LATE SEASON DEER HUNT AND SPRING TURKEY HUNT
First of all I am going to apologize in advance if this gets to be too long of a thread. The real purpose behind this thread is for my own viewing years from now when I am wanting to look back on past hunting seasons. I have always intended to keep a journal of some sort (which is my 2009 resolution, again) but have fallen very short. Anyway I should have been posting this as it happened so I would remember more detail but this after the fact summary will just have to do for this year. I will mostly talk about the hunts where I actually took some sort of game ... I almost said succesful hunts but many of my most succesful hunts did not produce any meat!
My 1st critter of the year came at the end of January and it was a 1st in more ways than that. It was my 1st whitetail taken from the ground from a makeshift ground blind. It was very exciting shooting a deer from the ground up close and personal and I resolved to do more ground hunting this year (the one resolution that I did keep)! This is the picture of the deer --- I thought it was a doe but it was a young buck with busted off antlers. I was using my Big East bow and 600gr Axis arrows tipped with a 185 gr. Snuffer.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofDeerfromgroundanddogs014.jpg)
The next critter to fall victim to the Big East, Axis, Snuffer combo was a jake turkey. I called in a group of jakes while hunting on the edge of an alfalfa field from my ameristep blind. I tried to use my digital camera to "film" the hunt since it can take short digital clips. I attached the camera to a spare decoy stake with duct tape and it actually worked fairly well considering everything. The 1st jake to come in was checking out my jake decoy when he was rudely interupted by my arrow. A perfect hit on the wingbutt! That jake was flopping and the others came in to try to take advantage. I had put down my bow and was preparing to run out and get the jake when I noticed the others coming back in. I almost got the chance to shoot another turkey with my bow but just as I was pulling back again they spooked out of my bow range. A quick switch to my 20 gauge o/u and 2 turkey dinners were on the ground. I am going to post a picture of the turkeys but also I am going to post a link to youtube if you are interested in seeing the video. The quality is not the best due to it being shot with a small point and shoot digital camera but you definitely can see what happened!
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/Resizeof2008TurkeyHunt017-1.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/Resizeof2008TurkeyHunt009.jpg)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rljheBS_V-0
I hope the picture of the snuffer damage does not gross anyone out too bad but I wanted to show how it busted that big bone completely in half!
My original intent was to try and type everything in today but I am a pretty slow typist so I think I will just try to do this a little at a time over the next few days as I get a chance. Once this is done I am going to print the entire thing off and put it in my hunting scrapbook to preserve it for the future.
Good job bro, I've kept a journal of all my hunting for 35 years, it is very helpfull to go back thru them every now and again,refresher on things done right or wrong or just to recap some memorys < i also keep in them, things like arrows i have built,weight of arrows, heads used, bow tuning, money spent on equipt.ect.. not to worried about the wife reading these as she used my last one to buy my christmas gifts, LOL, you won,t regret starting one,and they don't take that much time!! good luck and i can't wait to hear the rest of your year!! :campfire:
My new year's hunting resolution is to NEVER give up. I fouled up a shot on a great buck this year, and ALMOST gave up, only to find him right when I was ready to quit. That made the biggest impression of anything that happened to me this year.
Big Al I can relate. I saw a nice buck while scouting and again in early Oct. Then I did not see him for over 2 months, thought he was dead or gone. Finally ended up killing him within 50yds of the first place i ever saw him on Dec. 6th. Joe
Good New Years resolutions fellas!
Great idea. Looking forward to the rest of this one.
Very cool! My resolution is to take more deer off the ground while stalking or using natural ground blinds.
Great stories Dan!
GOOD STUFF DAN!! thanks for sharing...more please!
DEER,ELK AND ANTELOPE HUNT
Thanks guys for the interest! The next hunt I am going to describe is my absolute favorite hunt this year and is right up there in my all time favorites.
It was the weekend of September 27th. A good friend of mine's daughter was getting married on the 27th in Chamberlain, SD which is basically the middle of the state. The 27th also happened to be the opener of SD archery deer season. I decided that as long as I was out that far west I should try to get a couple days of bowhunting in. In addition to having archery deer and antelope tags, I had drawn a leftover cow elk tag in the same unit in the Black Hills where I had shot a nice bull with my bow in 2006. I made arrangements to take Monday and Tuesday off from work and the trip was on.
