SouthernIowa
PMA Member
Well, after many hours in a tree and questioning my sanity a few times, I finally connected on one of the bucks I was after. I named him Rocky because he had a few broken tines in 2013 and was obviously a fighter.
[FONT="]I had some previous history with Rocky from last year. I didn’t get any pictures of him in the summer of 2013 but he started showing up on my cameras in the beginning of November and I actually called him into my set up in late November. I remember thinking I should keep tabs on him because, with his brows, he could really be something next year. He stayed in the area all winter but I was never able to pick up any sheds off of him. This summer he definitely wasn’t a regular on the camera but he did make one appearance and he sure did put some awesome brows on.
Rocky from this summer. [/FONT]
On November 13 I headed back home from college to get an evening hunt in. I knew with the rut in full swing I had to get into the thickest cover I could in a good pinch point. I got into the stand around 2:00 and had action right away. A good 3 year old came cruising through before I could even pull my bow up so I had high hopes for the rest of the hunt. Around 4:00 I glanced to the North of me and saw a really nice buck working a hill side that does like to bed on. I got my binos on him and I immediately knew it was Rocky. I hit him with a couple of bleats and he turned and started heading my way. I thought he was going to come straight into me but, like all mature bucks do, he started to circle around down wind. I lost sight of him for a second but he popped out of the ditch and started heading toward me on a trail that would lead him 30 yards away. I’m getting pumped up thinking it’s going to happen but he apparently didn’t get the script and he bedded down in some thick stuff about 40 yards away.
So for thirty minutes I stood there freezing, just waiting for him to make a move.
As I’m staring at him I heard something straight downwind of me. That 3 year old I had seen earlier had come cruising back through and caught my scent, but Rocky had seen the buck too and was getting up to go teach him a lesson. Rocky got up and started flexing his muscles just like the D Bags I see flexing in the mirrors at the rec center at Iowa State. In the middle of him walking to the other buck he hit the trail I walked in on and immediately locked up. I knew I wasn’t going to get a better shot so I ranged him at 38 yards and let the arrow fly. I should have known to aim low on a buck that far away on high alert because sure enough he ducked hard and I hit him in the spine. I was able to immediately get another arrow into him but to my amazement he got up and jumped the fence heading towards another thick draw. I made a mental note of where he walked into the other draw and I backed out.
I came back the next morning with two friends and we went to where he walked in the night before. We maybe went 5 yards in and he was laying there dead. I don’t really care about what he scored but he definitely fooled me. Just from the couple of pictures I had of him this summer I thought he was a little bigger. We put a really rough tape to him and came out to around 160. His longest browtine was right at 10 inches and his other was 9, along with the splits that helped the score out a lot. I couldn’t be happier with closing the deal on Rocky!
Good luck to everyone else that still have unfilled tags. I still have my state wide tag that I will be trying fill with one of the other bucks I’ve been after, but I might not be quite as ambitious to get out in this cold with one good buck already on the ground
.
[FONT="]I had some previous history with Rocky from last year. I didn’t get any pictures of him in the summer of 2013 but he started showing up on my cameras in the beginning of November and I actually called him into my set up in late November. I remember thinking I should keep tabs on him because, with his brows, he could really be something next year. He stayed in the area all winter but I was never able to pick up any sheds off of him. This summer he definitely wasn’t a regular on the camera but he did make one appearance and he sure did put some awesome brows on.
On November 13 I headed back home from college to get an evening hunt in. I knew with the rut in full swing I had to get into the thickest cover I could in a good pinch point. I got into the stand around 2:00 and had action right away. A good 3 year old came cruising through before I could even pull my bow up so I had high hopes for the rest of the hunt. Around 4:00 I glanced to the North of me and saw a really nice buck working a hill side that does like to bed on. I got my binos on him and I immediately knew it was Rocky. I hit him with a couple of bleats and he turned and started heading my way. I thought he was going to come straight into me but, like all mature bucks do, he started to circle around down wind. I lost sight of him for a second but he popped out of the ditch and started heading toward me on a trail that would lead him 30 yards away. I’m getting pumped up thinking it’s going to happen but he apparently didn’t get the script and he bedded down in some thick stuff about 40 yards away.
So for thirty minutes I stood there freezing, just waiting for him to make a move.
As I’m staring at him I heard something straight downwind of me. That 3 year old I had seen earlier had come cruising back through and caught my scent, but Rocky had seen the buck too and was getting up to go teach him a lesson. Rocky got up and started flexing his muscles just like the D Bags I see flexing in the mirrors at the rec center at Iowa State. In the middle of him walking to the other buck he hit the trail I walked in on and immediately locked up. I knew I wasn’t going to get a better shot so I ranged him at 38 yards and let the arrow fly. I should have known to aim low on a buck that far away on high alert because sure enough he ducked hard and I hit him in the spine. I was able to immediately get another arrow into him but to my amazement he got up and jumped the fence heading towards another thick draw. I made a mental note of where he walked into the other draw and I backed out.
I came back the next morning with two friends and we went to where he walked in the night before. We maybe went 5 yards in and he was laying there dead. I don’t really care about what he scored but he definitely fooled me. Just from the couple of pictures I had of him this summer I thought he was a little bigger. We put a really rough tape to him and came out to around 160. His longest browtine was right at 10 inches and his other was 9, along with the splits that helped the score out a lot. I couldn’t be happier with closing the deal on Rocky!
Good luck to everyone else that still have unfilled tags. I still have my state wide tag that I will be trying fill with one of the other bucks I’ve been after, but I might not be quite as ambitious to get out in this cold with one good buck already on the ground
.
