Opening weekend was a great one.
On Saturday morning I had some activity at my feeder: a pair of 1½ year old bucks (3 on one, 4 on the other), and two doe/fawn pairs. Saturday evening I had very little activity until late. I think primarily due to the fact that a farmer was plowing a portion of the wheat field adjoining my hunting spot most of the afternoon. I saw the same crew of deer from the morning. And the camo netting I thought I positioned to keep the afternoon sun off of me was not in the right place (I have the sunburn on the left side of my face to prove it).
On Sunday morning, just to try something new, I decided to try the new tripod we set up at our ‘river feeder’. At about 6:45, a large bodied 3 ½ year old 8 pt. came in, followed by a good sized 2 ½ year old 6 and a 1 ½ year old spike. They stuck around for about an hour. A raccoon joined the party and climbed up the feeder leg and was hanging on the cage when the feeder went off at 7:15. The way that feeder throws corn, that coon took a beating! He ran back to the tree just to my right and climbed up to eye level with me, about 6 feet away. We stared at each other for a bit and he climbed down and wandered away. Pigs were squealing not too far away and turkeys were gobbling and clucking. But nothing showed itself. At about 8:00, another coon came from across the field and sauntered up toward the feeder. Here she is:
By Sunday evening, all my hunting buddies had left for home and I decided I’d go ahead and hunt the river stand again since the farmer had been plowing the wheat field again all day. I got to the area at about 5:00 and the three bucks from the morning hunt were already feeding. They bolted as I arrived. Since they had already finished off most of the corn, I ran the ‘test’ spin to put more corn out and (hopefully) attract deer/hogs with the dinner bell. It didn’t work. Luckily the wind was blowing a little, so it wasn’t as hot of an evening hunt as Saturday had been.
At 6:00, I decided that I was going to climb down at 7:15 to head home (I had already packed up everything and disconnected everything at the camper). With absolutely no activity, the time was really dragging.
Then, at 6:50, the 2 ½ year old and 1 ½ year old bucks from the morning came strolling down the river road behind me. They circled around and came back out into the field. However, they were very nervous about me and stayed about 10 yards on the other side of the feeder. Even with the wind in my face, they would occasionally jerk up, stomp around and act like they were leaving. They also kept going to alert and looking off to the east.
At 7:10 they both stopped feeding and starting walking toward the east. But they weren’t leaving – they acted like a welcome party. Out came the 3 ½ year old buck from the morning. Then another 6 pt (with a real high rack), an 8 pt, a spike, another 8 pt. that looked like he could be shooter (I soon lost focus on him). And then a BIG bruiser with a black face walked out. He stopped and gave me the stink eye for about 30 seconds. The high-racked 6 pt. was now behind him and really giving me a good look. The big guy then walked right over to the feeder while all his buddies gave him a wide berth.
While he was definitely a shooter, in my mind I was thinking, “I don’t want to track a deer in the dark. I don’t want to be cleaning a deer late tonight and get home at midnight. I’ve got a long season ahead of me.” But he was nice.
I reasoned that if could draw my bow with these 8 bucks in a 10-20 yard radius from me, then I’d go ahead and take the shot.
I drew back and none of them panicked. I tried to aim and realized the loose-fitting camo face mask I was wearing was getting in the way of my peep. I re-adjusted and still none of them panicked. So I let an arrow fly. As the arrow exited him, he bolted toward the rifle stand and the other bucks scattered a bit, wondering what had just happened. He slowed down and walked a bit and then he just folded his legs under him, about 30 yards from where I hit him, and lay down like a cow, with his head still erect.
At this point, another coon wondered out from my left. I just happened to still have the arrow from my morning coon in my quiver, so I nocked it and pinned him to the ground.
At the sound of the stuck coon, all the bucks scattered and the big guy jumped up and into the woods. Tracking him wasn’t too difficult, but it was getting dark pretty quick. Let me tell you that those woods are pretty dang thick when you’re dragging a deer in the dark!
Sorry for the quality of the picture, but it was dark (truck light illumination) and I had only my iPhone to take it. The truck lights also make his face lighter than it was - his face was very dark (pretty cool looking). Very hard to get a good picture with no one else around!
It could have been a better shot - I hit him a little high as I didn't compensate for him being closer than my 20 yard pin was set for. Also, in my excitement to have drawn without spooking any of them, I shot while he was slightly quartering toward me - I could have/should have waited a bit.
We believe he is the same buck on a buddy’s game cam (the one on the right):
And, as I feared, I didn't get home until midnight.
I estimate him at 125. I'll get a more accurate measurement when I pick him up to do a euro mount.