The wedding was fun, the hangover not so much! When I went to leave Sunday morning I discovered that I had locked the keys in my pickup and had some how left the dome light on so I also had a dead battery. By the time I got out of Chamberlain it was probably 11.00 am and the wind was blowing approximately 40 mph with gusts well in excess of that. Not necessarily ideal conditions but hey a guy has to try!
As I was heading for the Black Hills I started thinking (always very dangerous for me) and decided I should try to do a spot and stalk hunt for deer on a ranch I have permission to hunt on the edge of the Badlands. I have hunted this same area several times in high wind and have has some luck sneaking up on deer that have bedded out of the wind behind buttes or washouts. The high winds let you know where your scent is going to blow and also covers up the sounds of the stalk.
I got to the ranch and decided to start up a series of dry washes that connected with a creek bed that eventually wound through a bunch of buttes. The wind was from the NW so I got on the west side of the 1st washout expecting any deer to be bedded with there butt up against the west bank of the washout (which ran North and South) looking downwind. I would slowly and carefully walk 5 to 10 yds at a time and then glass ahead down into the washout. After about 45 minutes of this I picked up a glint off of an antler. At 1st I thought it might be a shed or a kill but after careful glassing I was able to tell that I was within about 75yds of a 5x5 whitetail buck that was bedded. This guy was a real nice buck. His rack was outside his ears by at least 4 inches on each side and he was very heavy. He did not have exceptionally tall tines but not bad. I figured he would go 150" at a bare minimum.
I slowly started closing the distance staying bent over so all I could see were the very tips of his tines. It took me approximately a half hour to close the distance to 20 yds. At this point I was crawling on my hands and knees trying to navigate through the cactus without being busted. At 20yds I had no shot because the vegetation he was bedded in down in the washout was too tall. I knew if I could close to 15 yds undetected I would be able to kill that buck!
My heart was pounding but I tried my best to stay calm and make the final approach as slowly and carefully as possible. I finally got to the spot where all I needed was another maybe 2 feet to get the shot when the buck's head came up in an alert motion and started to swivel. To this day I do not know what caused that to happen. The wind was stll howling so I know he could not have smelled me or heard me and I can't believe he saw me because he was looking all over not just in my direction. He was very nervous and I am not so sure it wasn't that 6th sense that saves so many big buck's lives. I am crouching low with one knee in cactus trying to stay motionless. Having been in similar situations on other ocassions I felt like the buck would eventually settle down if he did not see, smell or hear anything supicious. Our tense little standoff lasted approximately 5 minutes at which point he boiled out of his bed and ran flat out hell bent for leather never looking back!!! Holy crap, what a rush!!! I rolled off of the cactus and onto my back and just started laughing. That buck kicked my butt even when it looked like I absolutley had him. Know thats what traditional bow hunting is all about, getting close and enjoying the ride!!!
This is an awesome thread bohuntr! I can't wait tohearthe rest.
:thumbsup:
Going hunting this afternoon for one last chance at a buck! I have spent a ton of time bowhunting this fall but no shots at any good bucks, maybe tonights the night? The fat lady is singing pretty loud but I am going to try and shut her up!!! Good luck to the rest of you guys that are going tonight and good luck to everyone next year!
Back to my September, long weekend hunt. I left the Badlands ranch with a great big goofy grin on my face having had an awesome time stalking that buck. I pointed the pickup West hoping to get to the Black Hills early enough to check out an oats field where I had seen elk feeding in the past. I didn't have any plans to hunt that evening, I only wanted to check out the spot so I could decide where I wanted to hunt elk in the morning.
