Official 2025 Live from the stand

arrowflinger1 · Nov 11, 2025 at 7:45 AM

Shocker99 said: ↑

I’ll get some better pics tomorrow. He’s not the deer I thought he was but I’ll still take him! Decent 8pt. The shot was something too. Not sure how it went in through belly and came out offside shoulder but he did about face plant at the shot so idk…. I’m confused. He ended up circling around and crossing the creek. The dog knew we all thought the dog was crazy. It was a straight vertical bank where that deer made it up. Then he opened up like no other. I’m happy with him. Got to knock some dust off. Now my second tag is for the big boy. I’ll get better pics here soon. View attachment 189600
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Way to go!

virginiashadow · Nov 11, 2025 at 7:51 AM

Good luck Ash

Slugger · Nov 11, 2025 at 7:55 AM

Real temp is like 24 but feels is 14. Had to bring out the artic shield boot covers.

pastorjim08 · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM

I've only had one unknown deer pass me at about 100yds, other than the one I killed with the truck on the way here. Pretty quiet so far

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Englishman · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:03 AM

Well it was an eventful 45min. Had 4 bucks chasing a doe. Had an unknown, spike, small 4p and a nice 8p. The small 8p was the one chasing off the other bucks and he was only about 80”. I had a shot at the big 8p but he’s not what I’m look for right now.

Shawn Clark · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:03 AM

ash d said: ↑

Blood so far View attachment 189604
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Looking good! I like it!

Shawn Clark · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:07 AM

Shocker99 said: ↑

Thanks everyone. I initially thought it was the old warrior buck we’ve been after for about 6 yrs now. His rack is way down hill and he’s super tall. It all happened so fast I didn’t get a good enough look at him and in the cut corn with low light I couldn’t make out every detail of his rack. With limited time to hunt this year I wasn’t being picky anyhow. Idk when I’ll get out again so I shot some quick ranges and got ready when he was behind some cover. When he made it to the next hole he was going to be at my outer range of about 35 yds. He had his head down and took a step fwd so I let it go. As soon as I remember seeing my lighted nock I kind of heard a slight tick noise and watched my nock redirect downward. The buck tore out across the corn and I took my eye off him for a split second to curse the tiny twig that blew in front of my arrow right as I shot. When I put eyes back on him expecting to see him running off unscathed, I watched in horror as his stomach and intestines fell out of his stomach. That’s when I got sick to my own stomach. If I could replay it I still would have rather made a clean miss. He stopped after 100yds and hunched up with tucked tail. The classic gut injured deer. I fumbled to get my range finder untangled and put away and pull my binos out. He stood in that spot for about a minute then slowly slipped into the timber. I knew there was no way I was tracking that night. I backed out and went home. Didn’t even go look for arrow for fear he would see me from the Timber. A sleepless night was followed by a depressing morning at work. Not because i thought I wasn’t going to find him but the fact that the condition that deer was in he was suffering. Things are not great at my work right now. Just had a mass layoff “restructuring” and there is a lot of pressure on everyone. But my boss is freaking awesome and told me to go get him. At 11:30am, 18 hrs after the shot, we started tracking. At the shot sight which was hard to pin down, we couldn’t find arrow. Figured it was buried in the stubble so we decided to head straight to the spot he was standing and immediately found blood. Right inside the timber where he stepped in was his first bed. After that 8 more in the next 150 yds. He was hugging the creek in a big loop back where he came from. We lost blood and decided to walk the creek and field edge looking in because it choked down and visibility got better in the area he was headed. At the point we had last blood he had J hooked and we figured he was back to where he initially came from which is thick bedding area. Not wanting to taint the woods too much we didn’t stomp anything Down and started calling trackers. Went and got a bite to eat and I decided to go grab my 2y.o. GSP. She is not very experienced and being there was others hunting kind of close, I initially wanted to be cautious and not screw up someone’s hunt. She still has tendency to get distracted. But at this point I was desperate. Trackers haven’t called back so I thought what the hay, I’ll let her try. She’s found a couple of deer that were VERY easy tracks. No sooner than I made it home and loaded her up I checked my phone and had missed calls from the tracker. Poor girl, she knew where we were going and was so excited only for me to unload her and put her back in the house. Tracker took my info and we chatted about the details. He agreed it was a dead deer and said we definitely did right by waiting but we should have waited longer. 24hrs on those hits let’s the sickness do its job when the lethality of the shot isn’t up to snuff. Fast fwd to the dog covering what took us 3 hrs in about 15 min, he kept coming back to this super steep creek crossing.
Even the tracker was questioning him at this point. It was about a 12ft. Shear drop off. But he said we should trust the dog and after all that’s what I paid to do! He told the dog to cross. When he got up to other side you could see the excitement in his body language. He was very aggravated that we did not swim across the creek with him. Even waders aren’t enough for this creek. So we backed out, loaded up and drove to the adjacent side of the property to access the other side. When we got to where we dropped a pin there was good blood immediately. About 30 more yds and he called us right back on the radio. He watched the buck take his last breath. 26hrs it took that deer to expire. While I’m glad I did everything I could to recover this deer I’m not happy about how it went down. I’m not beating myself up too hard because I’m deadly out to 50 yds but limit myself to 30-35. He was in range at a good angle. I had a hole. But 30 mph winds are rough idc who you are. I’m tired and am at work typing this. Time I got home deer washed out, showed the kids and got him hung up, it was 10:30. My alarm went off at 3 am but I guess us hunters are used to that. I’ll be working for a good stretch and I’m not too upset looking at the upcoming warm front. Already can’t get back in the woods though. I’ll just have to wait a bit.
Side note: as we tried to identify the deer before we laid eyes on him. All I could remember was he wasn’t huge, he was very tall and had decent mass, body was mid sized for a buck in that area, that’s when we figured it was ol’ gnarly. The old declining war horse we’ve been after for 6yrs. Neighbors are after him too. He’s been going down hill fast last few yrs. But ol’gnarly still lives, and I have another buck tag. I just hope someone gets him before the coyotes do!
Ol’ Gnarly in his declining state 2024
View attachment 189605 View attachment 189606 View attachment 189607 View attachment 189608 View attachment 189609 View attachment 189610 View attachment 189611 View attachment 189612
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Thanks for sharing and once again, nice buck!

