The Orion Syndicate (#12) - 2020 & 2021 Champions

Went out this morning
Saw a spike & a forkie
Nothing else….
So frustrating


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Lots of time left Brett hang in there.

 

I won’t be out to Kansas for another month

 

Okay, change of plans. My help is running late so I am going to tell you the story of my buck.

This deer ran across the road in front of me three years ago onto my father-in-law's property when he was still alive and fighting cancer. That was in December and he said he never saw him and did not get any pictures. The next Fall, I put up a few of my cameras and made some mock scrapes in hopes of seeing this deer again. He was already a very nice buck three years ago. I got three pictures of him in November, all at night. We both hunted him pretty hard with no luck. When my father-in-law was getting very weak, I took him one last time to try for this deer during muzzleloader season and a solid 10 pointer that was bigger than anything he had ever shot came out and he killed it for his last ever deer hunt. We had it mounted and hung in the cabin so that he got to see it a few weeks before passing.
The buck we were after was never seen again and no photos taken. I assumed it was long dead and gone. This year I put out cameras again and I was getting a lot of pictures of a decent bucks that my wife would love to shoot and lots of small bucks and does, but nothing big enough to get me too interested in hunting this particular farm. I did have a new green plot coming in nicely that was getting a ton of traffic from the deer. (Thanks to Tom from Rakk Fuel!) I did have an old buck on another property that I thought I might like to see in person and would consider shooting. The camera I had on the green plot quit taking pictures the day I left for the East Coast and was out of commission the entire week we were gone. (couple of weeks ago) I was bummed out about it and could not wait to get out there when we got back to trouble-shoot it. I found the camera laying on the ground under the blind platform and a dime laying on the platform where the camera had been. I was beyond mad about it, but said nothing to my wife because she goes completely ballistic about people trespassing on our land. lol.
Friday was the first chance I had to hunt and went because the moon was right and it was the first good cold front we have had. I was headed to see if I could put eyes on that old buck on the other farm and something made me change my mind on the way, and I went to the cabin farm that my wife and I bought from her Dad just before he passed. I decided I just wanted to go sit in a blind and chill out with a good beer and knew I would get to see a lot of deer in the green plot. I went early and settled in. 5 turkeys came out and gave me something to enjoy watching and then a doe with twins started feeding 10 yards from me. One of the young bucks I had been getting pictures of daily also came out and fed 20 yards from me. I was content to just sit and enjoy the first hunt of the season as a spectator but always hope that a surprise might show up when the conditions are perfect like they were.
Surprise it WAS, when I looked across the plot and the phantom buck was peeking out of the edge of the woods just 45 yards away. He stepped out and I knew immediately that it was the buck my father-in-law and I had been chasing two years earlier. I could not believe it to be honest. It did not take me long to get a window open and grab the Ravin. He walked right out into the middle of the plot in broad daylight and gave me a perfect broadside shot at a little over 20 yards. I seldom get shook up until after the shot, but this deer had me a mess. I rushed the shot a bit and hit him about 7 inches higher that I would have liked. It was a high double-lung hit but I still felt good about it. He ran like a deer that was in big trouble. I sat for about 15 minutes and then very quietly walked back to the cabin where I called a couple of friends to come help on the recovery. Thank goodness they were able to both come out because the blood trail was pretty sparse due to the high hit. I am color blind and would never have found the trail without their help. He actually covered almost 300 yards before going down and the drag was through terrible brush and ravines. It was well after dark before we found him and almost 10:30pm by the time we had him hung up and I got home.
My wife was asleep but I had specific orders to wake her when I got home so I could tell her about the hunt. She was obviously thrilled that I had killed the deer her Dad had been after and on "his" land. I told her it was just meant to be and went on to tell her about someone messing with the camera and leaving a dime in it's place. She started crying hard. She NEVER cries. I was really confused and asked her why that reaction? She said, when her Dad was in really bad shape and they knew the end was near, her sister asked him if he was going to be the kind of guardian angel to leave pennies laying around in odd places to let them know that he was watching out for them. He said, "No, I am going to leave dimes." So, I had to sit down and have a good cry with her.
Special doesn't really begin to describe this season.

 

@fletch920 I just got tears on those last words. Oh my word. Speechless in every good way possible.

 

Great story and hunt, sounds like your late father-in-law was there with you. Congrats again on the Great buck!

 

I cried typing them, and still can't really comprehend it all. Regardless of your faith or convictions.........

 

That’s an amazing story and some things are just meant to be, thank you sharing!

Icing in the cake to go along with a great buck




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Nice story Fletch.

 

Wow! That story gave me massive goose bumps, Dave it needs to be in a magazine… you just gotta believe he saw it all happen… congratulations again on more than just an incredible buck!


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Fletch what a special story. Thank you so much for sharing a-hunt that is very special to you.
I have a story of an elk hunt that happened in 2012 that is somewhat of that nature.

 

I would love to hear it when you have time if you care to share. Something similar happened when my father died and I just can't pass these things off as coincidence. I just can't.

 

My mother in law leaves dimes too
It’s amazing
Your story brought tears
Yes I’m a pu**y
God Bless you all


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Dave that's the best hunting story I've read in a long time. I was lucky enough to meet your father in law a couple times. He was always incredibly nice and him and his buddy were fun to listen to. Thanks for sharing.

 

.that gave me goose bumps!
Very well written.

 

When I get a quiet moment I will share here.

 

Great story fletch thanks for sharing it. I don’t think I can add anything that hasn’t been said. Really enjoyed it.

 

Congrats on a great deer and incredible story. On behalf of other teams, I appreciate you using a defective tape measure. I truly thought that deer was bigger than 175. I was surprised his spread was under 18”. Camera angle had me thinking 22” at least.