I made it to the oats field right as it was getting dark. There was a herd of 25 to 30 elk in the field with at least one pretty good bull who was screaming his head off. Well, back came that same goofy grin. Nothing like being somewhere with an elk tag in your pocket and knowing the elk are there!!! I headed over to my buddy Nick's house where I would be staying the next 2 nights. Nick is a great guy who happens to live right in the middle of the Unit where I shot my bull in 06 and where I had drawn this leftover cow tag. Not only does he have the perfect location but he loves to hunt .... especially elk!!! When he is not actually hunting he is scouting for elk and picking up sheds. Here is a picture of Nick with a set of sheds and a picture of a few of the sheds in the basement of his house.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofBlackHils2006045-1.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofBlackHils2006048-1.jpg)
Monday morning was perfect ... crisp, clear with a nice steady NW wind blowing about 10 mph. I was going to hunt some forest service land just to the North of the oats field as that is where Nick thought those elk were spending the day. It was an hour before daylight when I drove by the oats field on the way to where I was going to start hunting. In my headlights I could see the remnants of the elk herd jumping the fence and heading North ... perfect! When it was light enough to start hunting I slowly started working my way up an old forest service road keeping the wind in my favor. It had rained some the night before and much to my surprise and disgust it appeared that there was another set of boot prints entering the area ahead of me. Well, I figured it is a pretty big area so I might as well keep going. I would just do my best to stay out of the way of the other guy. I hadn't gone too far when I heard a bull screaming from what seemed to be less than 200 yds away. I dropped down into a draw with thick vegetation that seemed to run right up to where the bull was sounding off. I managed to close the distance between me and the bull to under 75 yds. The vegetation was so thick I could not see him but he was so close I could smell him! Anyone who has been close to a rutting bull knows what I am talking about. This bull was getting more jacked up by the minute. Not only was he screaming but he started raking some small trees and scared the crap out of me when he actually snapped one of those trees in half!!! :scared: I had almost forgotten about the "other hunter" due to all the excitement ... then it happened. A crazy shrill, shreaking set of cow calls that had to be the worst I have ever heard. My 1st thought was, oh crap, I hope I didn't bust in on this guys hunt. On the other hand I thought, what an idiot not only is that the worst calling I have ever heard but he is calling from up wind of the bull. At this point I had my binoculars up trying to locate the "other hunter" when I finally discovered the source of the cacophany. There standing on the opposite hillside was a cow elk making the most god awful noise I have ever heard. I almost started laughing out loud! Well on to the immediate problem. I was very close to the bull and felt I could bring him in but I had a cow only tag. After spotting the 1st cow I was able to determine that the were several more cows up on the same hillside. The big problem was that in order to get over to the cows I had to cross a large open area. Considering the number of eyes I was up against I knew that would be foolish. I decided to hunker down and await developments. I didn't have long to wait ... I felt the breeze on the back of my neck at almost the same time I heard the stampede of large bodies tearing through the timber. Wow, what a rush!!! Close, but not quite close enough. Those kind of encounters are absolutely what bowhunting is all about to me!
Great stuff Dan!! Waiting to hear some more.....
Thanks Doug! This New Years resolution thing is already tough. It is already January 7th and I am still only halfway thorugh my 2 1/2 day hunt in September. :^)
After getting busted by the herd I decided to have breakfast and think about where to hunt next. It being late morning by this time I knew the elk would be bedded up in the thickest, nastiest cover available. I knew the perfect place. It was the heavily timbered blow down infested slope where I took my bull in 2006.
When I got to that location I checked the wind and started slowly working my way into the dense cover. I would stop and do some soft cow calling every 200 to 300 yds. As soon as I had completed each series of calls I would slip silently downwind of my initial calling location. I would get 15 to 20 yds downwind depending on where the best concealment could be had.
After about an hour of this I finally got results. I was positioned in a perfectly concealed spot 15 yds downwind of my inital calling location when I heard the unmistakeable sound of a large critter approaching. As the noise got closer I could see the legs and part of the lower bodies of two elk heading straight to where I wanted them. The elk were just seconds from entering my shooting lane ... I started putting tension on the bow string and mentally preparing for the shot. The 1st elk hit the shooting lane and stood pefectly broadside totally unaware of my presence ...
damn, it was a spike and not legal! The spike stood there for 2 or 3 minutes relieving himself. He must have been at a keg party the night before from the looks of things! I kept waiting for the other elk to step into the opening hoping that it was a cow although it has been my experience that it more likely would have been another spike. The spike finally lost interest and departed the same way he came in taking his unidentified companion with him. Wow, I sure thought it was going to happen there!!! Although any close up encounter with an elk of any kind is always a treat and this was no exception.
Just prior to sunset that same day I was driving back to Nicks when I spotted several elk off to one side of the small forest service road I was on. I stopped to glass the elk when much to my surprise a very big 6x6 herd bull stepped directly onto the road. This big bad boy was totally rutted up and was afraid of nothing, including my truck. He stood right in the middle of the road glaring at me, bugling hard, complete with side heaving chuckles at the end. What a sight, you could literally see steam coming out of his mouth as he bugled! I was so completely taken aback by his performance that I totally forgot that my digital camera was within easy reach. All I could think was he was not going to be long for the world if he kept up that nonsense as rifle season would be opening in two days. I backed down the road a few hundred yards and made a mad dash attempt to get on those cows before the end of shooting time. For a few minutes it looked like I might have a chance to ambush the herd but the big fella came in and headed the cows back in a completely different direction.
