For those interested in the story: Ok so now to get to the story of my weekend. Early last week I get a call from my Dad. Out driving around near dusk he spots a monster buck on a farm I have permission to hunt, from the road no less. I haven't had pictures of a shooter all summer long so I figured he may just be passing through beginning the process of scent checking areas for does. This coupled with a forecasted plummet in temperatures later that week and I had my mind made. I would skip out on Thursday and Friday of Pharmacy School, to make the 255 mile trek home and get some quality stand time in. I had two cameras out for 4 weeks begging to be checked as well. I left in time to get to the farm, check my cams to decide what the deer are doing, and decide where to set up. Fast forward to Thursday afternoon. Check my first camera only to find pics of a trespasser driving THROUGH my corn field I planted back in the spring. Very few deer pictures and zero even decent bucks, so I was hoping the other side of the property held better results. Here is where I get stupid. Having a straight W wind, I KNEW to avoid the W end of the property, but I was absolutely dying to see if the buck my dad had seen was on this cam (dad saw him emerge from same trail cam is set on). I go against better judgement and decide to slip in very fast and quiet to swap cards and get out of there. To top it off, I took off my release and left the bow in the truck as it would only slow me down. I hadn't made it 60 yards from the truck when I catch two bucks sneaking down out of my corn field not 20 yards in front of me. They had obviously winded me as they were oblivious to me until they were standing broadside 15 yards ahead in the trail and looked up and spotted me. They stood there for seemingly 45 seconds or more, one of which being big enough I'd have shot him if I had my bow. They spook, and take off out of there. I take one more step, and a third buck up and busts from the corn and catches up with the first two. Great, I have already spooked 3 bucks on my only weekend this month to hunt. I continue 50 yards farther to the trail my cam was on. A HUGE scrape has opened up right in front of it, assuring me I would have to have a pic of the buck my dad had seen. My luck continues, I get there to find my trail cam stolen. I rear back to kick the tree in frustration (standing in a deer trail mind you) when I hear something behind me straight back down the trail I walked in to the cam. I look up to see a HUGE buck hauling ass straight for me. He had to be 140+ as a 10, and he was already 20 yards and closing making a bee line straight at me. When he reaches about 7 yards away I decide this dude really is coming to attack me and jump back out of the way behind the tree. This is the first time he spots me, and comes to a screeching halt like a scooby-doo cartoon. He is literally 10 ft from me, with eyes nearly as big as mine at this point. He is frozen for about 4-5 seconds before he gets his senses back and finally runs off. Best guess I could muster up, is that he waited til things with the small bucks calmed down before he slipped out of the corn only he made the mistake of running towards me, not away. 125 yard walk through the woods without my bow and I had a chance at 2 shooters, spooked 4 bucks, and discovered my trail cam was stolen and not there in the first place. Sick to my stomach, I go back to my truck and try to salvage the afternoon. I drive around back to the East side of the property to hunt the stand I killed my buck in last year opening weekend. I can't even get to where I park my truck due to the the 5 does feeding in the power line being chased around by an 8 pointer. I watched through binos from the side of the road, and decide it wasn't meant to be for me this afternoon. 10 deer spotted and I never even made it to my stand. Friday morning was my first time to actually make it to a stand. Wind was terribly wrong for this small property and I wanted to let it settle down for as long as I could, so my best friend and I go to a farm about 10 miles away to try and kill a doe or two. Awesome morning as I watched him SMOKE a doe about 100 yards through the woods, it ran 15 yards and piled up stone dead. Spent the day hanging with him celebrating a great morning. That afternoon I decide to return to my small piece to hunt since I had a great wind. I set in the same stand I killed my buck in last year, only this year instead of overlooking a briar thicket, I was over looking 1.5 acres of corn. Saw 15+ deer, passing two rather tempting 2.5 yo bucks. Slipped out without spooking anything, excited for the next mornings hunt. Ended up going out and not staying in my own bed that night if you catch my drift. Hardest decision I've ever made to actually wake up at 430 am and sneak out for a morning hunt. I struggled, but it just felt right this morning. Get to stand, 20 minutes before daylight and I just had a feeling. As soon as it began getting light enough to see, deer began filtering into my corn. Good sign, the bucks I spooked out Thursday showed up, so there is an off chance the big boy is still around. I watch a tiny 1.5 yo 8 pointer filter into the woods from the neighbors field about 100 yards away, just as I was pulling down the binos I catch a glimpse of a much