I got a call in the summer of 2017 from my buddy William Oliver asking if I wanted to get on a lease in Cherokee Co. Open stands, all buddies, state regs only, no BS... I’m somewhat of a “trophy hunter” and happen to actually LIKE rules on a deer lease. I think they keep people from arguing. I was kind of skeptical but have a wife that likes to hunt and 2 kids that will in the next couple of years. I figured it’s $500, what the hell...
I didn’t spend a ton of time there last year but I was there enough to realize there were some pretty good deer on this place. I saw several shooter bucks by my standards, had multiple close calls, but never killed a deer there.
This year I decided I’d get a little more serious about it. I ran several cameras, did some leg work, started putting together some of the puzzle pieces and was pretty dang excited about the 2018/19 deer season... Until we started getting pictures... Or NOT getting pictures. If you dropped a kernel of corn on the ground a hog was on it. Feeders... HA! Forget about that! Acorns were raining and that actually doesn’t bother me a but. I’m an OG National Forest hand and enjoy a good acorn crop. I got my money’s worth this year!
I picked a bow stand along the river and the very first hunt I shot a doe. Long story short, when I found her the hogs had beat me to her and there was nothing left to recover. Fast forward a week and I did some outside the box thinking to try and get a shot at a nice 9pt that had outsmarted everyone on the lease the year before. The day before I left to go to work for a month I got an opportunity at him... 2 opportunities actually. He jumped in a feed pen and in spite of me telling myself I wouldn’t, I tried to shoot him through the feed pen. It resulted in me dead centering the top strand of the pen, blowing my arrow into 64 pieces and watching a P&Y deer bound away. He stopped at 45yds, I rolled my pin up, anchored, and based on the arrow hit him exactly where I was aiming only to find a broken arrow, 1 spot of blood, and no deer. 4 days later he showed back up on camera and revealed that he’d turned to run and I actually hit him in the face. He is still alive and well now.
Saturday night I rolled back into town excited about the weather coming up. I made my first hunt Sunday evening and saw several deer but wasn’t crazy about how the stand was situated. Mid day Monday I moved it about 150yds to the west and made a sit. I couldn’t see nearly as much ground, but I could see the RIGHT ground. About an hour before dark I had a great deer come up out of the creek bottom and get across my shooting lane before I could get a shot. I saw enough of him through the binos to know he was a dang good one!
So this morning I find myself running later than I like and sneaking into the stand as it’s breaking daylight. Ot was COLD and the wind was cutting like a Case knife! I hadn’t been there long and a doe comes blowing up out of the creek with a really nice 3yo 7pt behind her. I was trying to get a better look at him and trying to decide if I wanted to shoot him when a young 6pt I see every hunt ran out from the east and pushed them away from me. 15 min later I see the doe hauling the mail across the field to the west. I threw my rifle out the window and waited for the buck to follow. I watched him through scope for a few moments, clicked the safety off, and finally talked myself out of it. To be real honest, if he’d stopped and posed for me I probably would have killed him, but he gave me enough time to talk myself out of it.
I sat there for an hour or so with not much happening other than the young 6 taking up the trail the doe and 7 had gone. I found myself thinking about the possibility that “Ol Big” could cut her trail the same way and give me a shot. As I’m sitting there day dreaming about that, I look back to the west and see a buck. I can’t tell anything about him other than he’s a mature buck. I pick up my binos and QUICKLY got rid of them and grabbed my rifle! I really didn’t study him much, I just ran through my normal check list... “Mature? check, framey? check... That’s enough for me!” He was facing straight at me, but that .280 don’t care much about bone or angles. Knowing the rut is on and I don’t have much time I centered up on his throat and let him have it!
When I recovered from the recoil I caught him going going down in the scope and he looked pretty dang big! I gave him a few min and headed that way. I was probably still 150yds away when I noticed his beam sticking up above the grass. That is NEVER a bad sign! At that moment I got the shakes for the first time. Every step he seemed to get bigger! When I got my hands on him I was blown away at his frame! I have been very blessed and have taken some very nice deer. Several that score higher this one, but his frame and character just blew me away.