I was up early the next morning for one last chance at an elk but I never saw or heard anything in the 1st 2 hours so I decided to head home. I had to work the next day and it was a good 6 1/2 to 7 hour drive back home. I figured I would try hunting antelope in a couple spots on the way home if I could find a herd with a good buck in the right sort of terrain.
I enjoy your style of writing. Keep it up my friend. Very interesting.
Thanks Allan!
I have access to a good chunk of private land in addition to the sizeable blocks of public ground near the badlands where I hunt deer and antelope. Most of the land is not too far off of the interstate and some of it is actually visible from the interstate. As I was heading home down the interstate I was thinking about what an incredible hunt I had experienced in the course of the previous two days. I was so close to shooting an awesome whitetail buck and an elk. While those thoughts were running through my mind I noticed a nice herd of about 20 antelope a couple hundred yards off of the interstate. I could see there was a good buck with the herd. Better news yet, they were on public ground I had hunted before and there was a big butte just to the east of their location. I pulled off at the next exit and drove into the national grasslands allotment where I had spotted the herd. The wind was WNW and the herd was west of me obscurred by the butte. I got my bow out, grabbed my antelope decoy and headed for the butte. When I got close to the crest of the butte I got down on my hands and knees to crawl the rest of the way. As is typical of this country, the ground was randomly covered in cactus. When I made it to the crest I spotted the herd about 150 yds away. As I glassed the herd I could see the buck was a very good one. I would guess he was 14+" tall with lots of mass and good cutters. Although I have hunted antelope plenty of times I had never taken one with a bow and I wanted that buck pretty bad. I had folded out the decoy just prior to cresting the hill and now I was slowly crawling towards the herd using the decoy as a shield. I finally reached a spot where the decoy would have maximum visibility and started moving the decoy back and forth to get the bucks attention. When the buck finally spotted the decoy there was no hesitation whatsoever. As soon as I saw the buck come boiling across the prarie I nocked an arrow and got ready to shoot. The only problem is the buck pulled up short on his charge. At the time I thought he had stopped about 35 yds away but my yardage estimate tuned out to be wrong. The buck was now pacing back and forth cautiously, I think in an attempt to intimidate the "other buck". At this point I was so jacked up I was having a hard time keeping myself together. The buck turned and started to walk away giving me a quartering away angle into his vitals. All I could think of was that magnificient buck walking out of my life and I have to admit it clouded my judgement. I made a bleat and the buck stopped at what I figured was 35 yds. When I released the arrow the shot looked perfect .... I could see the arrow heading just behind the bucks shoulder when it suddenly dropped just underneath his chest! The buck wasted no time covering the ground back to his lady friends. I was mad at myself for taking the shot but happy for the experience and happy not to have wounded the buck with a questionable shot. When I went out to retrieve my arrow I paced off the distance to where the buck had been standing and it turned out to be closer to 45 yds than 35 yds. I have noticed that it takes me a while to be able to accurately estimate ranges in such open country. If I have not been practicing I usually underestimate the range.
So any way, that was the conclusion of my 2 1/2 day hunt last September. I am sure you can see why it is one of my favorite hunts of all time. I do not think I have ever had more action packed into such a short amount of time on any other hunt! I realisticaly had a chance to shoot a P&Y whitetail buck, an elk and a P&Y antelope in the course of 2 1/2 days!!! As it is, I am just very happy to have the memories.
JONES COUNTY ANTELOPE AND DEER HUNT
Finally got a chance to get back to this. The next hunt I went on was the next weekend which was the opening of rifle antelope season. I won't get into the rifle hunting part but that was what took me out to Jones County that weekend. I had been invited to go by my hunting buddy Leon who had an old college friend Gary who had access to a bunch of land in Jones County. Gary had been trying to talk us into coming out and hunting for a couple years but we had never gotten around to making it happen. Gary's wife was from Jones County and her parents still had a ranch there, plus Gary knew a bunch of other people who would let us hunt. Both Leon and I had archery antelope tags and archery deer tags that could also be used in that county and I was more interested in bowhunting than the rifle hunting. The 1st day (friday) was primarily spent scouting for antelope although Leon and I did get the opportunity to try and decoy a real nice antelope buck. The terrain was pretty flat and we were not able to get as close to the antelope as I would have liked before deploying the decoy. The does that were with the buck spotted the decoy first and did not like what they saw. I think that may have been partially due to the fact that it was so windy that it was hard to keep the decoy from waving erratically. In any event, the does took off at a trot and the buck naturally followed along.
