Well I found my deer. Boy, did I ever misjudge him. I thought he was an 11 pointer we had seen with a weird rack, instead he ended up being a broken up young 10 pointer. I feel sick right now. I passed on some decent deer this week, to only blow it on a young deer. I feel the worst because I killed this deer and am not excited about it. It makes me want to take the rest of the year off. I drove 1700 miles each way to shoot a buck of a lifetime, what a disappointment. without further detail here are a couple of pics of my buck.
Hey man, that's a good looking deer. You didn't blow anything, you've put meat in the freezer and had the opportunity to take an animal that some people would give their right leg for. I know you're down right now, but you'll realise soon that all that driving and time spent in the stand are good memories. Did you get to go with someone you know? Did you make a solo trip and put in a lot of solitary hours in the stand? It sounds like you saw a lot of deer and got to spend a lot of time in the outdoors. I drove three hours, spent $130 on a license and $50 on ammo to only see one rooster pheasant at my buddy's farm in Iowa. That rooster flushed 100 yards away and flew off to another piece of land and we never got a shot on him. All we shot that weekend were pigeons, rabbits and pumpkins and I wouldn't have done it any differently. The time I got to spend with my friend was priceless.
Hey Dmen I'm very glad you found him. Don't be let down though. that's a good looking deer and a 10 pointer is never anything to look down on. I went out again this morning. I completely underestimated how cold it was and froze. The disturbing part is that I haven't seen a deer since Sunday. I really have no idea why. I didn't even see any tracks this morning when I got down. I'm going to call a friend. He has a couple stands in my area and should be able to put me on a doe at least. Congrats again Dmen, let's see some numbers!
Congrats dmen!! That a good looking buck. Bigger then any buck I have seen in the woods this fall. Sat for 5 hours this mourning, heard some grunting at about 6:45 stood up got ready and never saw the deer just heard him walking. About an hour later any antler less came pass and that was the only deer. Heading back out in a few minutes, got some snow on the ground. Dan
Dmen, things happen for a reason...never underestimate the blessing you have been given. Hold your head high and remember, "you were there!" Heed Big Stick's advice. Congrats on a fine trophy!
Dmen, like everyone has stated, you have to be happy to have just had the opportunity to go on a hunt and come back safely and with a buck! Congrats on the buck, don't beat yourself up too bad over it. That is a great buck and one to be proud of!!!
Well guys, after not seeing any deer since Sunday evening I called in a favor to a friend of mine. I'll be going out with him in the morning. He has some of the best spots around. However, it's for does only. That's unfortunate too because I know he's chasing after at least 3 pope and young class bucks. The best part about Indiana hunting is that it's a great sleeper state with a large population of 150+ inch deer. There's a ton of farmland and little tree rows for the big guys to hide in. The worst part is that most all hunting spots are spoken for. Indiana is mostly farmland so woods are hard to come by, and since I live 40 minutes southeast of downtown, it's even more populated so everything is spoken for. This friend of mine has had his spots passed down to him from his dad. My family has about 400 acres amoung us, about 15 of which is woods, putting my land total to 18 acres lol.
Going out in the am then setting up 2 stands on the property I live on so I can stop using my climber in the back yard. Good luck this weekend and be safe! A hunter was just shot and killed in NH by another hunter. That's why I don't push deer and am very content getting in my stand long before the careless idiots hit the woods.
Well guys. I went out this morning with my friend and sure enough, in came 2 does. The first one was really nice mature doe and the other was just a little yearling. They came in FAST. However, she stopped right behind a tree and I got drawn back easy. She took a few steps out, perfect just slightly quartering away. Put my pin on her, squeezed the trigger, click... the doe spun around and tried to find where it came from. Again she was broadside and I could see she didn't have a scratch on her. Ugh, I clipped a twig or something. I knocked another arrow but she had moved to an area where there was a lot of little branches. After we got down i found the arrow and it was exactly what I thought. It was just laying on top of the leaves, hadn't dug in the dirt or anything. Tomorrow starts our firearms season here in IN. I'll still be using the bow. I'm not using a gun until something goes down at the hands of an arrow. Also, I am going to Iowa on Tuesday for a few days.... ...unfortunately there will be no hunting... go figure, I'll be in a mecca of deer hunting in the middle of the rut and will not be able to. I have to head out there for work. Actually, I'm not even sure where in Iowa I'm going yet lol, just that I'm going to the state (I work for a forklift manufacturer for the quality department and help out on tech issues in emergency situations when they can't get something fixed).
Sat this morning. Had a spike buck (I think) come in at 5:30. That was it though. Hung a stand for my week long vacation a week from today.
I had 2 does come in but they were just little things. Might of even needed some brown paint to cover a few spots if taken. However, I did get a glimpse of that 8 pointer I posted. Oh my, he's big. He looks like a horse with antlers. My brother almost had a shot at him. How long does it typically take for them to come back to an area after they were spooked off?
This time of year i would say not long if there is a hot doe in the area. Sat yesterday mourning for about 5 3/4 hours, saw a shooter buck at about 8:50 8 or 10 pointer. He was inside 42 yards just in the edge of the trees no shoot. He started walking the other direction I grunted he stopped and look then start walking again. Did that 3 or 4 time then he was gone. Sat again this am for 5 1/4 hours. Walked in to my stand about 40 minutes before legal light, heard a deer walking through the woods to my left and to my right. So walked as slow as I could to the base of my tree. Saw two deer pass by at 6:35, could only tell they where deer. Then when I walked out I was 60 yards of my car heard a deer to my right, could see it was the shooter I saw yesterday. He stop and was looking away but I could not knock an arrow fast enough, before jump over the hill. Checked the trail cam by my stand after hunting. Here is a couple pics of the deer that I heard walking in this a.m.. The last two pics not sure if it is the same buck from late last night.
Sat a couple of hours last night. Saw a 7 pointer at about 4 pm. Then had the shooter 8 pointer from the day before come by in range just not a good shoot opportunity at around 4:35. At work now, because it is windy out again today. Will sit tonight and the rest of the week. Seem like the buck are in the seeking phase of rut. So now I hope to see one of the three buck on my hit list.
Sat last night had a doe come pass at 4:35 and another doe at 4:50, but no bucks trailing. Sat again this mourning heard what I believe was one of the big bucks on my trail cam walking in front of me no more then 30 yards. But the trees are to thick that way so never saw it. Just could hear what sounded like antler on tree limbs. Plus it just before legal light by about two minutes and left right through the swamp load walker. Then saw a small buck at 9:20. Going out again tomorrow afternoon. Dan
Got a buck down guys!!! Heres a link to the thread I started over on the main page. Sorry for taking so long, it was a great day though and it felt good to wrap my hands around some bone! Stay persistent guys, it pays off! http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?27952-Fianlly-Got-It-Done
Heck yeah Eric, awesome buck, way to go buddy both of you need to get your scores up on the board and get us some points!!! I'll resume hunting this weekend. As for now, I'm off to Iowa... in the middle of the rut... but I'll only be armed with a torque wrench. Something isn't right here.
