I've been hunting my grandparents farm in Weaubleau, Missouri for over ten years now, took my first deer there back when I was ~14. However, I never got the chance to take a decent buck off of their property.
As the years have progressed my grandparents have gotten to the point where 100 acres is difficult to manage at an older age. Unfortunately, this along with some other health issues, has lead them to put the land up for sale early next year. Chances are this years hunt was going to be the last time I would be up there..
The rifle season up there is short, a little over a week long. I arrived last Friday(11/9) & planned to hunt from opening day, until the following Thursday (11/15) & then enjoy the thirteen hour drive home.
I'd never seen so much activity up there with bucks chasing does, unfortunately all the bucks that were tailing does were either six points or fork horns.
On Thursday evening, potentially my last hunt there, I had six does work out from some thicket to about 60 yards in front of me. This occurred with about twenty minutes of shooting light left, the whole time i was staring at the same thicket waiting for the big guy to walk out.. He never did...
With about ten minutes of shooting light left i let out a long drawn out grunt, hoping that if a buck was in the area he would show himself.. Heard some movement to my left and saw a body working out of a separate thicket... Was able to get a decent look at his antlers & decided i would take him if a shot presented itself.. I had a decent opening about 5 feet from where he stopped, but he wasn't moving forward at all.. All of a sudden he stuck his neck out a little further & presented me with a decent neck shot, dropped him in his tracks..
Trophy isn't gauged by the horns in my opinion, but memories & being able to get his guy at the final hour of what was most likely my final hunt at the farm was a memory I'll never forget..
As the years have progressed my grandparents have gotten to the point where 100 acres is difficult to manage at an older age. Unfortunately, this along with some other health issues, has lead them to put the land up for sale early next year. Chances are this years hunt was going to be the last time I would be up there..
The rifle season up there is short, a little over a week long. I arrived last Friday(11/9) & planned to hunt from opening day, until the following Thursday (11/15) & then enjoy the thirteen hour drive home.
I'd never seen so much activity up there with bucks chasing does, unfortunately all the bucks that were tailing does were either six points or fork horns.
On Thursday evening, potentially my last hunt there, I had six does work out from some thicket to about 60 yards in front of me. This occurred with about twenty minutes of shooting light left, the whole time i was staring at the same thicket waiting for the big guy to walk out.. He never did...
With about ten minutes of shooting light left i let out a long drawn out grunt, hoping that if a buck was in the area he would show himself.. Heard some movement to my left and saw a body working out of a separate thicket... Was able to get a decent look at his antlers & decided i would take him if a shot presented itself.. I had a decent opening about 5 feet from where he stopped, but he wasn't moving forward at all.. All of a sudden he stuck his neck out a little further & presented me with a decent neck shot, dropped him in his tracks..
Trophy isn't gauged by the horns in my opinion, but memories & being able to get his guy at the final hour of what was most likely my final hunt at the farm was a memory I'll never forget..
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