After shooting hours that day, we proceeded to the local watering hole in search of a cold one and some intel. The place to be was a combination gas station/ bar that was basically presided over by a guy named one armed Tony. It was not really to hard to see how he came by that nickname. Tony was a helluva a good guy and one of the last diehards I know of that loyally drinks nothing but Schlitz beer.
The next morning was the opener of rifle antelope season and we were out well before 1st light. After hunting for a couple hours with nothing collected I asked Gary if he minded if I split off with my bow to still hunt a winding dry creek bottom on his father-in-laws place. Gary had no objection and I was dropped off at his in laws with plans to meet up in a couple hours. I had no more than got started down the bottom when 2 whitetail does jumped out of some cattails and nervously trotted away. Having just been busted I hunkered down to see where they were going to go. About that time a 3rd doe popped out of the bottom trying to figure out what had spooked the other two deer. Luckily, I was now concealed and I had the wind in my favor. The doe walked around nervously scanning everywhere trying to detect the danger. After a few minutes of not seeing or smelling anything suspicious the doe went right back down in the bottom and bedded down again. I gave her a good 5 minutes before slowly stalking towards her position. Due to the height of the cattails I could not see her even though I knew I had to be about 15 yds from her. All of the sudden, I saw the cattails start to move and I knelt down quickly only to see the doe spooking out of the cattails. I guess she must have heard me since I still had the wind in my favor. As she hit the opposite hillside I whistled and amazingly enough she stopped! She was about 25 yds now slightly quartered away nervously looking around. I hate to admit it but doe fever clouded my judgment and I took the shot even though the deer was alert. Unfortunately, the exact thing you can expect from such a dumb move happened --- the deer moved forward at my shot and my arrow went right through her paunch. She hunched up and ran to the top of the hill stopping there to look back. It was obvious she still had no idea of the source of the problem. She stood there for a minute or two and proceeded to slowly walk over the hill. I knew right then I was going to have to give her as much time as possible. I looked at my watch and it was 9:30. After waiting about 10 minutes I slowly worked my way over to the other side to see if I could spot the doe and keep an eye on her. Once I topped out on the other side I could see the doe bedded about 200yds away in a mowed hay field. I was laying on my belly in the grass so as to avoid being detected and spooking her from her bed. I layed there for about a half hour mentally kicking myself for being so stupid to take a shot at an alert deer. I know better, but got caught up in the excitement of the moment. At times like this I always wonder if I am ever going to get to the point where I stop making some of the same stupid mistakes over and over. One mistake I was not going to make that day was to push a gut shot deer so I hunkered down to wait. After a short while the doe got to her feet and slowly started walking across the hayfield to a point where the creek bottom wound around below the hayfield. The doe dropped below the horizon and into the creek bottom allowing me to cross the hayfield to try and keep track of her. I got to the other side and carefully peered over the edge into the bottom just in time to see the doe go into a plum thicket in the bottom of the creek. I sat there for about 45 minutes and the doe did not come back out of the thicket. I figured this was going to be her final bed but knew better than to try to push things too early. Since this was my first time on this ranch I took a gps reading on my location. Knowing how things can sometimes look different than a person remembers I dug into my fanny pack and got out my digital camera. I took a picture of the section of creek bottom where the doe had bedded and then zoomed in on the thicket and took another picture.
When I came back 7 hours later the pictures really helped me to identify the spot where I had last seen the doe. I hoped to find the doe dead but was not taking that for granted. I got a few hundred yards downwind of the thicket and slowly started stalking up the bottom stopping frequently to glass with my binos. When I was about 75 yds downwind of the thicket I spotted the tops of deer ears in a washout below my position. As I slowly crept forward I could see that it was the wounded doe. Unbelievably, she was still alive and was bedded down with her head up. Although still alive, I could tell she was really feeling the effects of the shot. At that point I felt like the right thing to do was to close in and get another arrow in her. As I got to 30 yds she struggled to her feet and was quartering pretty hard away from me. I hit anchor and the arrow was on its way . I could see the arrow hit behind her near shoulder and exit the offside. She took off on a final death run making it about 50 yds before going down. I have to say I was grateful and relieved to end her suffering. When I got up to her I found that the last arrow had actually gone through one lung and exited out her neck severing the windpipe on the way out. The following pictures are the pictures I took to try and keep track of where she had gone. This picture is the bigger picture of the creek bottom. The thicket she bedded in is on the right side of the picture just to the left of the big tree.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/Resizeof2008-10-30041.jpg)
The next picture is a zoomed in picture of the thicket where she originally bedded. She actually was about 75 yds to the left of that thicket when I found her later that afternoon.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/Resizeof2008-10-30043.jpg)
Very Good Day For YOU, MeThinks!
