Had my velvet buck dead to rites last night and couldn't finish the deal. I've been debating on wether this buck was a shooter and after struggling to pin down a couple larger bucks I had picks of, decided to hang a stand and get on him this weekend while the velvet is still on. I sat this stand on Sat night in 102 deg sweltering heat with no sighting and decided to leaave it till last night.
At around 6:30 the does started filing into the beans....I snapped a pic of one standing 15 yds from me and text it to KentuckyTJ saying "mmmmmmmmm backstrap" LOL. He had just text me asking if I'd shot when 4 bucks stepped into the beans about 200 yards away. I didn't have to raise my binos to know who it was....
I text Tom "Big bucks gotta go" Within 4 min this buck was feeding 15 yards from me hard 1/4 too...I stood frozen w/ tension on the string...waiting for that little turn...he turned..a little more.....just a little more and I'll have both lungs......then a doe 150 yds away blew for who knows why....and he bolts...
Wow I was stunned! I had this dude hanging on the wall.
Crappy night....
Gets worse....
One of my buddies hunting 300 yds from me text me 15 min later and says "You're not gonna believe who I just killed"
yep.....What's the chances?
Oh well....wasn't meant to be I guess....
50 yd blood trail and we backed the atv down the hill to load him up....on the way up I manage to roll the polaris on top of me. Smooshed my rt hand up pretty good, but all in all I came out unscathed. Just another Monday right? LOL!
As I lay in bed last night at 3 am I contemplated what a crappy day it had been...then my mind turned to how fortunate I was to have an encounter with such a great animal and to not have been injured or killed in the atv incident. Not as bad a day when you look at it that way!
My stand was located in the Cherry tree just to the rt of the bucks runp in the top pic. Only straight tree I could find. Great 3-1/2 yo deer.
Still don't know why the deer blew..maybe a wiff of scent...I guess I'll never know.
(http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af314/LoweBow/2011%20deer/IMAG0070.jpg?t=1315322036)
(http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af314/LoweBow/2011%20deer/IMAG0068.jpg?t=1315322427)
(http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af314/LoweBow/2011%20deer/IMAG0103.jpg?t=1315322017)
It smelled your buddy! Good friend huh?
Great buck to have an encounter with, some people never see one that big much less have a buddy kill one that big.
Congrats! :thumbsup:
I hope your hand injury isnt enough to keep you from shooting.
What Mike's not telling you all is he had sole hunting rights on this farm and let a young hunter join him last year as he had no where else to hunt. We often talk about how deer tend to come between friendships and we would never do that and believe me Mike lives it. While talking to him on the phone today he said "When they are throwing dirt in my face this is what I want them to remember". Good on you Mike.
This only means there is a bigger one out there for you. Don't let this get you down, hunt hard.
Glad you are ok brother.
Hope your hand gets better quick.
Glad your ok Mike. Now you can kill one of the bigger ones running around. You guys still have a lot of season left. Good luck!!
Here is the deer.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZjoYH.jpg)
yeah..he had a little more velvet on him prior to the atv mishap....
:biglaugh: now that's funny.
Hand should be fine...thanks....I have a swollen spon between my pinky and ring finger that looks worse than it feels. Looks broken, but doesn't feel it. Pinky is black and blue.....Even a cast wouldn't stop me from hunting..LOL.
Next Target....."Bishop"
(http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af314/LoweBow/2011-07-22_15-18-13_960.jpg?t=1311374790)
Go get him Mike!!
All I can say is... :banghead:
:thumbsup:
At least you are still in the game, and the Bishop isn't that shabby either. Good luck on the rest of the season! :archer2:
Wheelie Kill ??
If it didn't get so hot down there it looks like Kentucky is a great place to live! Hope your hand feels better!
Glenn
I feel your pain, good luck with the bishop and hope your hands ok.
I wouldn't want to be "Bishop"...good luck bud :pray:
Mike, Glad to hear your okay....now go get him!!!
Good luck on the next one bud! Like you said, it just wasn't meant to be for that one. He had another destiny. Take care of that hand!
Mike glad to hear you are all right. I flipped a 4 wheeler 3 years ago, kept it off me, but tore my rotator cuff and had to have surgery. Severla guys kille around here last few years in mishaps. I am on some pretty good deer to, no shot oppportunitys. Coyote might have spooked them, alreadyl had problems with them, got 4 on 1 pic in my trail camera.
Glad you're ok Mike. Good luck with the "Bishop", and like Guru said..."I wouldn't want to be Bishop"! :scared:
Nice buck ...
You were close.
A better one is coming for you....
That was a nice deer..
Hope you heal up good
Thanks fellas....
Bishop's a crafty old fart....he turned 5-1/2 this year and is a perfect example of what most would call a "scrub" buck over the last 4 years. He's always been narrow and tall....this year he carries lots of mass to go w/ narrow and tall. That pic was from early July, so I'm anxious to find him again and see how he finished out w/ weeks of growing left to go...I'd love to shoot him as I have a ton of history with that deer. I have hundreds of pics w/ him and the buck in my avitar together 2 seasons ago. Hand is great today....I'm all good! Prob hurt my pride more than anything....
When the bike rolled Scott kept yelling "Are you OK?" as loud as he could....to which I replied "Is your deer OK?"....we hollered this exchange back and forth at each other before he realized I was fine...LOL.
:archer:
Good luck Mike glad to hear your okay. Hopefully luck will go your way next time but what an awesome encounter.
Wow Mike....you and TJ always have a distinct way of providing us some entertainment! :D
Congrats to your buddy and to you for putting him in a position take such a nice animal. The season is young, I'm sure things will play out just fine for you boys!
Enjoy....
PS: Our season has yet to even begin! :dunno:
Glad your OK Mike......And what goes around come's right back at you....It's gonna be a nice one, just wait and see!
Good to hear that all is well. I wish you and TJ good fortune this season. :notworthy:
Good luck with him and glad you're good to go...I have a deer like Bishop here at the house that is 4 1/2. If I get a chance he isn't going to get any older. Go get him!
After a family emergency which pulled my wife to North Carolia for the week my duties of playing Mr. Mom ended on Sat and I was able to give my stand one last sit prior to pulling it and the camera on this bean field.
This is the last pic of the buck we now call "Morris" (after the 9-lives cat). Pic was taken as he stood in front of me at 15 paces.
You prob can not see it since the pic has been conpressed, but against the tree line on the rt side of the pic is a 20" wide 10pt that was running w/ this deer that I was actually hunting.
I hunted this stand last nt in hopes of spying him, but much to my supprise I saw an even better site! An absolute BRUTE of an 8-point that I have had pics of the last couple years. I'm now excited to move my cams and get going on this buck. Largest buck I've seen in a few years!
Stay tuned!
Do you think we need to shoot more does? Gonna try to take 15 or so this year off this farm.
(http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af314/LoweBow/2011%20deer/IMAG0006.jpg?t=1315744506)
Mike this outcome makes me have hope after my sit last night.
As TJ said "good on you Mike".
What goes around, comes around. No good deed goes undone.
Happy hunting...I think everyone on Trad Gang will agree, you and TJ keep us entertained with those Kentucky bucks you chase.
:campfire:
Ditto on the entertainment from these two guys. Glad you're OK, Mike. Your night sounds pretty good to me. Fair bit of excitement. I'd trade ya, I was working late!
well now see if you would have gotten that other one you would be filling doe tags but now you can get one of them other monsters you have. Good luck.
QuoteOriginally posted by KentuckyTJ:
Mike this outcome makes me have hope after my sit last night.
Dude....just like you told me..get after it! There's more than one good buck on that farm!