2018 started with a bang with my 17 year old son and I killing it in Kansas during his spring break shed hunting, part of my preparation for the upcoming 2018 Kansas season. When June rolled around I was crushed when I found out that I was "unsuccessful" for the 2018 Kansas draw, my first time to be denied in 10 years of putting in. Once I accepted the fact that I couldn't hunt Kansas, I started immediately planning to hunt Nebraska. I made a few contacts to people that I've known in the area and was able to secure a few small pieces of private ground to hunt in addition to walk in that i would hunt. Never having set foot on this ground I knew I was in for a challenge to punch my tag. Plans were made to be in Nebraska the 27th of October up until November 10, when the Nebraska rifle season opened.
Fast forward to Oct 27th, I took 4 days to get set up on 4 different properties, 2 walk ins and 2 small private pieces. Yeah I take a lot of time getting things right, i know. I started running cameras over scrapes and was able to locate a stud i wanted on one of the small private pieces. Through all of this was a lot of frustration for me for several reasons. Nebraska has very little walkin ground, which I prefer to the wma's. The problem was each walking piece i would get exited about I would find multiple stands in the best spots that were clearly, to me at least, stands hung by residents that had been there for in some cases years. I couldn't hang in those spots I so badly wanted to hunt because of the "golden rule", so I had to settle for less than desirable spots. On the two private pieces I was told one thing and ended up finding myself caught in the middle of access disputes between others who also had access. As frustrating as this was i didn't back down and worked out plan with the other hunters and owners so that we could all use the properties. This happened over the course of the first week there and I found my head spinning with frustration and anger towards the situation I found myself in. I was reeling and losing focus big time. I had basically one set of pics from halloween morning at 530 am of a stud to keep me going, the only deer that I wanted. On November 4th the frustration that set in was overcoming my desire to kill this buck. I contemplated packing up and heading to the house. On the morning of the 4th I was driving to the one of the two shared access private ground properties I had, the one with the big deer I wanted. On the drive over I was stewing and just not in the right frame of mind and actually planning my exit. I decided for the first time in all my miles burning up the road in Nebraska to turn on the radio and the song that was on was I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty. This song set off a wave of emotion in me to quit crying and get it done. It inspired and motivated me to the point where I was angry with myself for how I had let things out of my control get me so far off track. I was now back on track.
With the right frame of mind I took the skunk that morning on the chin and kept my focus. The next day, the 5th of November, still no shooters on one of the other properties. I laid out a plan that night exactly what trees I would be in for the remaining 4 days I had. The 6th I would be back in my newly moved stand in the bottom of a pinch down wind of a bedding area, perfect for cruising bucks. Hopefully my target buck would do what I think he should. Wind was right on the morning of the 6th to go after the buck i now call the Tom Petty buck. I got set up and the morning was a crisp 29 degrees with a mild nw breeze at 5mph. Perfect conditions for my set. At 645 I I did a few blind grunts to see i could get the attention of any bucks that maybe cruising the nearby bedding area. At 647 I look up and see a buck working a scrape at 50 yds and quickly realize it's my target buck and he's gonna come into the pinch. I get ready for action and turn on the video camera. He works his way down and gets to 20 yds and needs to go right or left to give me the chance I need. He stands there for 2 minutes staring me down and checking the wind before deciding to go left. He finally gets broadside in the far edge of my shooting lane and I draw. He freezes and I let him have it. Shot looked good and he was hit hard. I had lung blood but backed out to watch footage and to get a plan for recovery. I called Chad who decided to make the drive about 30 miles north from where he was hunting in Kansas to help with the recovery. After reviewing footage we felt confident he was down not far. We went in and found him pretty quick, double lung and liver the buck made it about 175 yds. Chad found him and we celebrated like little kids. On the ground he grew despite breaking off 11 inches of tines (4.5 inch brow, 4 inch flier off the same brow and 2.5 inches of his rt main beam). Latest pics I had of him were from nov 4 and his rack was fully intact then. Even after getting broke up the day before harvest he still grossed 163". Nebraska was tough but thanks to Tom Petty (God rest his soul) i was inspired to stay with it and grind to the bitter end. It doesn't always pay off but this time it did. Thanks to Chad and my buddy Ryan from Michigan for coming up to share in the celebration. To those of you in Kansas or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter, it can be tough for us Texas boys who come up for a couple of weeks to try to get it done. No matter how bad your head is spinning with second guesses trust your instincts and keep on grinding. Don't ever back down.