My New Years Resolution is to Stack up a Tom with what looks to be the same Gear I bought myself!!
Collateral Damage......No More Gobble in that BIRD!!
Great Job and Great Writing too!!
Thanks Shakes, good luck with that gobbler!
BACK TO THE GROUND BLIND
It got to be later on in October and I was trying my best to catch up with some deer of any sort out on the land I own with a buddy of mine. This is the same place I shot the deer and the turkeys described in the 1st two entries on this thread. I was not having much luck getting a shot from my usual tree stands and I suspected that was because the deer had me patterned better than I had them. I was doing some scouting when I found a series of interlacing trails that wound in and around a series of thickets where I knew the deer had been bedding. Right in the middle of one of those trails was a nice rub. I started to look around for a suitable tree but decided rather than go through all the work to set up a new tree stand I would try to set up from the ground.
These two pictures give you an idea of what it looked like in this area and also shows the rub.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofBowhunt11-16-08085.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofBowhunt11-16-08084.jpg)
I noticed a couple of bushy cedar trees which would be downwind of several trail intersections with the normally prevailing NW wind. I had my ratchet shears with me and in very little time I constructed a makeshift ground blind. Since I had already contaminated the area with my scent I decided to wait until the following morning to hunt this new ground blind.
This is a picture of the ground blind. I would be sitting just to the right of the leaning tree.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofBowhunt11-16-08081-1.jpg)
I got settled into the blind the next morning about 45 minutes before sunrise. It was just enjoyable sitting there and watching everything start to wake up. The sunrise was beautiful and shortly thereafter I heard turkeys headed my way. Normally, that would have got me excited but I had already filled my fall turkey tag earlier in the year. Of course, the turkeys came right into my lap! There had to be 25 to 30 turkeys all of which were gobblers. The whole flock passed through some being as close as 10 yds but none of them noticed me. I figured that was a good indication that my blind was working. Not to long afterwards I spotted a lone doe working it's way towards me. She finally stopped slightly quartering away from me at just short of 25 yards. It looked to me that this was as close as she was going to get so I slowly drew my bow and released the arrow. Just as I was releasing she took a step forward. Oh crap!!! I saw the arrow hit her in the midsection. She hunched up and ran a couple steps and stopped trying to figure out what just happened. I did not move a muscle not wanting to spook her. I was hoping she might calm down enough to give me another shot. Unfortunately, she got into the thicket with out presenting me another shot. Since I have hunted this land for almost 20 years I had a really good idea of where she was headed. I knew better than to try and follow up too early as that would almost certainly guarantee an unrecovered deer. It was still early so I decided to stay in the blind to see if anything else showed up. Maybe an hour later I notice another lone doe walking through the thicket towards my blind. At this point I am really talking to myself to make sure to make a good shot if she gives me the chance. After 20 minutes or so of watching her casually mill around and feed she ended up about 25 yds from me standing completely broadside. This time the arrow was perfect. The doe had no idea of what had just happened and she collapsed no more than 30 yds from my blind.
This picture is a picture I took from my blind right after she collapsed. That is the doe in the foreground. It looks farther awy because I did not zoom in on the doe as I wanted to get the surrounding area in the picture.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofBowhunt11-16-08083.jpg)
This is a close up picture of the doe and my Big East bow which I have now christened "old reliable".
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofBowhunt11-16-08089-1.jpg)
I gutted out the doe and got my hunting buddy Leon to help me drag her out of the bottom. I intentionally did not tell Leon about the gut shot deer as I knew he would want to give up his own evening hunt to help me look for my deer. Not only did I not want to interfere with his hunt, I also felt it would be better to try to recover the deer on my own at my own pace. I went back to where I hit the deer about a half hour before sunset. I was not able to find any blood but I thought I knew where the deer was headed. I slowly worked my way in towards that spot while glassing ahead for signs of the doe. I had just entered the area where I suspected she would bed when I spotted a patch of white ahead. Looking through the binos I could see it was the belly hair of my doe who was now very dead. Upon inspecting her I discovered she must have been quartering away more than I thought since the arrow actually exited towards the rear of the far lung. As it turns out she was probably dead within 20 to 30 minutes after I shot her. Better safe than sorry though! Rigor mortis had set in but it had been plenty cold all day and the meat was fine.
