It’s taken me a month to share my Missouri hunt, too many irons in the fire. My nephew invited me on a week long hunting trip to Missouri, the last week of October through November 4th, with him and a couple friends. I was a little concerned about the Outfitter he chose, but the price was right, so what the heck.
After several months practice and way too many camo and gear purchases, we made the 12 hour drive to NW Missouri. There was some communication problems with the Outfitter, but we eventually got the location and maps of our hunting areas.
We started our scouting day with several inches of rain. The deer sign was everywhere and I managed to spot 1 shooter buck at about 500 yards feeding in a soybean field. I set up a tent for a rainy morning hunt overlooking a soybean field and put out my cell cam.
The next day was a washout, no deer movement for any of us. I threw my lock-on up near a creek, on what looked like a good travel corridor. I was right at the junction of timber between two soybean fields and a creek. It had to be a good spot, Lol. I had several does come by on the second day of the hunt, but nothing else. On top of the slow deer movement, those dang Astros just kept losing.
Over the next several days the temps dropped and the rutting activity picked up. All small bucks for me, but a couple shooters were seen. I was running late to my spot on November 2nd, I decided to set in the tent I put up on the first day. I hadn’t seen any fresh sign in the area and my cell cam only picked up one doe. I wasn’t very confident in the location, but decided it would be better than blowing out my other spot. The fog was extremely thick that morning and I might have dozed off a few times. Out of nowhere I see a big deer at 80 yards heading away from me. I couldn’t make out how many points he had, but the amount of mass was enough for me. In my frustration at being late, I had forgotten to get my grunt call and rattling horns out and ready. It was a mad scramble to get them out and try a grunt at this big boy. He never checked up. Nothing worked to turn him. I was kicking myself for the next 30 minutes for blowing my chance. Then in the same spot another big bodied deer walks out. He was a nice 8 point. He took the same trail as the bigger buck. I was able to grunt him into 25 yards, but he never gave me a shot. He caught my wind and slipped out on the same trail as the other buck.
I decided that I was gonna be up a tree near that trail for the afternoon hunt. I took down my lock-on and scouted the area the bucks had went. They dropped off the bean field into a deep draw that went down to a slough. I got back early that evening to get my stand set up. I found a nice oak that was on the point of the slough and the draw the morning bucks went into. It took me way too long to get set up, but finally I was setting in the stand at 3:15. I had forgotten the hangers for my bow and backpack. So after some redneck engineering, I nocked an arrow at 3:30.
Ten minutes later I looked up and saw a big 8 point walking down the slough at about 70 yards from me. The wind was perfect and the trail he was on went right by me at 30 yards. He milled around checking a scrape at about 50 yards, for what seemed like forever. Finally he started down the trail again. I was able stop him at 30 yards and let one fly. The hit was high. The Grizzly stic broadhead broke right through the spine and was sticking out about 18 inches on the other side. He hit the ground and a follow up arrow finished him off. I was very disappointed in my first shot, but was so excited to have a deer on the ground.
I knew this deer was large, but I was unprepared for just how big his body was. I struggled to drag this sucker off the trail to gut him. I didn’t weigh him or get near enough pictures, need to add a camera tripod to my gear list. The pack out was pretty rough, up and down a very muddy hill for 1000 yards. I will defiantly be in better shape for next time.
It wasn’t till I got back to camp that I realized, this was my biggest bow buck. He scored 133. The amount of fat on this guy was crazy. He looked like a pig, all that soybean and corn really packed it on. The other guys saw a few more shooters, but they weren’t able to get any shots. Overall it was a good trip. I defiantly enjoyed getting to hunt somewhere new. Time to start getting in better shape for next year. LOL
After several months practice and way too many camo and gear purchases, we made the 12 hour drive to NW Missouri. There was some communication problems with the Outfitter, but we eventually got the location and maps of our hunting areas.
We started our scouting day with several inches of rain. The deer sign was everywhere and I managed to spot 1 shooter buck at about 500 yards feeding in a soybean field. I set up a tent for a rainy morning hunt overlooking a soybean field and put out my cell cam.
The next day was a washout, no deer movement for any of us. I threw my lock-on up near a creek, on what looked like a good travel corridor. I was right at the junction of timber between two soybean fields and a creek. It had to be a good spot, Lol. I had several does come by on the second day of the hunt, but nothing else. On top of the slow deer movement, those dang Astros just kept losing.
Over the next several days the temps dropped and the rutting activity picked up. All small bucks for me, but a couple shooters were seen. I was running late to my spot on November 2nd, I decided to set in the tent I put up on the first day. I hadn’t seen any fresh sign in the area and my cell cam only picked up one doe. I wasn’t very confident in the location, but decided it would be better than blowing out my other spot. The fog was extremely thick that morning and I might have dozed off a few times. Out of nowhere I see a big deer at 80 yards heading away from me. I couldn’t make out how many points he had, but the amount of mass was enough for me. In my frustration at being late, I had forgotten to get my grunt call and rattling horns out and ready. It was a mad scramble to get them out and try a grunt at this big boy. He never checked up. Nothing worked to turn him. I was kicking myself for the next 30 minutes for blowing my chance. Then in the same spot another big bodied deer walks out. He was a nice 8 point. He took the same trail as the bigger buck. I was able to grunt him into 25 yards, but he never gave me a shot. He caught my wind and slipped out on the same trail as the other buck.
I decided that I was gonna be up a tree near that trail for the afternoon hunt. I took down my lock-on and scouted the area the bucks had went. They dropped off the bean field into a deep draw that went down to a slough. I got back early that evening to get my stand set up. I found a nice oak that was on the point of the slough and the draw the morning bucks went into. It took me way too long to get set up, but finally I was setting in the stand at 3:15. I had forgotten the hangers for my bow and backpack. So after some redneck engineering, I nocked an arrow at 3:30.
Ten minutes later I looked up and saw a big 8 point walking down the slough at about 70 yards from me. The wind was perfect and the trail he was on went right by me at 30 yards. He milled around checking a scrape at about 50 yards, for what seemed like forever. Finally he started down the trail again. I was able stop him at 30 yards and let one fly. The hit was high. The Grizzly stic broadhead broke right through the spine and was sticking out about 18 inches on the other side. He hit the ground and a follow up arrow finished him off. I was very disappointed in my first shot, but was so excited to have a deer on the ground.
I knew this deer was large, but I was unprepared for just how big his body was. I struggled to drag this sucker off the trail to gut him. I didn’t weigh him or get near enough pictures, need to add a camera tripod to my gear list. The pack out was pretty rough, up and down a very muddy hill for 1000 yards. I will defiantly be in better shape for next time.
It wasn’t till I got back to camp that I realized, this was my biggest bow buck. He scored 133. The amount of fat on this guy was crazy. He looked like a pig, all that soybean and corn really packed it on. The other guys saw a few more shooters, but they weren’t able to get any shots. Overall it was a good trip. I defiantly enjoyed getting to hunt somewhere new. Time to start getting in better shape for next year. LOL
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