Great morning encounter

Morning started off pretty slow, saw a dow and buck fawn early but them nothing. About 845 I decided to try rattling and about 10 minutes after I saw a deer walking the edge of the steep break into the draw out in front of me. Check that, two deer. First one gets to were I can see it and it’s a big doe, second one still unknown. I tried leaning over some to get a better look at the unknown deer and the doe sees me. She starts stomping a little and I figured I was screwed. Right then I hear a bucks grunt, then another. Oh great, this doe has me pinned down and is making a ruckus and I don’t even know what kind of buck this is. After what seemed like an eternity the buck steps out and it’s a real nice low to mid 140’s buck, at least 9 points and one I don’t recognize. He makes a scrape and watches the doe, who is about ten yards from me still trying to get me to break. (all of this is happening on the right side of the tree also, wrong side for a good shot in this stand). I can see the doe constantly licking her nose so I know she hasn’t smelled me. The buck is looking around too, but he does have a look on his face like he doesn’t understand what her big issue is. Doe keeps on circling back out in front of me and then something happens ive never seen/heard firsthand in the woods. The buck works the scrape he just made and then let’s out a snort wheeze! Finally the doe wanders off so that I can concentrate on the buck. At this point I figured they must have heard the rattling because the buck seems torn as to whether he should follow his girlfriend or come over and investigate by me. He finally starts moving, more or less taking the same path as the doe, which will not offer me a shot. Finally able to move I get positioned as my only chance is I’d he cuts left on a trail that come to the left of my stand, but he didn’t. Once he was at the woods edge (about 60 yards to my left) I figured I’d try a snort wheeze at him as he has been showing aggressive behavior. I can’t see him but I can hear him raking trees and scraping up at the edge. Tried a couple grunts and just prayed for him to come back down. But eventually i saw him walking down the field road(away from me) and then drop back into the woods. Tried one more grunt/wheeze to turn him around but he never showed again.
A little bummed I couldn’t get a shot(would have been my biggest to date), but was a really awsome encounter and to finally hear a snort wheeze in person was really cool. I was still on adrenaline high 45 minutes later whem i decided to call it a morning. I looked at the field edge on the way out and he made 3 scrapes and a rub up there after I wheezed at him, so kind of cool to know I spoke the language well enough to tick him off enough to do all that.

Good play by play story. Had a lot of great encounters when I bow hunted years ago, you never forget them.

I’d love to tell you all how I went back into that same area tonight and he came back in and I got a shot and am currently processing the deer and planning where he will go on the wall, but this ain’t Disney and I’m not mickey mouse. I did go back to that area and he did come back, worked that same first scrape and was looking like he was going to turn and walk right in front of me. Bit he chose to pass the stand on the right, where I also would have had an 18 yard broadside shot. . . had I stood up while he was still back in the brush where he wouldn’t have seem it. The stand I have in this spot does not have a flip up seat, so when you stand up your a good 18″ away from the tree. Bring I am broad shouldered and 260 pounds I did want to chance sticking out badly against the skyline and instead had positioned still seated so the i could get a better short directly in front of the stand. He passed thru my wind no worse for the wear, but busted me trying to slowly turn to look for a shot on the backside of the tree.

I won’t be back till next weekend so hopefully he will have forgotten about the strange looking bear like critter that was up in a tree, but I doubt it.

Round three.

Got out before light this morning, back to the same area of last Sunday’s encounters. Barely a puff of wind. Right at first shooting light I can hear something coming in so I get ready. No deer but a big red fox. Watched him pass through and got back to enjoying the morning, this was the first bluebird sky morning with crunchy leaves I’d had this year, was going to be nice to finally be able to hear them coming. Half hour later I hear footsteps again. I can see a deer in the brush, same spot I first saw that buck last week but this time he’s on the trail that come right past the left side of the stand (my preferred shooting lanes). I carefully get my release attached as he closes in and yes it’s that same big boy from last week. I’ve got a stretch of brushy area before the shooting lane so I draw back. He stopped before the opening and then proceeds into the shoiting lanes which consist of an opening about 2′ wide, then a small sapling followed by a 6′ wide opening, another sapling and then a 3′ wide opening before a big stretch of brush stuff. He passed through that two foot area (I wanted to get him in the big opening), but he stopped with that sapling right over his heart (he’s about 6′ behind the sapling). As I waited, still at full draw, he started acting nervous, then he looks right at me and I can feel him looking right through me. Crap, he was starting to flinch and I knew he was about to boogie. At this point I had been at full draw for at least a full minute, he takes a half step backwards and I knew it was now or never. I’d have to shoot dangerously close to that sapling but the vitals were there and it was just a 20 yard shot and i was confident i could do it.(I actually do practice having to shoot tight windows near trees as I like my stands in the brushy stuff) Well, the pictures tells the tail, arrow flew about an inch too far to the left, probably 2″ farther than I aimed. Being at full draw much longer than I’m used to may have played a role and buck fever a little. I saw the lighted nock fly off to the left of the deer (turns out it was only the nock and not the rest of the arrow as the arrow exploded) and i thought it seemed to be flying off 1) at a weird angle and 2) with quite a bit of zip for the arrow to have gone through a deer. Watched him bound off, didn’t seem like a deer that was hit run either, he stopped just before the steep break down into the draw. He looked around for a bit, I grabbed the grunt call, grunted at him, he looked back for a bit and I almost thought he mite come back, but then took off down the draw. Once I knew he was out of the area I snuck down and checked the area of the shot, found the pictured sapling, the last 6″ of my arrow and no sign of any kind of hit. Crawled back up, didn’t see another deer for 2.5 hours and couldn’t take it anymore so got down to investigate more. Never could find the broadhead but was able to follow the deers tracks for 200 yards and not one sign of anything to make me think I still managed to hit him. When I got back to the house my mom said they saw a buck that sounded very similar to the one I shot at come troting across the fields behind the house about the same time I’d have been tracking him (suprising as I figured he just kept on going after I could last see him in the draw, but must not have).
Not the ending I wanted to the cat and mouse game he and I have played the last two weeks, but glad that he is unscathed and not injured. On to MN next weekend with the CVA, we will see if I can get it done opening weekend I still may get one more round in with the bow on this guy before the orange army comes out and makes a mess of any natural deer movement. And oh yeah, that sapling has a date with my saw.

Attachments:

1. 

   20171029_074309.jpg
   

2. 

   20171029_073650.jpg
   

Brutal, but great read! Thanks for sharing.

Dang, too bad it happened that way. Great write up though, hope the rest of your season goes better.