A Memorable Hunt

What is it that brings us out to the whitetail woods? Is it the chance at bagging the buck of a life time? Maybe it’s the challenge of trying to out smart a mature whitetail? Or maybe it’s the opportunity to fill the freezer with an excellent source of protein. Whatever your reason is for being in the woods, this past weekend was the time to be out. The bucks were up and moving, making it the perfect time to hit the tree stand.

My weekend started on Thursday night after work. I was heading to my stand around 4:15 when I ended up bumping a beautiful whitetail about 75 yards from my stand. He wasn’t in a big hurry to leave so I was hoping he would make an appearance later that evening. He did not but I did enjoy watching a small 8 later in the evening as he was searching for does. It seemed the grunt call really brought those 2 ½ year olds out of the wood work. After watching him make his way into the timber the only other deer to make an appearance that evening was a doe and a fawn. I was able to get out of the tree and make my way out without spooking them. Since I took Friday off the game plan was to sit in the morning and hopefully catch these deer making their way back to bed.

Friday morning was perfect, hardly any wind and temps in the low to mid 20’s. Got settled in the stand at 6:15 and the waiting game began. It wasn’t long and the area came to life. Turkey’s were waking up as well as all the other birds. The deer were not far behind. This morning would be a very eventful as I would see 4 different bucks and 8 does and fawns. Three out of the four bucks would come within bow range but they were all 2 ½ year 8 pointers. All were vocal and responded well to the grunt call making it even more enjoyable in the stand. Encounters slowed and came to an end at around 10:15 but it was an awesome morning. I had to leave at noon to go to my 10 year old daughters Halloween Parade at school. That was ok though as Tori would be joining me for the evening hunt. Unfortunately though the evening hunt wouldn’t be as productive as we only had a doe and 2 fawns show themselves. The 2 fawns did walk directly underneath the stand which gave us some entertainment. Right at dark we did have a buck make his way past us about 80 yards away. He raked a tree for about 3 minutes and then left stage right. We never did see how big he was. After he left the field it was our turn to follow suit.

Saturday morning brought overcast sky’s and temps in the low 30’s. The wind however was perfect as it blew out of the NW slightly. Once in the stand I had immediately had deer moving. I had 2 bucks moving around me before day light…1 I could barely make out with bino’s at 30 yards. The other made his way behind me at about 40 yards, grunting the entire way in. I never did get a look at him but it was nice to know they were up and moving. Things slowed though until around 9:00 when I happened to look over my right shoulder and saw a nice buck making his way to the woods from the cut bean field. I threw up the binoc’s again and decided if he made his way to me I was going to take him. I quickly grabbed the Primo’s grunt call and gave it a couple grunts. The buck instantly stops and turns in my direction. At this point he was about 100 yards away but was slowly closing the distance. It was at this point that I knew I was going to get an opportunity. With my Fred bear bow in hand and the Carbon Express arrow tipped with the 3 blade 100 grain Muzzy locked and loaded, it was just a matter of waiting for the perfect shot. It’s at this point that I’m reminded of how awesome this sport can be and why I continue to do this year after year. The chance to fool a mature whitetail into bow range and to take him with a well placed arrow is one of the greatest adrenaline rushes there is. As he makes his way to about 20 yards he notices something not quite right in the tree. He stops to check me out by the camo does the job and he makes his way to my shooting lane. My opportunity to draw comes as he walks under the tree limb at only 15 yards. When he appears again he is in my shooting lane at 17 yards, slightly quartering away and moving to my left. I settle the pin on him as he stopped perfectly in my lane. As I released the arrow, I could see from my Nockturnal arrow nock that it found it’s mark. The buck jumped and took off heading south. As he got to about 60 yards out he made a quick left and headed to the cut bean field. But watching him I knew he wasn’t going to make it far and when he got to 140 yards out he piled into the bean field and expired. From point of impact to where he expired was only 20 – 30 seconds. The 7 point, goofy racked buck had no idea what hit him. To me, it was the perfect hunt and one that I will remember for years to come.

I want to take this time to thank a few of people for making this day memorable. First would be my wife Jackie for allowing me to pursue my passion that is bow hunting. Thanks honey! Also want to thank a good friend of mine, Dave Berg, who has allowed me to hunt his land this year. I appreciate it very much buddy, thanks. And a surprise guest who happened to watch the entire hunt from an adjoining piece of property. It’s rather startling to shoot a deer, watch it die in the field and get a text asking if you just shot a deer. Ryan (aka D.C.O. here on the IDO site) saw the entire event unfold from his stand and I didn’t even know he was there. He got out of his stand to take pictures for me and held the deer while I field dressed it. Thanks Ryan! This was quite a memorable hunt indeed. He is not the biggest antlered whitetail on the property but he might be the biggest bodied deer I’ve taken. No matter, it is one of the more memorable hunts I’ve had.