My brother in law (to be) and I have been planning this hunt for awhile now. Living in Lubbock and done with his finals, he was able to make it down late last week. I had already shot my good buck this year out there, so I would be guiding him this go around. After my company Christmas party Friday night, we were ranch bound with high expectations. We finally arrived out there at 1:00 Saturday morning and due to our excitement, made it to bed much later. Let me just say, 5:00 came WAY too early!
I decided that we would go to the same stand that I shot my 141 out of. This stand produces, year after year. It's a true honey hole! We were settled and ready by 6:00, anxiously awaiting daylight. The deer movement was non existent and we had seen nothing by 8:00 (very unusual for this stand). We decided that we would attempt to make something happen and picked up the rattling antlers. J was skeptical, because he has never had any luck rattling but I talked him into giving it a shot. I exited the box blind and knelt on the ground near his shooting window and began a minute long sequence. Mere seconds after finishing, we heard something crashing down the ridge 60 yards in front of us. A 9 point, 120 ish, emerged from the brush and he was mad! Ears pinned back, posturing, the whole 9 yards. He was a beautiful young buck. Very tall with excellent tine length, but I just couldn't put him past 3 1/2. I could hear J breathing from outside the stand, he was so excited! Finally, the buck became frustrated not seeing the "fighting bucks" anywhere and wandered off. J's face was lit up like a kid at Christmas with what had just happened! We gave it 15 minutes and I cracked the antlers together again. 30 seconds in, I caught movement in the brush on the ridge. I stopped and glassed, seeing a very large framed buck making his way to the field in front of us. I whispered to J, "Good buck, get ready!" I was unable to tell much about the deer through the brush, but could see he was atleast worth a closer look. That's when Murphy decided to make his presence known and J's cell phone that was in his pocket fell out and crashed onto the floor of the stand. The deer was literally 10' exiting the brush! Needless to say, we never got a closer look at him
He bolted back into the brush and I looked up at J. He looked like he could cry! I assured him that it happens and not to beat himself up too bad, it was only the first morning. We gave it 30 minutes and again, I hit the antlers together. This time, we had a young 8 point make a bee line straight to us, coming as close as 20 yards in front of us and eventually wandering off. J doesn't bow hunt, so having a buck so close really had his excitement level up. Very cool! We gave it awhile longer and decided to call it a hunt and snuck out, back to the cabin.
That afternoon, we went back to the same stand. This stand is generally good anytime of day, but especially so in the evenings. An obvious choice, given the action that we had that morning. Once again with zero deer movement, we pulled out the antlers at 5:15. Mere seconds into the first sequence, I looked to my right and saw a deer head peeking out of the brush at 250 yards. I continued rattling and he was on his way in, followed directly by a 2nd buck. Both were young 6 points and they eventually worked their way straight to us, right in front at 45 yards. They then began to fight each other and really got into it! All in all, about 5 minutes long. It was awesome to see that and J really enjoyed it. After awhile, they too finally wandered off confused. Daylight was coming to an end by this time and we only had about 10 minutes left. With the rattling success that we had seen, we decided to do it another round. Why not, right? 45 seconds into it, I heard dove fly off to my left. I peered over and saw another buck coming in from about 150 yards. Another young 8 with great potential. We watched him as he came in on a string, covering the distance quickly. He milled around in front of us as daylight came to an end. We waited a little bit after dark and eased out.
That night we discussed going to another stand for the morning hunt, even with the response we were getting down there. It needed a break. J and my sister were leaving for Lubbock late morning for their long drive, so this wasn't going to be a real long sit. This morning, we went to a stand about a 1/2 mile from where we had been. It's a great morning stand, always has been. Again, we were settled and ready by 6:00. An hour into daylight, we had seen nothing. Given the results we had seen so far, I wanted to give rattling a shot. I exited the stand and got in position. After a sequence lasting about 2 minutes off and on with pauses, I got nothing. I gave it a 30 second break and hit the antlers together again for 20 more seconds. Suddenly I heard J whisper, "Buck to the left!" I peered around a cedar tree and couldn't believe what I saw. A huge framed 8 point walking in posturing. This dude was ready to fight! Right away, I knew this was a shooter. I whispered to J, "Shooter! Get on him!" The buck was at 120 yards and closing, pausing only to find the "other bucks". At 80 yards, he turned to his left and stopped, offering J the shot he was looking for. I heard the crack of the .300 Win Mag and saw the buck jump up and run. By the reaction at the shot, I knew he wouldn't be far. We watched him go 30 yards and crash! We gave him a few minutes as we sent out texts and excitedly replayed what had just unfolded before us! As we made our way to him, we could see his antlers showing high above the cactus that he so conveniently crashed in
There was zero ground shrinkage with this deer. He was exactly what we were after!
