So rewind one year to the day, on the morning of October 29th I finally got a chance at a nice buck I had seen twice already in the last 8 days and couldn’t get a shot. Well that morning my shot was off by just enough and I caught a sapling tree with a blade of the broadhead and missed.
Now fast forward to this evening, after an uneventful morning and a rather uneventful 3 days prior I didnt really have my hope’s up, but I was heading to a stand I hadn’t sat in yet and was a spot I have had good luck rattling out of in previous years. I had actually left this area alone for 3 years to give it a break as it seemed like my sightings were dropping and was worried they were patterning me (it’s a good pinch point). About 5:15 I decided to try a short rattling sequence with some grunts. I hadn’t more than put my horns back up and heard what i thought sounded like a deer walking on the hillside to my left (I’m at the bottom of a valley). Sure enough out from the brush pops a buck we call high boy, he isn’t a real large deer, just a 7 point but has really long G2’s and good mass. I had actually been contemplating through the afternoon if I would shoot this deer given the chance, and I never really came up with an answer. He slowly works his way towards me and gets to where he has to cross the creek and stops to make a scrape. While he is pawing away I hear what sounds like another deer up on the same hillside the first buck came from. He hears it too and after staring up there (I cannot see through the trees and brush, only hear it moving) he violently works his scrape again. Well, ok, pretty sure the other deer must be a buck. Now high boy postures up, stands his hair on end and starts stiff legged walking up towards where the other one is. He stops and then the other deer starts coming down faster. At this point I can see flashes of movement but still cannot tell what it is. Eventually he gets down enough I can see him and his pale gray face and overall shape of his rack I knew who it was without even getting a real good look. He’s the second biggest buck I know of in the area, a really wide 10 point. At this point high boy knows he is out matched so he cowers down after a brief stare down. Now the big one starts heading towards me while the other just watches him and he stops and very violently makes his own scrape next to the one the other made, then shreds a sapling up. I was ready as once he committed to crossing the creek (which is now an 8′ wide and 4′ deep gorge with a small creek in the bottom after this summer’s storms) that was my last chance to draw without risk of getting busted. He commits and I draw, but right before he enters my first opening he does a 90 degree turn, gets behind some junk and starts going to town on making another scrape. Ok, if he keeps going in that direction after I have an opening for about a 30 yard shot and I could let down to wait, but if he turns back again I’ve got about 10′ to an opening and I’m totally exposed to try drawing back again. I elected to stay at full draw and he decided he wasn’t done tearing away at the ground, leaving me at full draw for what felt like 10 minutes but was probably 2 minutes. My decision to stay at full draw payed off though as he turns back and starts coming the way I hoped he would originally. First lane is a small opening and hes still walking towards a larger opening so I let him come. I didnt want to risk spooking him so instead of grunting/bleating to try stopping him I just timed out my shot with his walk. Now, I’d like to say I placed a perfect shot and he ran 50 yards and piled up, but I was excited and had been at full draw for a couple minutes and with whatever let off my DXT has on 70 pounds, it was still feeling really dang heavy at that point. So, my shot was less than perfect and I drilled his spine. A follow up shot to the heart to speed up the process and there I stood with my largest bow buck to date, and is a bit of a rarity around our place at 10 points (we seem to have a hard time growing more than 8 or 9 points). 19″ inside spread and he came in at 200 pounds field dressed. I know of one buck larger on our property (who I believe is the deer I missed last year), but I’m not complaining about getting #2 on the list. Now to process him up tomorow, 3 days of work and off to Minnesota to see if my CVA and I can three-peat on opening weekend.
Oh, and you can bet I will be penciling myself to be off next October 29th as soon as the 2019 calendar go up.
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