Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
I got in the stand and got my stuff ready. Picked up the grunt tube and tested it out. Within two minutes a nice mature 8 pointer was looking for the source of the grunt.
He came from the CRP and was now only a few steps from shooting lane. I put the pin on the spot, but my shot was less than perfect. I hit him back and he walked off slow...hunched up. You know what that means. He stood 60 yards from my tree, hardly
moving for an hour before
I snuck out of the stand a little later with one choice. Come back tomorrow. There are a lot of coyotes around--- I was worried I would find a mess in the morning.
Since it was a school day my sons could not help. So I asked two good friends to help with the track. We went to the spot where he bedded and he was not there. Time to track! He was leaving sparse blood but initially enough to track. Then we lost blood as he weaved from timber to CRP.
At this point I was seriously bummed and thinking that I blew the shot and wounded an animal never to be found. Then my friend Bill found some blood--- the 8 pointer had moved into a tall CRP field that had a small lake on the east side he was heading for water---my spirits were lifted.
The tall grass helped with the tracking and we found decent blood. The buck entered a patch of slough grass and we found several bloody beds in a small area. At this point, my buddy said, "Kurt we will find him in here!"
There he was not 10 yards ahead, he had not made it to the water. Turns out I hit him mid-section maybe off by 10 inches on my shot.
I was so excited as I went from a low to a high in a matter of 30 minutes. What great memories of the hunt and the track job with friends...it was even more special shooting it on your own land in a state that has plenty of pressure.
The coyotes had not found him, and as I looked the buck over and realized that I had never seen him before in the field or on camera. He must have been cruising for does. You never know what will show up.
I hope to double up with another buck in Iowa in December. Until then I will film my son's hunts and watch the Harvest Report....good luck guys!
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