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Big 8-Point Goes Down!

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    Big 8-Point Goes Down!

    He's not a Texas buck, he's from my now home state of Ohio, but I thought ya'll might be interested to see him just the same!

    Last evening I was set up in a staging area that I've been learning better how to hunt this season. I was hunting at the edge where several habitats come together and all feed into a big oak hillside where the deer have been eating acorns before heading out to the fields for the night. This was the 6th time I've hunted it since season opened. I've seen bucks every time I've hunted there - no less than 2, and several times as many as 7-8, including several shooters. Yesterday I felt very confident that I had their pattern "down", and the last two times I'd hunted there I saw a nice non-typical buck but couldn't get a shot at him either time, even though one of the times he ran right under my stand chasing a doe! I told my wife that I felt so confident about what might transpire last evening that I was taking my tripod out with me - to take pictures after the kill Well, I guess I've said that so many times that it had to work at least once, right?:biggrin:

    I thought I would get in there "early" (3 pm) but when I got there I spooked a buck that was already there munching on acorns. I got set up in my tree and waited. Through the course of the evening I saw 3-4 does and a young 8-point. I kept watching for the non-typical buck again, since I saw him the last two times I hunted this spot. About 6 p.m. I decided to do a little rattling. Since it's getting on into the pre-rut pretty good, I did a pretty good session, nice and loud, for about 1 minute. Ten minutes later I still hadn't seen any reaction. A few minutes later, though, I noticed movement in the exact spot the NT came from a few days ago, so I figured it was him - but it wasn't. By the way, whether the buck was coming to my rattling, or just coming anyway, I can't say. I'd like to think it was because of my rattling, but who knows

    Well, he walks out of this overgrown grass field into the woods and immediately starts rubbing saplings in his way. Then he does the wrong thing - he starts angling away from me. Pretty soon, though, he started angling back my way. He beat up on a few more trees and then went right to a scrape, gave it about 5 good swings of the hoof, played with the licking branch, and then started coming closer to me still. At this point he was about 25-30 yards, but was walking through a bit of brush. Shortly before he got into the open, he stopped to work another scrape that I didn't even know was there. Then he continued my direction. As he went behind a big tree, I went and drew my bow, and when he came out the other side he was in the clear, quartering just slightly towards me, and a measly 12 yards away. I bleated at him and he stopped. I put my pin about 6 inches above his belly line, right above his leg, and let it fly. I saw the arrow hit right where I was aiming and disappear. He did a little jump forward, and then half-jumped, half-hopped up the hill. He was favoring his front end a little, but other than that didn't appear to be mortally wounded. He went about 100 yards and still wasn't swaying or anything. When he walked out of my sight and still hadn't fallen, I was starting to get a little worried. I played the shot back in my head and wondered if maybe I had shot too low and hit only brisket. I climbed down to the ground and found the arrow covered in blood with air bubbles in it, so I had my fingers crossed that it was a lung shot. Well, over the next 100 yards I followed an increasingly heavy trail, and then I saw him, laying down, dead. He must have just lay down and died, because I never heard a crash or anything like that. He had gone about 100 yards, total.

    He's not the biggest buck in the woods, but I'm very happy with him. My wife is due with a baby in about 3 weeks, and I determined this year to shoot the first good buck I had a chance at and hopefully be done before the baby came. This buck is also special to me because I've been watching him since mid-summer. I watched him come out and feed in a clover field practically every evening for several weeks in the summer, and I also got some trail camera pictures of during that time. Early fall he disappeared from view, but I still got many trail camera photos of him coming to my food plots. I ended up killing him about 600 yards through the woods from where I've been watching him for several months. Several months ago I gave him the nickname of "tall 8". Can you guess why?

    We weighed him at the taxidermist this morning and he was right at 200 lbs., field-dressed.

    I shot him with GoldTip 55/75 arrows from my Diamond Machete bow, using Wasp SST Hammer 3-blade 100 gr. broadheads.

    Here's a few pictures of him last night, and one from this morning, miscellaneous shots, plus pictures I've gotten of him the last several months.

    ashridge










    the whole bloodtrail looked like this


    my kids were very happy with him










    #2
    that is one heck of a buck GOOD JOB!!

    I nominate for a VE

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      #3
      Breat buck Joshua, every time I seeone of those northern bucks it makes me want to make a road trip.

      Congrats.

      Jay

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        #4
        Congrats Joshua! That's a pretty buck.

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          #5
          Great buck and great story!

          What part of Ohio were you hunting in? Tejashunter is planning a trip up there in a week or two. He's hunting in south Ohio.

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            #6
            Thats one nice buck congrats.

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              #7
              Nice Buck

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                #8
                Very nice buck.

                I nominate this for a VE

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                  #9
                  I knew it was just a matter of time before you posted an old bruiser from up there. Nice deer, Joshua!

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                    #10
                    Oh, and nice looking family as well.

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                      #11
                      Awesome - congratulations!

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                        #12
                        great read and congrats on a nice 8pt

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                          #13
                          Congrats, Joshua! Very nice buck!

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                            #14
                            Congrats on a beautiful 8 point Josh,way to go

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                              #15
                              Outstanding buck! Congrats.

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