On Saturday morning I had some activity at my feeder: a pair of 1½ year old bucks (3 on one, 4 on the other), and two doe/fawn pairs. Saturday evening I had very little activity until late. I think primarily due to the fact that a farmer was plowing a portion of the wheat field adjoining my hunting spot most of the afternoon. I saw the same crew of deer from the morning. And the camo netting I thought I positioned to keep the afternoon sun off of me was not in the right place (I have the sunburn on the left side of my face to prove it).
On Sunday morning, just to try something new, I decided to try the new tripod we set up at our ‘river feeder’. At about 6:45, a large bodied 3 ½ year old 8 pt. came in, followed by a good sized 2 ½ year old 6 and a 1 ½ year old spike. They stuck around for about an hour. A raccoon joined the party and climbed up the feeder leg and was hanging on the cage when the feeder went off at 7:15. The way that feeder throws corn, that coon took a beating! He ran back to the tree just to my right and climbed up to eye level with me, about 6 feet away. We stared at each other for a bit and he climbed down and wandered away. Pigs were squealing not too far away and turkeys were gobbling and clucking. But nothing showed itself. At about 8:00, another coon came from across the field and sauntered up toward the feeder. Here she is:
By Sunday evening, all my hunting buddies had left for home and I decided I’d go ahead and hunt the river stand again since the farmer had been plowing the wheat field again all day. I got to the area at about 5:00 and the three bucks from the morning hunt were already feeding. They bolted as I arrived. Since they had already finished off most of the corn, I ran the ‘test’ spin to put more corn out and (hopefully) attract deer/hogs with the dinner bell. It didn’t work. Luckily the wind was blowing a little, so it wasn’t as hot of an evening hunt as Saturday had been.
At 6:00, I decided that I was going to climb down at 7:15 to head home (I had already packed up everything and disconnected everything at the camper). With absolutely no activity, the time was really dragging.
Then, at 6:50, the 2 ½ year old and 1 ½ year old bucks from the morning came strolling down the river road behind me. They circled around and came back out into the field. However, they were very nervous about me and stayed about 10 yards on the other side of the feeder. Even with the wind in my face, they would occasionally jerk up, stomp around and act like they were leaving. They also kept going to alert and looking off to the east.
At 7:10 they both stopped feeding and starting walking toward the east. But they weren’t leaving – they acted like a welcome party. Out came the 3 ½ year old buck from the morning. Then another 6 pt (with a real high rack), an 8 pt, a spike, another 8 pt. that looked like he could be shooter (I soon lost focus on him). And then a BIG bruiser with a black face walked out. He stopped and gave me the stink eye for about 30 seconds. The high-racked 6 pt. was now behind him and really giving me a good look. The big guy then walked right over to the feeder while all his buddies gave him a wide berth.
While he was definitely a shooter, in my mind I was thinking, “I don’t want to track a deer in the dark. I don’t want to be cleaning a deer late tonight and get home at midnight. I’ve got a long season ahead of me.” But he was nice.
I reasoned that if could draw my bow with these 8 bucks in a 10-20 yard radius from me, then I’d go ahead and take the shot.
I drew back and none of them panicked. I tried to aim and realized the loose-fitting camo face mask I was wearing was getting in the way of my peep. I re-adjusted and still none of them panicked. So I let an arrow fly. As the arrow exited him, he bolted toward the rifle stand and the other bucks scattered a bit, wondering what had just happened. He slowed down and walked a bit and then he just folded his legs under him, about 30 yards from where I hit him, and lay down like a cow, with his head still erect.
At this point, another coon wondered out from my left. I just happened to still have the arrow from my morning coon in my quiver, so I nocked it and pinned him to the ground.
At the sound of the stuck coon, all the bucks scattered and the big guy jumped up and into the woods. Tracking him wasn’t too difficult, but it was getting dark pretty quick. Let me tell you that those woods are pretty dang thick when you’re dragging a deer in the dark!
Sorry for the quality of the picture, but it was dark (truck light illumination) and I had only my iPhone to take it. The truck lights also make his face lighter than it was - his face was very dark (pretty cool looking). Very hard to get a good picture with no one else around!
It could have been a better shot - I hit him a little high as I didn't compensate for him being closer than my 20 yard pin was set for. Also, in my excitement to have drawn without spooking any of them, I shot while he was slightly quartering toward me - I could have/should have waited a bit.
We believe he is the same buck on a buddy’s game cam (the one on the right):
And, as I feared, I didn't get home until midnight.
I estimate him at 125. I'll get a more accurate measurement when I pick him up to do a euro mount.
).
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