December 1st was a magical one... Calm, cool, and snowing... and I was in my favorite stand. I haven't been able to hunt it very much this year due to the fact that almost every day I had off work, the wind was blowing the absolute wrong way. Our prevailing winds for this time of year are predominantly from the Northwest, but with the warm weather this season we've had a lot of wind out of the South. But December 1st was different and I was finally able to hunt my "honey hole". Got in my stand about 2:30pm. As the night wore on I saw a couple of does and a small fork horn. At about 4:45 a pretty decent 8 pointer came by and I seriously considered taking him, but decided to pass. I'm glad I did because 15 minutes later this guy comes in trailing two does and there was no question whether I was shooting or not if the opportunity presented itself. At 25 yards, quartering away, I picked my spot and released the arrow. The shot felt, and looked good as he bolted off. I even thought I heard him crash. After I collected myself I realized how hard it was snowing and decided to get down and look for the arrow. I became immediately concerned about tracking him. I went to where he was standing... no arrow... no blood. Started following his tracks in the snow. After about 10 - 15 yards I found the first tiny droplet of blood in the snow. Went a little further, and a little more blood, then a little more. 40ish yards later... there he was. It turns out the arrow buried in the off shoulder and with the arrow still in him not much blood was allowed out. The broadhead actually went through the far shoulder and just the tip poked through the hide on the far side. He's not my biggest, but he's very symetrical and clean and I really like the chocolate rack. I'm a happy hunter. GO TEAM 19!!!
Congrats on a great buck. Look at the body on that thing! Wow! Really nice pics too. Love it with all the snow around you.
That is SWEET. Congrats on a dandy deer, and a fun hunt. I like the pictures too. IMO, people that know what the hell they are doing get the job done now. Congrats.
Thanks for the kudos guys. He actually isn't really that big of a deer (body wise) for up here. My biggest buck weight 365lbs on the hoof and there have been bigger taken around our area. Dan... to answer your question I live in Thunder Bay and hunt about a 15 minute drive from my house. The deer population around here has been doing well due to the mild winters (and not a ton of snow) the last 5 years or so.
The body size on the deer up there is amazing. My brother killed one at camp that dressed 272#. We've also shot others that would go close to that, but had to quarter and pack them out, so we never got them on a scale. Thunder Bay is a nice area. My carpenter was from there, but moved to Saskatchewan a couple years ago. I'm 6 hours west of you.....one hour north of Kenora.
Kannuck: I'm with Dan. The body size on that buck is what impresses me, most. Congratulations on a FINE trophy.