Needless to say, J is now a true believer in rattling All in all, the ONLY deer we saw were the 7 bucks that were rattled in. I'm not real sure what's going on with the deer movement out there, but I'm relieved that we were able to make it happen despite it. I couldn't be happier for J. He made a great shot on this big buck amidst all the excitement and put him down for the count. I'm looking very forward to the future hunts that we will share together. This was one to remember, for sure!
I decided that we would go to the same stand that I shot my 141 out of. This stand produces, year after year. It's a true honey hole! We were settled and ready by 6:00, anxiously awaiting daylight. The deer movement was non existent and we had seen nothing by 8:00 (very unusual for this stand). We decided that we would attempt to make something happen and picked up the rattling antlers. J was skeptical, because he has never had any luck rattling but I talked him into giving it a shot. I exited the box blind and knelt on the ground near his shooting window and began a minute long sequence. Mere seconds after finishing, we heard something crashing down the ridge 60 yards in front of us. A 9 point, 120 ish, emerged from the brush and he was mad! Ears pinned back, posturing, the whole 9 yards. He was a beautiful young buck. Very tall with excellent tine length, but I just couldn't put him past 3 1/2. I could hear J breathing from outside the stand, he was so excited! Finally, the buck became frustrated not seeing the "fighting bucks" anywhere and wandered off. J's face was lit up like a kid at Christmas with what had just happened! We gave it 15 minutes and I cracked the antlers together again. 30 seconds in, I caught movement in the brush on the ridge. I stopped and glassed, seeing a very large framed buck making his way to the field in front of us. I whispered to J, "Good buck, get ready!" I was unable to tell much about the deer through the brush, but could see he was atleast worth a closer look. That's when Murphy decided to make his presence known and J's cell phone that was in his pocket fell out and crashed onto the floor of the stand. The deer was literally 10' exiting the brush! Needless to say, we never got a closer look at him
He bolted back into the brush and I looked up at J. He looked like he could cry! I assured him that it happens and not to beat himself up too bad, it was only the first morning. We gave it 30 minutes and again, I hit the antlers together. This time, we had a young 8 point make a bee line straight to us, coming as close as 20 yards in front of us and eventually wandering off. J doesn't bow hunt, so having a buck so close really had his excitement level up. Very cool! We gave it awhile longer and decided to call it a hunt and snuck out, back to the cabin. That afternoon, we went back to the same stand. This stand is generally good anytime of day, but especially so in the evenings. An obvious choice, given the action that we had that morning. Once again with zero deer movement, we pulled out the antlers at 5:15. Mere seconds into the first sequence, I looked to my right and saw a deer head peeking out of the brush at 250 yards. I continued rattling and he was on his way in, followed directly by a 2nd buck. Both were young 6 points and they eventually worked their way straight to us, right in front at 45 yards. They then began to fight each other and really got into it! All in all, about 5 minutes long. It was awesome to see that and J really enjoyed it. After awhile, they too finally wandered off confused. Daylight was coming to an end by this time and we only had about 10 minutes left. With the rattling success that we had seen, we decided to do it another round. Why not, right? 45 seconds into it, I heard dove fly off to my left. I peered over and saw another buck coming in from about 150 yards. Another young 8 with great potential. We watched him as he came in on a string, covering the distance quickly. He milled around in front of us as daylight came to an end. We waited a little bit after dark and eased out.
That night we discussed going to another stand for the morning hunt, even with the response we were getting down there. It needed a break. J and my sister were leaving for Lubbock late morning for their long drive, so this wasn't going to be a real long sit. This morning, we went to a stand about a 1/2 mile from where we had been. It's a great morning stand, always has been. Again, we were settled and ready by 6:00. An hour into daylight, we had seen nothing. Given the results we had seen so far, I wanted to give rattling a shot. I exited the stand and got in position. After a sequence lasting about 2 minutes off and on with pauses, I got nothing. I gave it a 30 second break and hit the antlers together again for 20 more seconds. Suddenly I heard J whisper, "Buck to the left!" I peered around a cedar tree and couldn't believe what I saw. A huge framed 8 point walking in posturing. This dude was ready to fight! Right away, I knew this was a shooter. I whispered to J, "Shooter! Get on him!" The buck was at 120 yards and closing, pausing only to find the "other bucks". At 80 yards, he turned to his left and stopped, offering J the shot he was looking for. I heard the crack of the .300 Win Mag and saw the buck jump up and run. By the reaction at the shot, I knew he wouldn't be far. We watched him go 30 yards and crash! We gave him a few minutes as we sent out texts and excitedly replayed what had just unfolded before us! As we made our way to him, we could see his antlers showing high above the cactus that he so conveniently crashed in
There was zero ground shrinkage with this deer. He was exactly what we were after! Needless to say, J is now a true believer in rattling
All in all, the ONLY deer we saw were the 7 bucks that were rattled in. I'm not real sure what's going on with the deer movement out there, but I'm relieved that we were able to make it happen despite it. I couldn't be happier for J. He made a great shot on this big buck amidst all the excitement and put him down for the count. I'm looking very forward to the future hunts that we will share together. This was one to remember, for sure!
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