(Note: if the mods can enlarge these photos slightly that would be great; I have the worst luck with Photobucket.)
Last nite it was blowing 30+ mph and my intended destination was blocked by a train. So Plan B but that property doesn't really have great options for a hard NW wind this time of year. But...I thought I'd scout out the end rows of this cornfield and possibly get a doe without ever entering the timber. And then if that was a bust, I'd sit in a distant spot, watch the SE portion of this circular field, and if I saw a worthy buck enter the field jog up there and try to stalk him. This field is really grassed in and a mess, and the three does and two fawns I saw were able to see me at the same instant I saw them, all at 10 yards or under. Exciting, but I wasn't going slow enough or something. Plus doing all that looking up and down rows gives me a feeling very much like tight circles on a bush plane. Seriously.
With about a half hour left I got to a spot to watch the SE portion, expecting to maybe see deer enter from downwind. With maybe just 5 minutes left I saw what looked to be a buck that's on my 'hit list' bounding through the foxtails and junk that borders that part of the field (low spot that got too wet). Using the wind and lt. rain, I jogged up to within about 40 yards and then stalked in from there, and tried to find the buck. After a couple anxious minutes all of a sudden RIGHT THERE is the buck, upwind and approaching an opening I can slip an arrow through. My longbow comes up and a shaft is on its way. I definitely hear a hit and the buck just shoots airborne, and then bounds off unhurriedly, out of view within a few short yards. And this worried me, another big animal bulldozed out of there in a different direction. Did I shoot the right animal? I didn't know there were two. And then it's dark.
I'm standing where the deer was, and the camera is where I was.
(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/WaryBuck/IMG_0785-1.jpg)
I tie some ribbon where I stood, and tiptoe to where the buck was and tie some there. It turns out to be 10 yards. Very quietly I search for sign and end up finding three drops of blood and stomach matter; the arrow is located and while it's very bloody it too smells badly. Darn. And it is still just lightly raining. I don't have any other options so I sneak out and go home. Fortunately, the rain is petering out so just maybe.
I'm back in first thing this morning, hunting a stand on this same property, planning to stay for an hour and then get out and start looking. Well, I end up getting pinned down by two bucks that hung around forever. Their third buddy stayed out of range, so I can only count the 1x1 and 90ish 4x4 as "could haves" in my book. The one that stayed out of range looked to be a 110" 4x4.
Finally they left so I first walked the entire 1/2 mile length of the slough ditch in case he went to water. No luck and that meant he was probably in this 140-acre quagmire of a cornfield. :( Despite the rain quitting shortly after I left (and guessing it didn't do much overnite), there was no more blood to be located and the three spots I had found were gone and the bloody arrow I'd left at the spot (on purpose to gauge sign) was washed up fairly clean. This was gonna be real tough.
Here's what the field looks like, so you know why I checked the water first.
(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/WaryBuck/IMG_0787.jpg)
First I walked the downwind perimeter, hoping to catch a whiff that would lead me to the deer. No luck. So then I just guessed which E/W corn row he might've taken, ribboned my starting point, and walked down it probably 150-200 yards. I really could only monitor two rows on either side of my row and there was nothing. I ribboned my stopping point, and then moved five rows to the south, ribboned it off again, and walked back and a bit later found my buck. Relief and thanks!
Here's the view that warmed my cold heart.
(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/WaryBuck/IMG_0792.jpg)
That's the good (miraculous) news. Bad news is that coyotes or something had found him in in the interim and his back quarters were gone and the rest of him was pretty warm and stinky. I wasn't able to save much meat, but with a gut shot in a cornfield I didn't have any choice last night. At least the cape is in great shape (anybody want a beautiful, big cape because I'm probably just gonna do a skull mount?).
(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/WaryBuck/IMG_0776.jpg)
I am quite happy with this big, heavy, wide bruiser. Especially in the manner I took him, 10 yards from the ground in a cornfield while many were sitting it out. In retrospect I probably was pushing my luck hunting that close to the final buzzer given the light rain; consolation is that the little critters gotta eat too and that I did recover most of him.
(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/WaryBuck/IMG_0804.jpg)
Pronghorn takedown longbow and Woodsman head.
Good job on staying with it. Congrats on your buck!
good job.dont ever give up looking for animals,if you dont push them they usually dont go far
Great job on a nice buck.
Another great buck Bryce...congrats on a great start to this season!
Bryan
Congrats great job on the find. :thumbsup: :clapper:
Congrats and a fine job! :thumbsup:
Very nice buck, glad for you! Congratulations!
Good job sticking with it.
awesome job bryce!! im sure it wont be your last of the season!!
gaff
Awesome...I always enjoy your stories!!
Bryce,
Is this one you've had your eye on with trail cam pics ect?
