Hello fellow IDO’ers!
I know this quite overdue, but I just finally joined the site. The last year has had me very busy with graduate school and work, and trying to find time to hunt as well.
This is a buck I only have a short history with, since June of this year. I got permission on two nearby properties, within a mile of each other, earlier this spring. I knew the potential of both properties as they have received very little pressure over the last few years according to landowners, who are friends of mine. One property is 18 acres, and the other is only 10 acres in size. I dug two ponds, one on each property, hung a set on each in early may and left it alone. I checked my cameras periodically and was getting lots of activity on both ponds. The “better” of the two properties (18 acres) was on top of the ridge, with very thick cover, where the other property was recently logged and just beginning to fill in.
This buck was showing up on the thicker property somewhat regularly, but during dark, of course.
This story begins on Oct. 20, the day I got back from an elk hunting trip in CO. I had missed a large 5×5 on that trip and had worked my tail off just to get a shot at any elk. With that in mind, and after an exhausting drive back I decided to hit the smaller property and hunt the pond stand in the afternoon. I had a straight north wind, perfect for my stand. I had 2 previous encounters with a beautiful 8 point, within range, that I passed up. A little frustration had built up and I told myself I would take him tonight if he showed up. At about 4:00 pm he did, and at 15 yards broadside I decided not to shoot, again. I had hopes of the “split 10” coming by at some point, so I held off. I saw several bucks this night and then things went quiet. My stand is near a ravine, with the ravine behind the stand so deer would not cut behind me with a north wind. Near 5:15 pm I heard ONE crunch, and much to my dismay, the “split 10” was at 8 yards to my left! My bow was hanging, and he had caught me with my pants down. He was directly down wind, but luckily elevation was in my favor. The buck turned around, went to my right and at that point I grabbed my bow, clipped in, and drew all in one veteran motion. He stopped at 25 yards below the pond and I made a double lung shot right through the backside of his left shoulder (thank you NAP razorbacks!) I did not get a pass through, but quickly realized that I had put the hurt on him as he began to stumble hard while trying to trot off. The buck was swaying side to side as he went out of sight. I did not hear a crash, and the woods went silent. Dark quickly came upon me and I knew my only option was to sneak out the back door and head for the truck. I did check the spot of the shot and found no blood at all, just his tracks. It was an absolutely restless night, which I spent most of googling images of deer vitals and re-playing the shot over and over.
I called my co-workers at the hospital and informed them that I would be taking a half day 
to search for a bruiser.
Dawn came upon me and two good friends..and luckily there was no track job involved. As soon as I made it to my stand, I walked 40 yards past where I saw him last and he was belly up! I made a great shot, but was very satisfied with my will and desire to hold off until the morning. G2 and 3’s measured out at 11.5 and 12.25 respectively. Taxidermist is expecting mid 140’s!
Thank you Gobblestopper for the track/drag, it was an interesting one!
Sorry for the long read, but hopefully its a good one a rainy day!
Enjoy.
March 22, 2011 at 5:47 pm
#202400
Welcome to IDO 
I guess a good set of handles like that makes it easier though 