bigger buck jog into the woods to catch up that my first thought was, SHOOTER! From previous experience I know that when deer enter the woods here, more often than not they will filter through over to within bow range of my stand before stepping out from the cedar thicket. I stood, got my bow ready and waited. Like clockwork, the tiny 8 pointer steps out on the exact same trail last years buck did. He begins stripping corn stalks less than 10 yards out, but no big boy yet. After about 10 minutes I began to worry he wouldn't follow before I saw him emerge about 50 yards down the field. It took about 5 minutes but he kept feeding towards me to catch up with his little friend. Buck seemed to be a 3 yo (for you Buckeye ) but his rack sure didn't match. He was narrow and tall, but my initial judgement was MAYBE a 115" 8 pointer. I thought about it for about 0.3 seconds thinking of the monster that nearly gored me, but decided with my limited time to come home this year to hunt, I better not pass the chance up. When he reaches 21 yards (standing about 10 yards from where I shot last years deer) I draw to take a slightly quartering to shot. He pegs me. I let loose an arrow before he has a chance to bolt, but not before he has a chance to spin toward me and drop down. What was nearly a broadside double lung shot, turned into a shot that entered high and was quartering so hard that the arrow nearly ran parallel with the spine. It entered right behind the shoulder blade, and buried about 2/3 of the arrow. The buck wheels and I watch him run about 100 yards to the end of my corn field, towards the end of the run he begins to hobble but manages to make it out of sight into the woods. I was shaken from how the gimme shot turned into what I figured to be a nightmare for a track job. At best I figured I got one lung and maybe the liver (actually exactly what happened). No exit and an entrance near the top of his back, I knew blood would be hard to come by for a while on his trail, luckily i saw exactly where he stepped into the woods. I climbed down, marked where i shot him at and left to meet my friend. We gave him 3.5 hours to be safe despite my desperate confidence that he piled up shortly after entering the woods. When we begin following the path he took, there was blood no where. Not a spec. I make it 3/4 across the field without a spec of red before I make the decision to jump ahead where he entered the woods. Lucky call as I caught blood not 10 yards in, and gobs of it at that. It was as if someone was carrying a bucket of barn paint with a quarter sized hole punched in the bottom. The woods here are mainly a cedar thicket, so as I follow this blood about 15 yards from the woodline, i walk around a cedar tree and nearly step on a hoof. He didn't make it 10 yards from where I last saw him, and he was stiff as a board. Had to of died right after I lost sight of him. The Rage did it's job on a terrible shot angle. The arrow nearly cut the right lung in half and cuts into the liver. It backed out as he ran and continued to slice the lung up until it was basically jelly when I field dressed him. I hunted exactly 1 time here last year, and this was my 5th sit for the year this year. 2 mature bucks down. Mostly due to finding a dynamite piece of property admittedly, but I attribute some of it to just staying out of this place unless the conditions are dang near perfect. The property is only 35 acres. Anyway, here he was as I found him, followed by a hero shot. He was exactly what I thought, ended up grossing 113 and change. Not a monster, but I saved $400 on a mount this year! haha Was elated to have my buck tag punched! Next time I go to KY I plan to set a few cams and try to catch a pic of the big boy left in there. It is a perfect place for a mega buck to stroll through come rut as well due to the zero hunting access on surrounding properties. I predicted before the season it would take 5 days to kill my buck for the year (jokingly), turns out I was spot on! Now I get the pleasure of going out to doe hunt with friends over the holiday breaks. I take my buck hunting very seriously and usually go at it solo, so I am excited to get back into the group effort type hunts and kick it with the guys from now on. I will not step foot on this property again until planting time next spring unless to swap cards for cams.
Great story and great buck. Congrats again Trevor. The big boy will be even bigger next year, good luck with the does.
Love it! Great story, and man what a buck. I know he isn't huge - but after the weekend you had, what a finish! Congrats and enjoy the rest of the season! Neal
Good one Trevor! Now you just need to learn how to choke down tag soup when you start holding out for the big guys. I've got lots of good recipes I could pass along...
Great story! I hope you learned your lesson about not taking your bow. I don't let mine out of arm's reach when I'm in the woods during season.
Great read with a great buck at the end. Congratulations! I'm glad you got him and that charging fella didn't get you. ;D
Great read, Trev. It's definitely a mixed emotion, tagging out early. I know you're a guy who likes to hunt, but you'll find other outlets - as you'd mentioned (i.e. hunting with friends, spending time with pops, etc.) Congrats on another great whitetail, bud.