Old Woodsman or new Elite?
You are certainly the early season MAN! Heck, you are early, mid, and late season MAN! Another thick one. What do you think he would have weighed?
Great Hunt, Bryce! I love hunting in the corn! Only problem now is the farmers are planting double row corn here! Good shootin, Steve :thumbsup:
Great job! Congrats. :thumbsup:
Congrats!!!
We COULD enlarge them....but they would be pixelated and not be clear.
Congrats on a real nice buck!! Great job on the recovery. Joe
Right on!
NICE JOB! GREAT HUNT! CONGRATS!
Good job Bryce!! I always like reading your stuff, it's very informative and helpful because I hunt similar terrain here.
Congrats :thumbsup:
Well done! Great buck and fine work on the follow up.
Good job :thumbsup:
Bryce, you are on fire during the early season the last few years. I told my wife that it would be a matter of days and you would be posting with another big early season buck. But skull mount? You're kidding right?
Great job on an awesome buck!
Bryce, great buck!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/Yellowdog3822/IMG_0787-1.jpg)
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/Yellowdog3822/IMG_0785-1-1.jpg)
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/Yellowdog3822/IMG_0792-1.jpg)
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/Yellowdog3822/IMG_0804-1.jpg)
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/Yellowdog3822/IMG_0776-2.jpg)
Great job!
Awesome Bryce!!! Another Brute!! Congratulations Bro.
nice buck and the way to hang in there.Great hunt great job great read well done.bd
Great buck and I admire your perseverance in finding him.
I lost one deer I shot while it was raining. Found it the next day but the meat had spoiled. Since that day 25 years ago I haven't taken a shot if it was raining.
Way to see things thru Bryce!
Bryce Awesome Buck.Blake
"But skull mount? You're kidding right?"
When you've been killing good buck at an average rate of 2 per year for 20 some years it would take a pretty substantial trophy room to hang them all! Plus Bryce has other critters too in trophy room.
Without really knowing I'll bet Bryce has live pictures and even previous years sheds from this buck! Bryce?
Steve, I know what your saying but.....reall? A skull mount? HA!
Ill tell you what Ive been following you through the last couple of years be it on the web or thru TBM and you are one heck of a whitetail hunter! You and that pronghorn flat out get the job done! Gongrats
Very nice :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats on your find! Great looking buck! :thumbsup:
Bryce, You are one heck of a hunter brother :notworthy:
Congrats on another awesome buck :clapper:
Can't wait to see what else falls to the deadly green Pronghorn!
I think Bryce has spent too much time with uncle Barry and uncle Gene. Something has rubbed off on him!
Bryce was getting it figured out before he met the Uncles.
Well-done!
Another notch in the Green Machine...congratulations Bryce he is a bruiser! Now the real dilemma, which picture to frame the one with the hat or without?
Everytime I read your stories, either here or in TBM, I become more impressed. You always seem to adapt to the conditions at hand. In a stand, on the ground, heat, cold, in state or out, it never matters. Good stuff. Congrats.
Great buck Bryce! Congrats!
Thanks for the kind words, it's really a little too much. But given the fourth block sociology class I have, I'll take the compliments. :)
The neat thing about a lot of my recent deer is how they were taken. Each presented some unique challenges or approaches, and while you don't hear too much about my techniques when they don't work...ha!...sometimes when a plan does come together it's deeply rewarding.
Honestly, a skull mount of a nice whitetail looks really cool, takes up far less room, and costs less although I honestly find the process to not be much fun. I actually haven't mounted too many recent bucks at all, even with a taxidermist brother giving me a slight discount. If I ever get a new place in the country with more room, I may start a beetle barn of my own to make the process much easier. I wish I'd not mounted a lot of the bucks from my younger days when I was single and had nothing else to spend the money on. One of these days I'll have to take some pics of my new arrangment in the trophy room with a couple rows of nice skull mounts.
Thanks again for the kind words! It's fall, and you gotta love the chase.
I'm with you Bryce, Skull mounts are Cool! I Guess other people have money to throw away. Pictures are worth a Thousand Words!
Congrats Bryce :thumbsup: He's a dandy glad you stuck with it and found him.
Tracy
Bryce- Very nicely done. I'm sure you would have put in as much effort had it been a doe. Good for you! And on a side note, good for us as I recently read your 20+ questions regarding the push for crossbows in your state. Very thought provoking, especially convincing folks we choose to take a harder path while appreciating a little solitude in the woods. Using a long bow at close range gives much more weight to your opinion and credibility to a stance you hope others will join. Thank so much for all you do for us! Mike
Congrats ! :)
Margly
A job well done! Perseverance pays off!
Congrats :thumbsup:
Nathan