It never gets old. I never get tired of the rush. A rough season up until now was quickly turned around He’s a 9pt with a 2.5” G4 and a broken brow. I rough scored him this evening at 137 7/8. He could easily be 2-3” either way of that. I’ll get beater measurements tomorrow, but the numbers don’t make the deer. He’s impressive to look at and I’ll shoot one just like him every chance I get for as long as I live!
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I didn’t spend a ton of time there last year but I was there enough to realize there were some pretty good deer on this place. I saw several shooter bucks by my standards, had multiple close calls, but never killed a deer there.
This year I decided I’d get a little more serious about it. I ran several cameras, did some leg work, started putting together some of the puzzle pieces and was pretty dang excited about the 2018/19 deer season... Until we started getting pictures... Or NOT getting pictures. If you dropped a kernel of corn on the ground a hog was on it. Feeders... HA! Forget about that! Acorns were raining and that actually doesn’t bother me a but. I’m an OG National Forest hand and enjoy a good acorn crop. I got my money’s worth this year!
I picked a bow stand along the river and the very first hunt I shot a doe. Long story short, when I found her the hogs had beat me to her and there was nothing left to recover. Fast forward a week and I did some outside the box thinking to try and get a shot at a nice 9pt that had outsmarted everyone on the lease the year before. The day before I left to go to work for a month I got an opportunity at him... 2 opportunities actually. He jumped in a feed pen and in spite of me telling myself I wouldn’t, I tried to shoot him through the feed pen. It resulted in me dead centering the top strand of the pen, blowing my arrow into 64 pieces and watching a P&Y deer bound away. He stopped at 45yds, I rolled my pin up, anchored, and based on the arrow hit him exactly where I was aiming only to find a broken arrow, 1 spot of blood, and no deer. 4 days later he showed back up on camera and revealed that he’d turned to run and I actually hit him in the face. He is still alive and well now.
Saturday night I rolled back into town excited about the weather coming up. I made my first hunt Sunday evening and saw several deer but wasn’t crazy about how the stand was situated. Mid day Monday I moved it about 150yds to the west and made a sit. I couldn’t see nearly as much ground, but I could see the RIGHT ground. About an hour before dark I had a great deer come up out of the creek bottom and get across my shooting lane before I could get a shot. I saw enough of him through the binos to know he was a dang good one!
So this morning I find myself running later than I like and sneaking into the stand as it’s breaking daylight. Ot was COLD and the wind was cutting like a Case knife! I hadn’t been there long and a doe comes blowing up out of the creek with a really nice 3yo 7pt behind her. I was trying to get a better look at him and trying to decide if I wanted to shoot him when a young 6pt I see every hunt ran out from the east and pushed them away from me. 15 min later I see the doe hauling the mail across the field to the west. I threw my rifle out the window and waited for the buck to follow. I watched him through scope for a few moments, clicked the safety off, and finally talked myself out of it. To be real honest, if he’d stopped and posed for me I probably would have killed him, but he gave me enough time to talk myself out of it.
I sat there for an hour or so with not much happening other than the young 6 taking up the trail the doe and 7 had gone. I found myself thinking about the possibility that “Ol Big” could cut her trail the same way and give me a shot. As I’m sitting there day dreaming about that, I look back to the west and see a buck. I can’t tell anything about him other than he’s a mature buck. I pick up my binos and QUICKLY got rid of them and grabbed my rifle! I really didn’t study him much, I just ran through my normal check list... “Mature? check, framey? check... That’s enough for me!” He was facing straight at me, but that .280 don’t care much about bone or angles. Knowing the rut is on and I don’t have much time I centered up on his throat and let him have it!
When I recovered from the recoil I caught him going going down in the scope and he looked pretty dang big! I gave him a few min and headed that way. I was probably still 150yds away when I noticed his beam sticking up above the grass. That is NEVER a bad sign! At that moment I got the shakes for the first time. Every step he seemed to get bigger! When I got my hands on him I was blown away at his frame! I have been very blessed and have taken some very nice deer. Several that score higher this one, but his frame and character just blew me away.
It never gets old. I never get tired of the rush. A rough season up until now was quickly turned around He’s a 9pt with a 2.5” G4 and a broken brow. I rough scored him this evening at 137 7/8. He could easily be 2-3” either way of that. I’ll get beater measurements tomorrow, but the numbers don’t make the deer. He’s impressive to look at and I’ll shoot one just like him every chance I get for as long as I live!
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