I was lucky enough to get to go hunt southern Illinois this season for a week during the rut and it was, without a doubt, the funnest week of hunting. First morning I had an opportunity at what would have been my biggest buck, long story short I hit a limb and he ran off. I ended up seeing him a total of three time in the stand. They were chasing does everywhere so it made for some awesome encounters. I saw 4-9 bucks every sit and was able to rattle and grunt in some decent bucks for good footage. Finally the second to the last day I decided to get aggressive. I had seen 9 bucks that morning, including 2 studs, but they were all chasing the does in the same area. So I climbed down from my stand and used the ridge to walk up towards them. I even had a spike chase three does within 15 yds of me while i was standing there. Was they got off a little ways i moved in and setup against a tree. It wasnt 20 minutes and all of a sudden a doe pops up on the ridge and starts running right at me. Then on que, a buck comes right after her. He ended up coming into 35 yards and started making a rub and scrape. I was able to range him and draw back while he was making his rub. I let the arrow go and he didnt run but 50 yards. Wasn’t the biggest I saw but he was definitely the oldest. Gotta love when a plan actually works out. 
December 6, 2011 at 11:23 pm
#202978
