The cool front had us excited for this weekend’s trip down south. A friend of ours moved to Denver last year, but flew down to make the trip with us. He’s always been great help anytime we have feeders to fill, or a work weekend at the lease. After killing his first doe last year, this weekend he was rewarded with his first whitetail buck ever. Justin didn’t waste any time when Bully walked down the sendero from directly under the tower blind about 7AM yesterday morning. He made a great shot with the 6.5 bleedmore, and “Bully” didn’t go 30. We’ve watched Bully for 5 seasons now, and hoped that he would “pop” one year and become something really special, but he just never did. His best year was ‘20-‘21 when he was a 9 with a kicker off of his left g2. He was 6-7 years old and scored 124 6/8”. 
Then it was my turn…
After not being able to seal the deal on him last year, I was on the hunt for a deer we named Sponge Bob. We rattled this deer into 40 yards the first year I took over the lease, and were confident that he was 3–4 years old. He’s another one we’ve watched every year, learned his habits, and hunted hard for last year, with a bow only. Judging by previous year’s sheds, he was about 150” last year, and probably 220-230lbs. This year, he went from a main frame 9 with a kicker, to a main frame 8 with 2 dog catchers, with a brow and dog catcher broken off early.
So I was sitting at the same spot that he spends most of his time every year, pre-rut. I had 12 deer within 20-25 yards, including a couple stud up & comers. I had seen on the trail cam that Sponge Bob was there at 5:23 yesterday morning, just before I walked in. I had zero hope that he would hang around or come back. Fast forward to 7:30AM, as I’m watching all the action and getting video of the other deer, he magically appears from behind the feed pen, just like he always did. He surveys everything, walks straight to the feed pen and jumps in. As usual, he stayed on the side closest to me, with the feed pen blocking my shot. Another deer we call Triton eventually hopped in the pen, and started pushing everybody around. Sponge Bob hopped out of the back of the pen, and walked away from me to my left. That was it, he was leaving and I didn’t know if I’d get another opportunity. I ranged him at 32, 36, 39 yards, then he stops. Put my range finder down, and the next thing I know, he’s turning and walking straight towards me. He stops at my hand corn at 24 yards and starts feeding. I get my camera set up, draw back, and wait for him to enter the frame. I probably held my draw for 30-45 seconds, making sure to take my time. He was slightly quartered away, so I waited for his offside shoulder to take a step forward. As soon as it did, I touched the trigger and he was smoked! He kept forward, taking out the feed pen and a T-post. He made it out of the back of the pen and I watched his tail do the “death twitch” as he disappeared into the brush. Of course I began to shake uncontrollably, and even though I was co doesn’t in the shot, I wasn’t counting my chickens. Been there before, don’t want to do it again. I texted the boys that I smoked him, and after they got Bully loaded up they headed my way. We waited about 40 minutes after the shot before we started tracking. A 10 minute track g job felt like an hour. The blood led us to the main road/sendero that leads to the rifle blind. Michael says “watch him be dead in the middle of the road”. I didn’t pay that comment much attention, as I was focused on staying on the blood. Unbeknownst to me, Michael is taking video from behind me and says “look in the road”. There he was, perfectly in the center of the road. This wasn’t my biggest deer, but a deer that I put a lot of my own blood, sweat, & tears into. I couldn’t believe that I’d finally connected, and gave him the quick passing he deserved. He made it about 80 yards after a double lung with a Ram Cat. He was 8-9 years old, scored 132 6/8”, and weighed 198lbs. Due to my history with this deer, he earned himself a spot on my wall.
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Then it was my turn…
After not being able to seal the deal on him last year, I was on the hunt for a deer we named Sponge Bob. We rattled this deer into 40 yards the first year I took over the lease, and were confident that he was 3–4 years old. He’s another one we’ve watched every year, learned his habits, and hunted hard for last year, with a bow only. Judging by previous year’s sheds, he was about 150” last year, and probably 220-230lbs. This year, he went from a main frame 9 with a kicker, to a main frame 8 with 2 dog catchers, with a brow and dog catcher broken off early.
So I was sitting at the same spot that he spends most of his time every year, pre-rut. I had 12 deer within 20-25 yards, including a couple stud up & comers. I had seen on the trail cam that Sponge Bob was there at 5:23 yesterday morning, just before I walked in. I had zero hope that he would hang around or come back. Fast forward to 7:30AM, as I’m watching all the action and getting video of the other deer, he magically appears from behind the feed pen, just like he always did. He surveys everything, walks straight to the feed pen and jumps in. As usual, he stayed on the side closest to me, with the feed pen blocking my shot. Another deer we call Triton eventually hopped in the pen, and started pushing everybody around. Sponge Bob hopped out of the back of the pen, and walked away from me to my left. That was it, he was leaving and I didn’t know if I’d get another opportunity. I ranged him at 32, 36, 39 yards, then he stops. Put my range finder down, and the next thing I know, he’s turning and walking straight towards me. He stops at my hand corn at 24 yards and starts feeding. I get my camera set up, draw back, and wait for him to enter the frame. I probably held my draw for 30-45 seconds, making sure to take my time. He was slightly quartered away, so I waited for his offside shoulder to take a step forward. As soon as it did, I touched the trigger and he was smoked! He kept forward, taking out the feed pen and a T-post. He made it out of the back of the pen and I watched his tail do the “death twitch” as he disappeared into the brush. Of course I began to shake uncontrollably, and even though I was co doesn’t in the shot, I wasn’t counting my chickens. Been there before, don’t want to do it again. I texted the boys that I smoked him, and after they got Bully loaded up they headed my way. We waited about 40 minutes after the shot before we started tracking. A 10 minute track g job felt like an hour. The blood led us to the main road/sendero that leads to the rifle blind. Michael says “watch him be dead in the middle of the road”. I didn’t pay that comment much attention, as I was focused on staying on the blood. Unbeknownst to me, Michael is taking video from behind me and says “look in the road”. There he was, perfectly in the center of the road. This wasn’t my biggest deer, but a deer that I put a lot of my own blood, sweat, & tears into. I couldn’t believe that I’d finally connected, and gave him the quick passing he deserved. He made it about 80 yards after a double lung with a Ram Cat. He was 8-9 years old, scored 132 6/8”, and weighed 198lbs. Due to my history with this deer, he earned himself a spot on my wall.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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