*By the way this is my first kill on video. It's pretty cool footage that gets your heart pounding watching this buck work his nose knowing something is not right.
Fast forward to Oct 27th, I took 4 days to get set up on 4 different properties, 2 walk ins and 2 small private pieces. Yeah I take a lot of time getting things right, i know. I started running cameras over scrapes and was able to locate a stud i wanted on one of the small private pieces. Through all of this was a lot of frustration for me for several reasons. Nebraska has very little walkin ground, which I prefer to the wma's. The problem was each walking piece i would get exited about I would find multiple stands in the best spots that were clearly, to me at least, stands hung by residents that had been there for in some cases years. I couldn't hang in those spots I so badly wanted to hunt because of the "golden rule", so I had to settle for less than desirable spots. On the two private pieces I was told one thing and ended up finding myself caught in the middle of access disputes between others who also had access. As frustrating as this was i didn't back down and worked out plan with the other hunters and owners so that we could all use the properties. This happened over the course of the first week there and I found my head spinning with frustration and anger towards the situation I found myself in. I was reeling and losing focus big time. I had basically one set of pics from halloween morning at 530 am of a stud to keep me going, the only deer that I wanted. On November 4th the frustration that set in was overcoming my desire to kill this buck. I contemplated packing up and heading to the house. On the morning of the 4th I was driving to the one of the two shared access private ground properties I had, the one with the big deer I wanted. On the drive over I was stewing and just not in the right frame of mind and actually planning my exit. I decided for the first time in all my miles burning up the road in Nebraska to turn on the radio and the song that was on was I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty. This song set off a wave of emotion in me to quit crying and get it done. It inspired and motivated me to the point where I was angry with myself for how I had let things out of my control get me so far off track. I was now back on track.
With the right frame of mind I took the skunk that morning on the chin and kept my focus. The next day, the 5th of November, still no shooters on one of the other properties. I laid out a plan that night exactly what trees I would be in for the remaining 4 days I had. The 6th I would be back in my newly moved stand in the bottom of a pinch down wind of a bedding area, perfect for cruising bucks. Hopefully my target buck would do what I think he should. Wind was right on the morning of the 6th to go after the buck i now call the Tom Petty buck. I got set up and the morning was a crisp 29 degrees with a mild nw breeze at 5mph. Perfect conditions for my set. At 645 I I did a few blind grunts to see i could get the attention of any bucks that maybe cruising the nearby bedding area. At 647 I look up and see a buck working a scrape at 50 yds and quickly realize it's my target buck and he's gonna come into the pinch. I get ready for action and turn on the video camera. He works his way down and gets to 20 yds and needs to go right or left to give me the chance I need. He stands there for 2 minutes staring me down and checking the wind before deciding to go left. He finally gets broadside in the far edge of my shooting lane and I draw. He freezes and I let him have it. Shot looked good and he was hit hard. I had lung blood but backed out to watch footage and to get a plan for recovery. I called Chad who decided to make the drive about 30 miles north from where he was hunting in Kansas to help with the recovery. After reviewing footage we felt confident he was down not far. We went in and found him pretty quick, double lung and liver the buck made it about 175 yds. Chad found him and we celebrated like little kids. On the ground he grew despite breaking off 11 inches of tines (4.5 inch brow, 4 inch flier off the same brow and 2.5 inches of his rt main beam). Latest pics I had of him were from nov 4 and his rack was fully intact then. Even after getting broke up the day before harvest he still grossed 163". Nebraska was tough but thanks to Tom Petty (God rest his soul) i was inspired to stay with it and grind to the bitter end. It doesn't always pay off but this time it did. Thanks to Chad and my buddy Ryan from Michigan for coming up to share in the celebration. To those of you in Kansas or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter, it can be tough for us Texas boys who come up for a couple of weeks to try to get it done. No matter how bad your head is spinning with second guesses trust your instincts and keep on grinding. Don't ever back down.
*By the way this is my first kill on video. It's pretty cool footage that gets your heart pounding watching this buck work his nose knowing something is not right.
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