Like sands through an hourglass, today marked yet another installment of the quest for quality hunting land. The cast of characters for today's shed hunt was none other than our own Rybohunter, and *obviously* The Undisputed King of Archery. A 6:45 a.m. meeting at McDonald's kicked off the trip. With heavy eyes and the rising sun at our backs, we pressed-on, driven by an undying lust to succeed and raw optimism for the element of the unknown. Our first stop was a bust. Nice land. A few deer. The only noteworthy finds were a couple too-close-to-the-road stand sites, a frozen-solid silvermax glove, a doe carcass and a "gently used" rifle target. Honestly, things looked fair at best, as we convinced ourselves that the situation would improve as we migrated into greener pastures . . . and migrate we did. A second random pull-off and subsequent hike yielded a really solid stand site. Duly noted. Great geographic pinchpoint, shrouded on all sides by plenty of cover. A large scrape and slew of withering buck rubs confirmed the obvious. We vow to return and pick trees at a later date. A few clicks on the GPS and "X" marks the spot. Holla at a playa. Success. Onward. It wasn't long before we left all vestiges of deer sign in the rear-view mirrow. Optimism faded as our once-light-footed saunter turned to a slow, plodding slog. Nothing seemed right. Back to the car. Have you ever been in one of those positions where you want to go somewhere, but you don't know where to go? Welcome to our world. We did what any other rational person would do - we stood back and threw a dart at the map. Guided by Bowhunting Jesus, we were on our way to spot #3. We had nothing to lose but time. Heading up the first ridge, we caught a stiff whiff of coyote. Not just a dab. Not a little whiff. This was a bucket of dog piss with your head inside. Ryan's life was the first one to change. "Dead Deer. Huge buck." ...and Huge it was. A really, really solid buck. 4x4 with a side of junk. Great mass. Chocolate rack with ivory tips. Pushing 130, by our best estimate. Nobody likes to see this, but if it's laying out there, it's always better to see and know than to not see and not know. The deeper we went, the sheddier it looked. Eventually, we hit a field that was screaming "shed hunt me." I said "Ry, I think we might want to spend a little time in here. Grid it out. There's GOTTA be a shed here." Obviously, you don't become The Undisputed King of Archery without the occasional prophecy. 150 yards later . . . Cash Money. A 55" shed from 2007. A shed that big is worth the time. Every time. A silent fist pump put the exclamation point on the event. Less than a minute later . . . it was time for Bowhunting Jesus to step up big and lay one down for the King. Pow. Same buck, fresh shed. 10 yards away from his '07 drop. Unbelievable. 66" mainframe 4x4. Just like that, my life changed. What a buck. 11.5" G2. Split brows. Insane mass. 24" beams. An absolute warhammer of a whitetail. Shed so fresh it felt like it was still steaming. As the shoeleather and daylight wore away, we methodically gridded-out the most obvious shedding hotspots and I was able to snag not one, but TWO more big sheds out of the immediate area. I scored the match to his '07 [I
Yep. I knew it was just around the corner. That was a jackpot day.....a King's Ransom of Sheds, so to speak. Makes me want to put in more shoeleather now!
WOW Fran, those are some sweet sheds (your right, ANYWHERE)!! Good luck on smoking him next year buddy!!!
Uhhh... I thought the best thing about shed hunting is that you got to sleep in? 06:45 during the off season does nothing but get me into hot water (and not the good kind)!
What a great day of shedding! Are those Ohio sheds? Will you put a trail cam in this area to monitor activity?
Nice finds guys! So....who kept the dead bucks rack? Do you need a permit to pick that up? Looks like a great spot, I'm sure there will be some nice bucks taken there this fall.
Nice job Fran. Did you take the buck head out? That area needs a little more scouting,good luck on him.
The fate of the dead buck's head lies within the parameters of Ohio law. If it's legal to pick it up, then it is planned to be turned into a nice euro mount. If not, it was sadly left behind.
Pick it up, call the DNR and tell them you found a dead buck and would like a tag. Ive done it numerous times.
There you go! Now, you can follow this handy link our fellow friend Bloodcrick posted and your in business: http://forums.bowhunting.com/yaf_postst2400_Do-a-Euro-mount-start-to-finish-in-5-hours-high-speed-required-lots-of-pics.aspx
Sounds like you guys had a great day. Sure wish some of our snow would melt around here, so I could get out and do some scouting and shedding.