Shawn Clark · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:11 AM

ash d said: ↑

Came back to the house to get my son, dog snd 4 wheeler. Of course 4 wheeler would not start. My uncle is also meeting up with us to look.
Click to expand...

It was a buck right?
Good luck on track and recovery!

virginiashadow · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:15 AM

Winds are still high and its real cold. Trying to be on stand for the last 6 hrs of the day. Motivation is low for some reason. I need to wake up! Ha

foodplot19 · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:20 AM

virginiashadow said: ↑

Winds are still high and its real cold. Trying to be on stand for the last 6 hrs of the day. Motivation is low for some reason. I need to wake up! Ha
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I might make it 6 hours but it won’t be all at one time. It’s dead here!

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snuff · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:21 AM

Just had a doe and two fawns come in needed the big doe to take two more steps wind swirled she left blowing the two small ones still hanging around

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Bone Head Hunter · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:22 AM

@virginashadow

Little inspiration. If you make it I'd love for you to hunt this spot and kill this ghost that haunts me.

wl704 · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:24 AM

Btw Veterans, thank you! I know we have a few on here.

Bone Head Hunter · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:26 AM

wl704 said: ↑

Btw Veterans, thank you! I know we have a few on here.
Click to expand...

Yes sir.. Thank you all for your service!

