We have our share of good bucks roaming around this year. I had a couple encounters with a few bruisers but was always 80-100 off the mark.........and they weren't curious as my calls fell on indifferent if not ignoring ears. I hit it HARD towards the end of bow but honestly as the season wore on the deer almost disappeared and we saw the almost no rut activity all year. Very strange for this land. We have a bowl type area that we rely on for bucks........nice gradual slope with ridges they run leading down to a thicket that stretches from one end to the other (many hundreds of yards) that the bucks use as a direct route to a doe bedding area deeper in our land. The hard part is being there when they make a mistake and creep out. We've tried going in before and they just vanish. Patience and not missing an opportunity has been our best bet there. My brother called a nice buck up from the thicket for a shot in early November and before he saw that buck he said he saw a good buck limping around down there as well. He kills that buck and our land goes silent. Almost no action the rest of the season. I sit for 3 straight days in my climber right on the edge of the thicket at the end of bow out of desperation and see a couple random does and 2 coyotes........Bummer. Opening day of gun hits and move back to the ladder with a downhill view of the thicket. About 8:00 I catch movement from behind and left of me and I raise my rifle.........it's one of the coyotes from the day before, without a thought BANG and down he goes. I quietly unchamber my brass and close the bolt, safety on and back to business. I start to worry after a few minutes that I just put a deer scarecrow 20 yards in front of me but not much I can do now. At 9:00 I see a lone silhouette sneaking along the bottom right on the thicket edge. I ready myself for when it comes into sight and when it does I see the rack and decide to shoot. I have 2 openings and I "Meeeeeeeeaaaa" way too quietly and he walks right through the first, I panic a bit as he starts to enter the thicket and more than loudly enough "MEEEEEEEAAAAA!!!!" and he freezes but he is behind a spider web of small branches. The red dot on my Leupold is glowing on his chest so I ease back on the trigger..........."CLICK"..........."Are you friggin kidding me???" I guess I didn't pull the bolt back far enough when I tried to quietly eject my brass after killing the yote and I closed it on an empty chamber. I quickly cycle the bolt and pick up a shell this time and not sure how but when I reset the gun it was like I never moved it.........scope picture looked good and I knew I had no time so I sent a home loaded Barnes his way. He bolts like he got drilled or scared, impossible to know what happened and he's gone in a heartbeat. I have a cup of coffee and decide I better go look. As I am nearing where I believe he was standing I realize I am no more than 15 yards from the tree I bowhunted out of for the last 3 days LOL. I finally decide I am in the right spot but I can barely even see my stand, I turn and look into the thicket and he barely even made it 40 yards. First Yote/Buck combo of my life and 2nd year in a row for a gun buck on opening day at 9:00 from same stand. I hadn't pulled the trigger for 6 years before then. We butcher him up and as I get to his left shoulder it explodes in an abscess volcano of green slime I have never seen before............turns out he was the limper from earlier that my brother saw with his buck. Broadhead hit to the shoulder.
Nice buck! I've hit an abcess like that & squirted that slime on my shirt. I ran from the garage dry heaving, and undressing as fast as I could, the foulest stench I've ever smelled in my life, nothing even comes close.
Nice job! Heck of a season. So, I've got a strong stomach when it comes to gutting a deer, but seeing that abcess slime and imagining the smell makes me want to chunk rocks.
Deer, bear, human, dogs...the smell of a an abscess like that is sickly sweet.., and once you know it easy to recognize with out seeing it. Sent from The People's Republic of New York.
Long time bud.........hope all is well with you and the family. Thank you and not sure if you are hunting or not but good luck if so. Sincerely......... Good to hear from you.
I read your shave thread and outcome.........sorry bro, that sucks. You will drill one sooner than later.
Thanks man.........congrats on your buck. The abscess was so bad the pressure caused it to literally erupt and it made it to my knife handle before I knew what was happening. Weirdest thing.............it didn't smell at all..........nothing.
