Man Week 2015 – SD Archery Bucks - Deer Hunting - Deer Hunting

Man Week – Definition: getting together the first week of November every year with two of my oldest friends from SD. Goals: Fill archery tags, trap coyotes, call coyotes, celebrate victories and start over each day. Quite frankly, outside of my wife and kids, it’s better than any Christmas morning. This year was going to be extra special since the “ol’ man” also had an archery license to fill.

Man Week started on Saturday October 31st with a midnight run back home to the farm in SD. I arrived just as the time fell back an hour so I set a new record of only 4.5 hours… At least that is what I told my aching toosh. I surprisingly fell right to sleep that night even though I think I drank the better share of a 12 pack of Diet Dew. I of course I checked the weather one last time before dozing off. Wrong wind for archery at our place tomorrow, booo!!!

Sunday AM I was up early and ready to get the week started. I had the side by side loaded on the trailer and ready to head south to Jeff’s farm(7miles south). I got some of my personal gear offloaded and had breakfast with Mom and Dad. Man a hot breakfast each morning was pretty darn nice. I was sitting in Jeff’s driveway by 9AM. We started loading the Mule with trapping supplies and tools. By 10 AM, we were digging in the first set. Being the first day, we of course forgot several little items that make trap setting a bit easier. 1st day jitters I guess. One thing I’ve learned over the last few year watching Jeff set traps, the guys like Randy who run real trap lines have a commitment that I truly admire. Even with the poor outlook on prices this year, Jeff and I set off to catch us a coyote or two. By 2PM that day we had 10-12 good canine sets in the ground with several other spots scoped out for the following day. Meanwhile at James farm, 6 miles west of my dad, he was already on the board with his first yote of the week in snare. Needless to say we were jealous.

At 3, I headed north back to Dad’s place to jump in a box blind with him. The SW wind was not ideal, but we were gonna push the limits a bit this week since Dad was planned to have wrist & elbow surgery on Friday AM. The sit as far as hunting goes was uneventful with no deer spotted. However, the time spent BSing was priceless. Especially when the old man tells you he is jealous because I’m tall enough to relieve myself out the blind wind. Haha, a urinal will be in the next blind old man! Sunday ended quietly but with a few beers back at the house with my parents.

Monday AM, up early again, watching out the windows of the house into the darkness. Dad wasn’t up for hunting in the AM due to some medication challenges, so I was left to entertain myself until Jeff got out of the tree around 9AM. Once again a hot breakfast was on the agenda and some morning conversation before I headed south. I love the anticipation each morning before checking traps. You just never know!! Unfortunately our sets were void of critters except a small to medium size coon. At least there is one less predator to harass the pheasants. After setting some more traps I was headed north to get into the blind with Dad. We were sitting over the water tank by 3:30 that day. It was unseasonably warm. I told him the deer probably wouldn’t move until the last minute but they ought to be thirsty in this heat. With an hour + of shooting light left I was proven wrong, dad spotted a deer behind us, headed our way.

I looked to out the west window and one quick glance new this was a shooter buck. I started barking orders to get the bow ready, get on the shooting sticks. This buck was on a mission. He only briefly stopped to our north about 12 yards out to take a couple big whiffs of air and then started coming to the water. From the time I spotted him until he was on top of us was less than 45 seconds.

I lost my sight picture out the north window and was ever so slowly trying to get into position to look at the deer prior to Dad pulling the trigger. Too slow, he had already sent an arrow down range but by the sounds, it clearly impacted the deer. I asked, where did you hit it? Dad wasn’t sure. By now I’m leaning out the east window trying to watch the deer. 80 yards north of the blind the buck’s front end starts to give up the ghost and see his first stumble. 20 yard slater I see him tip over in the CRP. He is down. A quick high 5 and a hug and Dad was on the phone to tell Mom. He was super pumped.

I knew waiting the 30 minutes was going to kills us both. I started packing up my gear and headed to the side by side knowing I’d be back about 10 minutes too soon. However, I was highly confident this buck was dead. Mom met us at the blind and we all 3 headed to find the buck. He was 10 yards further than I thought but he was done none the less. A perfect double lung shot. If I had to guess, this deer died within 25 yards of my 2015 buck. I don’t know why but I thought that was pretty cool. Monday night was the first night of celebration for the whole crew. Jeff’s parents came up to visit and we all enjoyed some old stories and cold beers.

Tuesday AM, the wind has now switched 180 degrees to the east. Again a bad wind for any of Jeff’s stands so we decided to go call coyotes. It was way too nice and I was less than optimistic. We setup and started playing one of my favorite Randy Anderson sets. We had no movement out in front of us until I spotted a raggy looking 2.5 year old buck. I paused the caller and waited for him to get within 10 yards and I hit play. He didn’t like the coyote sounds and exited stage right. Poor little guy. 10 minutes later I spotted a much nicer set of horns headed our way. I paused the caller and watched as what I believe to be a 170 class buck was sitting in my lap at 18 yards. What is the saying, ifs and buts were candy and nuts. Oh to have the bow and a tag in my pocket. He eventually go my wind but what an encounter with a beast. Jeff has had him on camera the last two years. This was our first daylight sighting. Unfortunately we were armed with the wrong weapons. The traps yielded one badger for the day but Jeff’s spirits were down.

Wednesday AM was another uneventful morning for Jeff and James in the stands. We were also blanked on the traps except for two skunks who ruined to perfectly good coyote sets. We were optimistic the front moving in that night and cooler weather was going to change our luck. I visited some family I hadn’t seen in over a year. It’s always great to get down to their ranch. The progress they are making since losing almost everything to a tornado last summer is amazing. I drove him that night in one of the most amazing thunderstorms ever. Certainly for November!

