Thursday, November 30
I have a lot of days that I need to take off otherwise I am going to just lose them. I know, nice problem to have. Anyway, I decided that I was going to take off Friday and Monday in order to hunt a long 4 day weekend. I made this decision knowing that last weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) we saw and rattled up a bunch of young bucks but only saw 1 mature buck. I figured that maybe in the next 4-7 days the real rut would be going hard. Boy did I ever guess right. I left work on Thursday as soon as I could and headed to the ranch. I pulled up to the house, unloaded, changed and was in the mule headed to my best scouting spot (didn't want to try and sneak into one of my bow blinds this late in the day). I decided to take the so long way around and on the drive I saw a mature buck at my FIL feeder. That buck had 5 on the right side but I couldn't tell much about his left side. I continued on the the spot I park and quickly walk into where I was going to setup. I had been there 30 minutes when I heard deer coming through the brush. I looked to my left and here comes a doe at full speed followed closely by a big buck. He was a definite shooter, 11 pts with a forked G3 on the right. I guessed him at upper 130's to low 140. Too bad I couldn't shoot him (my BIL, who owns the ranch asked me not to shot a wall hanger this year. I was on cull buck patrol for the year). I saw this buck several times that evening. That was 2 mature buck sightings in 45 minutes. I just knew that the next morning had a chance to be special.
December 1
I got up early, showered, dressed, grab my bow and headed out to the Bobcat stand. This is my favorite stand for big bucks. I got there, put out some doe in estrous and some extra corn and got in the ground blind to wait for daylight. Fifteen minutes later, I had a doe under the feeder and a 3.5 year old 8 pt on the edge of the clearing just staring at her. Over the next 45 minutes, he ran off several other bucks while the doe fed. By 8:30, the action slowed down and I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen this morning. All of a sudden, I saw movement back in the brush 75 yards past the feeder. I knew immediately it was a big buck (it is always good to see a big buck even if he is off limits to you). Coming through the brush, I could only catch glimpses of one side of his rack and it had 5 good points. Finally, at about 50 yards, he turned his head and I saw he had nothing but a big fork on his left side. He was a huge cull buck. I went into shooting mode. The closer he came I was thinking about what I could do if he decided not to come get a bite to eat. Luck was with me because as he cleared the last bush he turned and walked right into the feeder perfectly broadside. Immediately I drew and settled my 20 yard pin just a couple of inches high, tight to his shoulder. When the arrow struck him, he jumped straight up and turned in midair 90 degrees. It looked like the arrow penetrated behind the shoulder and struck the opposite shoulder. As he took off, I made a mental note of the direction he went and watched him circle back to the south before I lost sight of him. After waiting 30 minutes, I was out of the blind and looking for the blood trail. I found blood immediately and had a good trail for the first 30 yards or then I lost it. I looked for 10 -15 minutes and still couldn’t find any blood. I knew the general direction he ran so I carefully headed in that direction. 30 yards later, I found some blood and it was easy to follow for the next 30 yard and I lost it again. I am usually better than this on a blood trail. I am starting to get frustrated now but as I scan in front of me, I catch a glimpse of horns above the broomweeds. My buck was dead, lying just like he was in his bed with legs tucked under his body. He was the perfect mature cull buck, 5 on one side and the big fork on the other. His good sided scored 63 5/8. If his other side matched, he would be a 140 class deer, which is great for this ranch. I am very satisfied with this buck. It was a definite challenge to find and shoot a mature cull buck.
Note: Not sure why the blood trail was so hard for me to follow. As the picture shows, the Rage Hypodermic really opened him up. Broomweeds make it hard for me to see the blood.
I have a lot of days that I need to take off otherwise I am going to just lose them. I know, nice problem to have. Anyway, I decided that I was going to take off Friday and Monday in order to hunt a long 4 day weekend. I made this decision knowing that last weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) we saw and rattled up a bunch of young bucks but only saw 1 mature buck. I figured that maybe in the next 4-7 days the real rut would be going hard. Boy did I ever guess right. I left work on Thursday as soon as I could and headed to the ranch. I pulled up to the house, unloaded, changed and was in the mule headed to my best scouting spot (didn't want to try and sneak into one of my bow blinds this late in the day). I decided to take the so long way around and on the drive I saw a mature buck at my FIL feeder. That buck had 5 on the right side but I couldn't tell much about his left side. I continued on the the spot I park and quickly walk into where I was going to setup. I had been there 30 minutes when I heard deer coming through the brush. I looked to my left and here comes a doe at full speed followed closely by a big buck. He was a definite shooter, 11 pts with a forked G3 on the right. I guessed him at upper 130's to low 140. Too bad I couldn't shoot him (my BIL, who owns the ranch asked me not to shot a wall hanger this year. I was on cull buck patrol for the year). I saw this buck several times that evening. That was 2 mature buck sightings in 45 minutes. I just knew that the next morning had a chance to be special.
December 1
I got up early, showered, dressed, grab my bow and headed out to the Bobcat stand. This is my favorite stand for big bucks. I got there, put out some doe in estrous and some extra corn and got in the ground blind to wait for daylight. Fifteen minutes later, I had a doe under the feeder and a 3.5 year old 8 pt on the edge of the clearing just staring at her. Over the next 45 minutes, he ran off several other bucks while the doe fed. By 8:30, the action slowed down and I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen this morning. All of a sudden, I saw movement back in the brush 75 yards past the feeder. I knew immediately it was a big buck (it is always good to see a big buck even if he is off limits to you). Coming through the brush, I could only catch glimpses of one side of his rack and it had 5 good points. Finally, at about 50 yards, he turned his head and I saw he had nothing but a big fork on his left side. He was a huge cull buck. I went into shooting mode. The closer he came I was thinking about what I could do if he decided not to come get a bite to eat. Luck was with me because as he cleared the last bush he turned and walked right into the feeder perfectly broadside. Immediately I drew and settled my 20 yard pin just a couple of inches high, tight to his shoulder. When the arrow struck him, he jumped straight up and turned in midair 90 degrees. It looked like the arrow penetrated behind the shoulder and struck the opposite shoulder. As he took off, I made a mental note of the direction he went and watched him circle back to the south before I lost sight of him. After waiting 30 minutes, I was out of the blind and looking for the blood trail. I found blood immediately and had a good trail for the first 30 yards or then I lost it. I looked for 10 -15 minutes and still couldn’t find any blood. I knew the general direction he ran so I carefully headed in that direction. 30 yards later, I found some blood and it was easy to follow for the next 30 yard and I lost it again. I am usually better than this on a blood trail. I am starting to get frustrated now but as I scan in front of me, I catch a glimpse of horns above the broomweeds. My buck was dead, lying just like he was in his bed with legs tucked under his body. He was the perfect mature cull buck, 5 on one side and the big fork on the other. His good sided scored 63 5/8. If his other side matched, he would be a 140 class deer, which is great for this ranch. I am very satisfied with this buck. It was a definite challenge to find and shoot a mature cull buck.
Note: Not sure why the blood trail was so hard for me to follow. As the picture shows, the Rage Hypodermic really opened him up. Broomweeds make it hard for me to see the blood.
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