archbunk · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM

Shocker99 said: ↑

Thanks everyone. I initially thought it was the old warrior buck we’ve been after for about 6 yrs now. His rack is way down hill and he’s super tall. It all happened so fast I didn’t get a good enough look at him and in the cut corn with low light I couldn’t make out every detail of his rack. With limited time to hunt this year I wasn’t being picky anyhow. Idk when I’ll get out again so I shot some quick ranges and got ready when he was behind some cover. When he made it to the next hole he was going to be at my outer range of about 35 yds. He had his head down and took a step fwd so I let it go. As soon as I remember seeing my lighted nock I kind of heard a slight tick noise and watched my nock redirect downward. The buck tore out across the corn and I took my eye off him for a split second to curse the tiny twig that blew in front of my arrow right as I shot. When I put eyes back on him expecting to see him running off unscathed, I watched in horror as his stomach and intestines fell out of his stomach. That’s when I got sick to my own stomach. If I could replay it I still would have rather made a clean miss. He stopped after 100yds and hunched up with tucked tail. The classic gut injured deer. I fumbled to get my range finder untangled and put away and pull my binos out. He stood in that spot for about a minute then slowly slipped into the timber. I knew there was no way I was tracking that night. I backed out and went home. Didn’t even go look for arrow for fear he would see me from the Timber. A sleepless night was followed by a depressing morning at work. Not because i thought I wasn’t going to find him but the fact that the condition that deer was in he was suffering. Things are not great at my work right now. Just had a mass layoff “restructuring” and there is a lot of pressure on everyone. But my boss is freaking awesome and told me to go get him. At 11:30am, 18 hrs after the shot, we started tracking. At the shot sight which was hard to pin down, we couldn’t find arrow. Figured it was buried in the stubble so we decided to head straight to the spot he was standing and immediately found blood. Right inside the timber where he stepped in was his first bed. After that 8 more in the next 150 yds. He was hugging the creek in a big loop back where he came from. We lost blood and decided to walk the creek and field edge looking in because it choked down and visibility got better in the area he was headed. At the point we had last blood he had J hooked and we figured he was back to where he initially came from which is thick bedding area. Not wanting to taint the woods too much we didn’t stomp anything Down and started calling trackers. Went and got a bite to eat and I decided to go grab my 2y.o. GSP. She is not very experienced and being there was others hunting kind of close, I initially wanted to be cautious and not screw up someone’s hunt. She still has tendency to get distracted. But at this point I was desperate. Trackers haven’t called back so I thought what the hay, I’ll let her try. She’s found a couple of deer that were VERY easy tracks. No sooner than I made it home and loaded her up I checked my phone and had missed calls from the tracker. Poor girl, she knew where we were going and was so excited only for me to unload her and put her back in the house. Tracker took my info and we chatted about the details. He agreed it was a dead deer and said we definitely did right by waiting but we should have waited longer. 24hrs on those hits let’s the sickness do its job when the lethality of the shot isn’t up to snuff. Fast fwd to the dog covering what took us 3 hrs in about 15 min, he kept coming back to this super steep creek crossing.
Even the tracker was questioning him at this point. It was about a 12ft. Shear drop off. But he said we should trust the dog and after all that’s what I paid to do! He told the dog to cross. When he got up to other side you could see the excitement in his body language. He was very aggravated that we did not swim across the creek with him. Even waders aren’t enough for this creek. So we backed out, loaded up and drove to the adjacent side of the property to access the other side. When we got to where we dropped a pin there was good blood immediately. About 30 more yds and he called us right back on the radio. He watched the buck take his last breath. 26hrs it took that deer to expire. While I’m glad I did everything I could to recover this deer I’m not happy about how it went down. I’m not beating myself up too hard because I’m deadly out to 50 yds but limit myself to 30-35. He was in range at a good angle. I had a hole. But 30 mph winds are rough idc who you are. I’m tired and am at work typing this. Time I got home deer washed out, showed the kids and got him hung up, it was 10:30. My alarm went off at 3 am but I guess us hunters are used to that. I’ll be working for a good stretch and I’m not too upset looking at the upcoming warm front. Already can’t get back in the woods though. I’ll just have to wait a bit.
Side note: as we tried to identify the deer before we laid eyes on him. All I could remember was he wasn’t huge, he was very tall and had decent mass, body was mid sized for a buck in that area, that’s when we figured it was ol’ gnarly. The old declining war horse we’ve been after for 6yrs. Neighbors are after him too. He’s been going down hill fast last few yrs. But ol’gnarly still lives, and I have another buck tag. I just hope someone gets him before the coyotes do!
Ol’ Gnarly in his declining state 2024
View attachment 189605 View attachment 189606 View attachment 189607 View attachment 189608 View attachment 189609 View attachment 189610 View attachment 189611 View attachment 189612
Click to expand...

That's a nice buck, way to stick with it

virginiashadow · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:40 AM

Bone Head Hunter said: ↑

@virginashadow

Little inspiration. If you make it I'd love for you to hunt this spot and kill this ghost that haunts me.

View attachment 189623
Click to expand...

Wow. What a great buck. And I will make it. I think all that work stress just dropped on me the last few days. People still calling, texting, emailing. Im like im on leave! Haha.

Suncrest08 · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:50 AM

Slugger said: ↑

Real temp is like 24 but feels is 14. Had to bring out the artic shield boot covers. View attachment 189619 View attachment 189620
Click to expand...

You only have 2 arrows?! You’re gonna give @dnoodles a stroke!!

0317 · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:51 AM

Slugger said: ↑

Real temp is like 24 but feels is 14. Had to bring out the artic shield boot covers. View attachment 189619 View attachment 189620
Click to expand...

I been using electric socks by Fieldsheer, been liking them the few times Ive used em this season ... Ive thought about boot blankets, but I want less to carry in, not more crap, I have enough as it is ....

Suncrest08 · Nov 11, 2025 at 8:52 AM

virginiashadow said: ↑

Wow. What a great buck. And I will make it. I think all that work stress just dropped on me the last few days. People still calling, texting, emailing. Im like im on leave! Haha.
Click to expand...

Preach! I want to throw my phone in the creek.

wl704 · Nov 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM

Thinking I’m gonna bail. Warm up maybe take a look over at the pressure on public and make a call for an evening sit, or not.

Wind would be fine here, except for last hour…I know there are 4 does here, just need the bucks to catch wind of does heating up…

Official 2025 Live from the stand

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Official 2025 Live from the stand

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