Thursday AM, I’m up at 5AM again, twiddling my thumbs getting ready to head out for a coyote calling sit. However the fog and rain kept me land locked in the house until after 8 that morning. After finally arriving at Jeff’s, we knew the heavy rain and upcoming cool temps were wreak havoc on all the trapping sets. It did and no critters to show for our efforts. However, we had coyotes dance around 3 sets. Things were looking up a bit. We spotted way more deer that morning until around 10AM. This was the latest we had seen deer moving all week. After checking traps at Jeff’s, I headed to check the trap line with James. Again we blanked but he has some great sets. The plan was to head home for a quick lunch, replace a faucet and be back at James to be in the stand no later than 2:45 that day. Optimism was high!

After getting my butt kicked by a 15 minute job, I was finally able to get my scent free shower and head to James place. We quickly geared up and were walking into the blind by 2:15ish. We parked the pickup in a set of trees along the south end of the property. I grabbed the decoy and we were headed in. Of course the front legs fell off the decoy so I had to go back a few yards for them. About the time I caught up to James he “GET DOWN, BUCK!!” I looked out into the CRP grass and spotted one heck of nice rack not 50 yards from us. How he didn’t hear James’ diesel truck or me dropping the decoy legs is beyond me.

We were quickly devising a plan. Setup the decoy where we sat. Crawl ahead another 10 yards to the next opening in the trees. I left my pack but brought my range finder. I couldn’t get a solid range nothing but horns and CRP grass to bounce the laser off. We were both very confident 30-35 yards. Now, we hurry and wait for the deer to stand and stretch. James would draw and arrow him as he focused on the decoy…. I know we waited at least 4 hours. Our legs were falling asleep and this deer hadn’t moved. Ok, it was 20 minutes. I asked James how aggressive he wanted to be. He said let’s try something. I suggested he move ahead another 10 yards to the next opening. This would position him towards the deer’s caboose. I would move back to the decoy and start grunting once James was at full draw. After darn near emptying my stupid pack, I finally found my grunt tube. I gave James the thumbs up as lay on my belly. I watched as he got to his knees and went to full draw. I grunted softly 3 times, nothing, 3 more times, nothing, 2 more aggressively. Finally the buck stood but took two quick steps my direction. James got a bit rushed as he was running out of room to swing on the deer and released.

I heard the arrow hit and got on my knees with my binocs. To my surprise the buck was still standing there looking back at James. Whitetail DON’T do this on the prairie. I grabbed my grunt tube and started in again. Trying to get the buck’s focus until James could knock another arrow. As you can imagine, he was in full on panic mode now. This deer was 25 yards and why was he still standing there. James leaned around the bushes but didn’t connect on the 2nd arrow. As the deer was trying to run off, I got a great view with the binocs. The shot was poor but I was highly confident it would suffice. Great red blood on both sides of the deer. I watched as he disappeared 100 yards away into a food plot. I was pretty sure he went down but we backed out and gave him an hour. It’s only 3:10 in the afternoon. We had 2+ hours of daylight left.

We spent our time undressing from our hunting gear and looking for trails cam pics of the buck. I had a cold one just begin the celebration. I was so confident we had this buck. Just before we headed out to look, James Dad and wife showed up. They questioned our dedication to hunting since we should have been in the stand not drinking beer on the porch… Haha. We snuck into the last spot the buck was spotted from the down wind side. There he laid. James personal best archery buck and the first trophy he has shot on the farm he grew up on. What an experience and I’m so glad I got to be there to share it with him. James aunt babysat us as little runts way, way back in the day. Likely one of my first friends.

As we were hanging James deer on the old farmhand tractor, we got a text from Jeff. “I got an arrow in a 6×5. Not sure on the shot. He is bedded down 75 yards from me but his head is up. He’s wide but not much for points. Probably a younger deer.” I text him back. “We are on our way”. James and I jumped into the truck and hustled down the gravel road. Jeff called about the time we were half way there. Apparently the buck got up and appeared to walk out of the trees into the pasture. Jeff was trying to sneak over to the last spot he saw him to watch the direction he headed. As he stood looking, the buck stood up on the opposite side of the tree grove. He had a small opening and let another arrow go. Not sure if he hit the buck or a tree or both. Not long after, we are parked in one of the cattle yards with flashlights in hand. Jeff’s stand is about 300 yards north so we headed that way. We found his first arrow broken off but with over 2/3 penetration.

We checked the blood in the trees where the buck had bedded down. Good red blood. Enough to make you think he was mortally wounded. Jeff last saw him headed for some slew grass out by a stock dam. We decided to back out and go get some grub. We would come back after 8PM try to find the deer. After James wife served us a great dinner, we were back down to Jeff’s driving around the cattle pasture looking for the deer. We didn’t spot anything so we grabbed our flashlights and started to walk the slew grass. James whistled and both Jeff and quickly turned out lights to the deer laying 15 yards in front of him. Another great buck found. This was also Jeff’s personal best archery buck(back to back years of doing this). Crazy stats on this deer. His inside spread was 22.25 inches. That was about and 1/8 longer than the main beams. Pretty rare. Needless to say, that night was full of celebration after getting Jeff’s deer hung and cooling off.

So, if you made it this far, thanks for reading about another phenominal Man week. 3 personal bests and I was there for the better share of all 3. I couldn’t be happier for Dad, James and Jeff. Bring on 2016….