I'll make a long story hopefully a little shorter. I've had a hell of a season - from the giant deer I was chasing just disappearing off the planet to a failed trip to KS to shooting a buck low and not killing him - it's been a rough one. This past weekend I decided to try my hand at some public land hunting. A couple friends have been doing it the last few years and have seen some decent deer so I figured it couldn't be any worse than the crappy private land I've been hunting. In all reality I just wanted to get into the timber and see some deer - maybe shoot a doe if one came by. That was my expectation going into it. So last week I did some computer scouting - looking at Google Earth and topo maps - and decided on an area way back in the timber that looked like it was a nice saddle. I figured it was a good place to start anyways. Saturday late morning I drove out, threw a Lone Wolf and some sticks on my back and hiked in. After getting to the spot it looked just like what I expected so I threw up the stand, snipped a couple shooting lanes and headed back to the truck. I hunted the stand that night and saw 4 does out of range and passed a shot at a nice 2 1/2 year old buck right at last light. All in all I was happy with that hunt - first time on a new piece of land and could have shot a buck. Not too shabby. Sunday morning I went back into the same spot. It was just one of those perfect mornings where everything just feels right. 25 degrees, almost no wind, clear sky, high pressure. Just a great morning to be in the woods. At first light I saw a doe and fawn at about 100 yards but they worked away from me towards a bedding area. 30 minutes later I see 4 does pop over the ridge headed right at me and I'm thinking "Sweet! I'm gonna shoot one of these big does." As they make their way down the ridge I spot two more deer behind them - both bucks. One is a year and a half old, the other I can tell has a full rack, but I'm having a hard time making out if he's a shooter or not. He doesn't have a huge frame but looks decent. As they close in on my location I'm still thinking about shooting a doe since I can't tell if he's big enough or not. At about 50 yards out he bumps the does and they all run right under my stand. He comes and stands at about 20 yards and at this point I can definitely tell it's a deer I want to shoot. A few steps in the right direction, he stops in a tiny little opening, I draw back and the does start to get nervous but he has no idea what's going on. Settle the pin - release - money shot. Perfect shot and you hear the telltale "pop" of a double lung hit. Deer scatter everywhere, he runs 100 yards down the hill and falls over, stands back up, makes it another 20 yards and goes down for good. I sat in the stand for another hour and a half just enjoying the morning. I saw 5 more bucks and 5 or 6 more does that morning. Nothing huge, but it was a blast to just sit and take it all in. About 9 am I got down, tore my stand and sticks down, packed it all up and then followed the blood trail to the buck. After taking a couple pics and texting some friends I just sat next to him, half a mile from my truck on a piece of land I had never walked until less than 24 hours before and enjoyed the moment. It truly was a good day to be a bowhunter. Later that morning Mike and Mater (130Woodman) were kind enough to come over and help me drag him down the hill and out to the truck. I don't know about those guys, but I'm pretty sore today. So there you go. Spend thousands of dollars on leases, planting food plots, running trail cameras, going out of state, and in the end I manage to pull one out of public land. I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile.
I believe he's a really nice 3 year old buck. Scores somewhere in the low to mid 140's thanks to split brows and another kicker on his base. Definitely a deer I'm pretty proud of. Not bad trophy photo work for a tripod and a self-timer either.
Was a pleasure to help out! Now you owe me a drag which I hope to collect this year still. Congrat's again I'm really happy for you. Stop being a wuss it wasn't that bad of a drag
Nice buck! Will we be watching this hunt on a Bow Hunt or Die episode soon? I think he looks a little older than a 3 year old also.
Nice. Can't even imagine what it is like for there to be a question on whether that is a shooter or not. Maybe someday I can feel that dilemma. Biggest things I've seen this year while in stand is a cub bear and a pileated woodpecker
When he was coming in at about 100 yards all I could see was his spread - which was only around 16" and parts of his left side, which is the smaller side. I wasn't sure he was much bigger than 110-115" at that point. It wasn't until he got closer and into the open that I could make out his full rack.
Yes, but it will be a few weeks yet. Our team has had a pretty amazing season and we have a lot of buck kills stacked up that will air before mine does. We like to keep them in chronological order if we can.