How's the RER? Did you get her all tuned in? She sure is a Stunning bow.
Mark
Hey Mark, that RER is a sweet bow. I put on a thinner sideplate and that has got it shooting much more consistently for me. I still do not shoot it quite as well as my Big East but it is getting closer. That RER is quick --- I chronoed it at right around 197 fps with a 600 gr arrow! The only problem with that bow is it might actually be the 1st bow I have had that I am afraid to hunt with. It's so dang purty it would hurt to scratch her up! Thanks again for a great deal on one helluva bow ---and thanks so much for the expedited shipping!!!
Good stuff, looks like you took some great pics of your season, I take a lot as well, you can never have enough!!! :thumbsup:
Thanks Joe. The more time goes by the more pictures I seem to be taking. I probably still do not take as many as I should but I am getting better. The small, inexpensive digital cameras available these days sure make the process much simpler.
CALLING ALL BUCKS
The rut here in SD usually starts in early November and generally hits its peak somewhere between the 10th and the 17th. I spent all my available free time from early to mid November hunting deer out on my property. I had some trail camera pictures of some good bucks but just was not seeing them much in the daylight. I am going to post a few of the pictures I got from my trail cameras this year.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/SquelerStandOctearlyNov087-2.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/SquelerStandandmiscbigbuck078-1.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofSquelerStandandmiscbigbu-1.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofAlfalfaCameraLateOctEarl-1.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofAlfalfaCameraLateOctEarlyNo.jpg)
One Saturday during the middle of the rut I decided to sit all day on a stand that was located just below a saddle that connected two large draws that both contained bedding areas used by does. I figured if I sat there long enough I would catch a buck cruising between the two areas looking for does. I got into the stand about 45 minutes befor sunrise and settled in waiting for shooting light. About every 45 minutes after good shooting light I would grunt a few times and/ or use the primos can to doe bleat. It was brutally cold that day and there were winds about 30 to 35 mph. For the 1st 7 1/2 hours on stand I saw absolutely nothing ... not a doe, not a fawn, not even a squirrel! After finishing a series of loud grunts I looked around to see if I could see anything responding. After a couple minutes of seeing nothing I decided to try the can. As I was pulling the can from my pocket with my nearly frost bitten hands the object inside the can hit the side of the can making a small unnatural sound. Just as this happened I looked up to see a deer similar to but bigger than buck # 1 from above heading down the trail that would take him 8 yds from my treestand. The buck heard the sound, stopped dead in his tracks and simply turned around and headed back the way he came. I know that he did not see or smell me but that stupid little noise absolutely turned him around. I wasn't sure if I was going to be sick or cry!!! It's one thing spending a long day under decent conditions and having it all fall apart but to suffer through that kind of crap only to blow it really hurt!
I hunted at every opportunity during the rut yet I only saw two good bucks during legal shooting hours, the first of which was described above. My next encounter with a buck occured a few days later. The weather had improved significantly and I was hunting a stand I call the dead tree stand. This stand is just off of a tight corner where our 10 acre cornfield intersects with an alfalfa field. The pictures of bucks 3,4 & 5 above were taken on the edge of the alfalfa field about 150 yds North of the dead tree stand. Since it was during the rut and I was hunting a high visibility field edge I was using a doe decoy setup below my stand. I had set her up on the edge of the cornfield in such a way that bucks cruising North or South of this position could see the decoy. There is visbility for at least 200 yds either direction from this location. I don't have any picture from that stand but this picture taken from what I call the decoy stand (named because I killed a buck over a decoy there) shows the cornfield and the same decoy I was using. This picture is taken facing North. The dead tree stand is probably 200 yds NW of this location.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofAlfalfaandSquelerstandpics0.jpg)
In any event I was sitting in my stand when I noticed a doe a couple hundred yards south of me facing north. The doe was acting very agitated. I pulled up my binos just in time to see the source of her agitation. There was a grey striped house cat in the process of "stalking" her. Very ambitious, pretty stupid and definitely hilarious from my viewpoint! After the failed attempt on the live doe that goofy cat came up the field edge and actually tried the same thing with my decoy. Wow, what an idiot! :bigsmyl: I am attaching a trail camera pic taken of the ambitous feline at the same spot I got the pictures of the bottom 3 bucks.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofSquelerStandandmiscbigbu-2.jpg)
After watching the conclusion of the deer hunting cat show I turned my attention back to the live doe. As soon as I looked back I could see without even using my binos that she had collected a very big boyfriend. I could see the bucks rack very easily without binos and when I put the binos on him I got very excited. This buck was substantially bigger than any of the bucks on the trail cameras! Just as I was admiring him I saw his head come up and saw him focus his attention directly at my decoy. Being that I had live competition I figured I had to do something to get the bucks attention focused on my hottie instead of the closer one. I figured if he thought that another buck was trying to get my "doe" he would display his dominance and come on over to administer a butt whuppin! I got out my grunt tube and let out a series of 3 or 4 grunts. I guess I figured wrong ... as soon as that buck heard those grunts he turned tail and ran like hell the other way. Unbelievable!!! I hate it when bucks aren't educated enough to know how they are supposed to act. If more bucks would read outdoors magazines and watch some videos maybe we could get this straitened out. I don't know if this buck had got whipped before but , if that was the case, I sure would like to see the buck that did it!
