Well, this season I really tried to employ all of the tactics and strategies that I've learned over the years. After getting an EXTREMELY late start in scouting, camera placement, stand & prep, etc, etc, due to my motocross racing/training and recovering from injuries sustained in a very serious crash, we keyed in on 10+ shooter bucks (shooters by our standards, not everyones) on a few different properties including a new piece that I've been salivating over for years (I have been hunting adjacent to this piece, but, not on it) Early in Sept I found a beautiful 11pointer and he quickly became my early season target. We received some MAJOR flooding as a result of the storms. After that, the buck was gone. He was either poached by the animal control officer in the town (been hearing a lot of stories of this guy poaching deer) or simply vacated the area. So, I began to hunt another 11pointer on a different property, and, a "back-burner" target was this nice 8pt. My friend and brother were chasing a beautiful 5.5yo 8pt and I promised them I would pass the deer the first 2 weeks of the season, which, I ended up doing at 6 yards from a ground blind. In Mid October, my buddy dropped that buck with a well placed, 15 yard shot; 2 days later, my brother dropped a BEAUTIFUL 9 pointer. The massive 11pointer I was planning to go after ended up showing up on my buddies property just about a mile away, so, I made the decision that this 8 would become a primary target; not as big or old, but, a very respectable buck, nonetheless. So, THE HUNT: I had hung a stand in a bedding area just off of a field that the deer would transition to, feed, then, funnel out of as he worked back to bedding. I hunted this stand once in the P.M. (it was REALLY hung for A.M. hunts though) and instead of sitting the entire time, I left early because my brother smoked his giant that evening. I get lost on the way in because I had to bypass some unexpected flooding and didnt climb up until 0635; I wanted to be in by 0600, latest. As light crested, I could see deer in the corn field feeding, and, based on trail camera scouting, knew they would stay in that field until very late in the evening. I went to text my buddy to see what kind of action he was having when I heard "crunch"; I look up and see A deer at 80yards. I could not see a rack, just a single deer. Somehow, I KNEW it was him without evening seeing a rack; I stood up, grabbed my bow and then glassed the deer, it was him. He makes his way towards me, on the exact trail I hung the stand for. He meanders a bit, and, I thought he was going to walk away from me to bypass the flooded area, but, he walked straight at me, then, turned. As he walked behind a large Oak, I drew my bow, when he popped out the other side, I settled my 30yard pin and followed him..I tried to stop him once, but, he didnt hear me. I gave him another "MAH" very loud because if he made it another 10 or so feet, he was gone. He stops just short of the end of the lane and I pulled on that release as hard as I could (I shoot a competition style, back tension release), felt like it took forever to release, but, I watched the arrow smack PERFECTLY. He was 1/4'ing away just a touch at around 35yards. Shot was amazing, he made it to 70yards and crashed. We've now taken 3 beauty bucks off of a brand new piece of land. Thanks for reading my short book ...Here he is !!
Anyone have any guesses on the score ? If you want to use my hand as a reference, my hand is 12" long..Haha.
Thank guys. The photo quality is poor because my computer wouldnt read my memory card, so, I snapped photos off of my digital cameras LCD screen with my phone and then Emailed them to myself. As for blacking out my face, I'm really no longer a fan of having my face plastered on a public forum. Heck, even my facebook doesnt really have face photos of me. I also work in a very liberal profession for very wealthy, liberal clients, so, I figure might as well just do what I can to limit compromising income...Dont worry, buck was not poached and I did kill it..Ask Gri22ly, he's got the photo with my ugly mug in it..
With the camera so close to the deer it's really hard to judge....but going by those pics, high 120s low 130s? I can also see it being trick shots of a 115 buck too, if your arms are extended etc... Congrats regardless!
