As we all know this season started out a little weird. Deer were not moving and the weather was not cooperating. There are three of us on our ranch and we draw each year to see who gets first choice of the deer we know, we keep 5 cameras going in the pre season. This year my soon-to-be Father-in-law got the pick, but unfortunately for me he only rife hunts. The deer he chose to go after was only seen at one of our bow blinds. I decided to go after a deer we call “Ol Man” due to his roman nose and pot belly, we are thinking he was 5+ years. The unfortunate thing for me is that “Ol Man” has only been seen from the blind gary was wanting to hunt for the big boy, so I sit tight during bow season so to not run the big guy off. By the time rifle season comes around, “Ol Man” has fallen off the face of the earth. Well I take that back, he quit showing up at the other blind and decides to start showing up at the water trough at camp – a no shoot area. I figure he will eventually make his way back to the other blind. Well opening morning comes and Gary harvested the big guy and now it is my turn to give it a shot. The first weekend comes and goes without a sign of a mature deer, the second weekend comes along and we spot a mature 10 pt at the other bow blind. My fiancé decided to go after this deer, we called him “Dually” because he was a wide deer for our area. Wouldn’t you know the lucky son of a gun goes out the next day and “Dually” steps out. There are about 20 deer that show up in this valley, we like to use a feeder on the back of the truck to feed the road, and three are mature bucks. The three buck start bowing up to each other, “Dually” decides he has had enough and starts to leave on a trail that is right at 20 yards. Wade draws and smokes him. Dually runs about 40 yards and piles up within sight of the blind. As we are cleaning him we see what a perfect shot Wade has made right thru the heart, of course I bet he cannot do it again!! Wade harvested a great 4.5 year old scoring 128 B&C.
So it is now the third weekend and I am starting to get a little fidgety, with no mature bucks showing up and a new package hunting outfit surrounding us. Saturday morning a great 10pt shows up, I decide to take him if given the opportunity. The buck work his way up the road, following a doe. The doe wanders by at 10 yards, man I am getting pumped by this time. The bucks suddenly stops about 10 steps from my shooting hole, looks around then turns and wonders back down the road, what a bummer.
Well Thanksgiving comes and goes and I am looking forward to the Friday after, always seems to be a great weekend for hunting. I get out Friday morning and before the truck is out of sight I have deer all around me. It is at that point of the morning that you can hear them, you know they are right under you but you just can’t see them. Well I catch something out of the corner of my eye, a big black blob. I think to myself man that has to be a buck, and he has a huge body on him. Once it is light enough to see he has wondered down the road a ways, it is “Ol Man”. I get my bow up so when he walks back by I can hopefully have a shot. He picks his way along the road heading toward me, then like the other buck just stops and turns around and wanders off. After 20 min I text wade to let him know that he was gone, and about that time he shows back up about 200 yards from me. He meanders towards me, checking the does here and there. By this time it is getting close to 8:15, about the time the deer start wondering off to bed down. As he gets closer a doe steps out. Of course he and the other bucks have to go check her out. He gets closer and closer, I had a few shots, but not the one I was looking for. He gets to within two steps of my shooting lane and veers into the cedars. For another 10 minutes he and the other bucks chase this doe in and around the cedars but never close enough to get a shot. He finally decides she is not ready and heads back into the road to eat some more corn. By now I am all sorts of amped up. He steps behind the last cedar before my shooting lane, I draw but am too excited to draw the stupid bow. Darn it. I try again this time I manage to get it drawn. He steps out from behind the cedar at 10 yards, I settle my pin and let my rage fly. THWACK. Perfect hit, as he runs off I can see the blood trail. He ends up piling up about 60 yards from the blind, great double lung hit. He turns out to be a 7.5 year old deer, missing half his teeth and about 40 pounds under weight. I wonder if he would have survived the winter. After all the excitement of the harvest I realize that he is a little smaller than we thought he was only 115 b&C.
This means I still have my trophy to hunt. The bad part is that there is no bow blind for my trophy hunt. A good sized 6.5 year old eight point called “Diamond head” for obvious reasons. He came in like he always does and gave me a great broadside shot at 100 yards. He scored 128 B&C with 2 points over 10.5 inches.
The funny thing is that with a perfect rifle shot (no heart left) this deer ran farther than my bow buck did. Man, what a great weekend I had!!
So it is now the third weekend and I am starting to get a little fidgety, with no mature bucks showing up and a new package hunting outfit surrounding us. Saturday morning a great 10pt shows up, I decide to take him if given the opportunity. The buck work his way up the road, following a doe. The doe wanders by at 10 yards, man I am getting pumped by this time. The bucks suddenly stops about 10 steps from my shooting hole, looks around then turns and wonders back down the road, what a bummer.
Well Thanksgiving comes and goes and I am looking forward to the Friday after, always seems to be a great weekend for hunting. I get out Friday morning and before the truck is out of sight I have deer all around me. It is at that point of the morning that you can hear them, you know they are right under you but you just can’t see them. Well I catch something out of the corner of my eye, a big black blob. I think to myself man that has to be a buck, and he has a huge body on him. Once it is light enough to see he has wondered down the road a ways, it is “Ol Man”. I get my bow up so when he walks back by I can hopefully have a shot. He picks his way along the road heading toward me, then like the other buck just stops and turns around and wanders off. After 20 min I text wade to let him know that he was gone, and about that time he shows back up about 200 yards from me. He meanders towards me, checking the does here and there. By this time it is getting close to 8:15, about the time the deer start wondering off to bed down. As he gets closer a doe steps out. Of course he and the other bucks have to go check her out. He gets closer and closer, I had a few shots, but not the one I was looking for. He gets to within two steps of my shooting lane and veers into the cedars. For another 10 minutes he and the other bucks chase this doe in and around the cedars but never close enough to get a shot. He finally decides she is not ready and heads back into the road to eat some more corn. By now I am all sorts of amped up. He steps behind the last cedar before my shooting lane, I draw but am too excited to draw the stupid bow. Darn it. I try again this time I manage to get it drawn. He steps out from behind the cedar at 10 yards, I settle my pin and let my rage fly. THWACK. Perfect hit, as he runs off I can see the blood trail. He ends up piling up about 60 yards from the blind, great double lung hit. He turns out to be a 7.5 year old deer, missing half his teeth and about 40 pounds under weight. I wonder if he would have survived the winter. After all the excitement of the harvest I realize that he is a little smaller than we thought he was only 115 b&C. This means I still have my trophy to hunt. The bad part is that there is no bow blind for my trophy hunt. A good sized 6.5 year old eight point called “Diamond head” for obvious reasons. He came in like he always does and gave me a great broadside shot at 100 yards. He scored 128 B&C with 2 points over 10.5 inches.
The funny thing is that with a perfect rifle shot (no heart left) this deer ran farther than my bow buck did. Man, what a great weekend I had!!
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