FINISHING UP THE YEAR
Hopefully, by the end of this post I will have brought my "journal" up to date. My next hunt of note was towards the end of December. I still had (and have) some antlerless tags to fill. Not only does the meat get put to good use but the buck to doe ratio could use some improvement out at our place. By checking the hourly weather forecast I could see that the wind was going to be out of the south that evening. The normal deer movement pattern where I hunt is from south to north so a south wind in the evening is always good. It seemed like the deer were moving later all the time so I decided to try and hunt real close to the bedding area where I thought they would come from in an effort to get on them during legal shooting hours. I decided to hunt the stand I call the trespasser stand ... it is so called because the actual stand there was generously donated by the trespasser that hung it on our property. With about 20 minutes of legal shooting time left I heard footsteps crunching in the snow. I slowly turned my head to see 3 does heading right for my treestand. All 3 of the does passed directly to the left of my stand. When the final doe stepped into a shooting lane 15 yds away I slowly drew my bow and focused at the spot I wanted to hit. In order to get the bow angle right I had shifted my weight slightly as I was coming to full draw ... just as I was in the process of releasing the stand squeeked. :banghead: The doe heard the noise and simultaneously swapped ends to run back to the south. I heard the arrow hit but could not tell where, and for a moment I thought the worst was going to happen. I guess there is bad luck and good luck and in this case I had some of both. I watched the doe run to the south and saw her pile up about 35 yds away. I got down right away to field dress her while it was still light. I was extremely curious about where the arrow hit that resulted in that quick collapse. Walking up to the doe the snow was covered in blood ... the proverbial blind man's trail. When I got up to the doe I found out that the 185 gr Snuffer had gone through her neck severing the caratoid artery ... damn lucky!
FIRST DEER OF THE NEW YEAR
Monday, January 5th turned out to be a nice day with a south wind. The weather had been pretty cold and I had not hunted much since taking my last doe. I did not have much going on in the office that afternoon so I decided to leave work early and see if I could fill another antlerless tag. I decided to sit in a stand called the "busted stand". I named that stand that way due to the numerous times deer had busted me in it before raising the stand height and shifting it around to the backside of the tree trunk. About 30 minutes before the end of shooting time I could see 3 deer approaching from the south. As they got closer I could see that it was 2 does and a spike. In this stand I cannot shoot until the deer actually get past my stand. All 3 deer seemed very cautious and they came to a dead stop at the base of my stand surveying the surrounding area. Evidently the spike was impatient to get to the feeding area because he hit the lead doe in the butt with his head pushing her forward. She took a couple more steps after the shove and that was all I needed to get her into my shooting lane. She was slightly quartering away from me when I hit full draw and released the arrow. The shot looked perfect! The doe jumped forward a couple steps and tried to figure out what just happened. She stood there for a few seconds and then started walking to the north as if nothing had happened. Exactly 28 yds from the point of impact she ran out of air from the double lung hit. The Steelforce tipped Axis arrow had sliced through the top of one lung passed through the other and exited low on the offside. Here is a picture of the arrow I took when I 1st got out of the treestand.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/Resizeof5thbowdoe2008057.jpg)
These are pictures of the doe showing the entry and exit holes. Sorry about the blood I didn't have any way to clean it up before taking the picture. Once again it was "old reliable" my Big East bow that was responsible.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/Resizeof5thbowdoe2008061.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/Resizeof5thbowdoe2008059.jpg)
Great stories and pictures. Thanks for giving this old man some enjoyment in reading about your hunts.
Dave