK! I forgot to put a shell in the chamber! As soon as he heard the click he was on pins and needles. I didn't make a move. After a tense minute of staring, he actually turned and started working closer. This gave me the time to jack a shell in and get ready for a second chance. As he hit the 60 yard mark, he turned to quarter away and stopped perfectly. I lined my shot up again, and this time it was a loud BOOM! He was clearly hit hard and thought that I could see him pile up behind a big wad of vines. As always, I texted my wife and gave my brother a call. They both wanted to come help me, so I climbed down to check out the deer and go pick them up with the ranger. I know that to most, he isn't much of a trophy. To me however, he means a lot. I knew this buck was mature when I shot him, but I didn't know exactly how old. The estimates on the jawbone was that this buck was 8.5-9.5 years old. He is the oldest buck I've ever killed. I had seen this deer 4 times prior this season, but had no other history with him. So I went home for the day to take care of my buck. My wife stayed to hunt with her dad and brother. As luck would have it, she got a shot at a 4.5 year old buck that we called Sticker 6. I have a shed from this buck from last year. I also rattled this buck in on Halloween to 10 yards, but the wind betrayed me before I could get a shot. She made a great shot on him and he didn't go far. We had two great mature bucks in one day, and we couldn't be happier.
I can identify with taking careful aim....CLICK....Happened with a muzzleloader some years back. Didn't know it, but had a broken nipple on the gun. Oh well, shi..... (stuff) happens. Nice double!
Congrats! I did the same thing the first time I videoed myself on a coyote hunt. Had the dog at 60 yards, got the camera on him and CLICK. I ended up getting him though too. Congrats again...to both of you!
