chipterp
PMA Member
Turned out to be a great night last night when I finally connected on one of our target deer. We have been hunting hard this week and are still trying to figure out the best stand locations and travel patterns on the new farm. We first got pictures of this guy when I set up a camera on a trail going around an old fence line that the bucks love to stop at and rub on the corner post. I'm having a little trouble naming all the bucks so this one got referred to as the corner post 10. 
We hadn't actually saw him until my first encounter on Tuesday night. I was sitting in a stand overlooking a nice brassica plot and I saw a couple of great bucks by me. I kept seeing deer just pile out of what we call the landing strip into the bean field on top of the hill into the cut beans. With about an hour left before dark I saw this big guy come out and disappear over the crest of the hill. I never saw him come back out even though most of the other bucks kept chasing does across the hills. I knew I needed to get a new stand up in that corner. The landing strip is basically a long pretty open ridge full of locust trees and grass. We never thought much of it but we've noticed this season that the deer absolutely love bedding up there during the day. We had a path through there but quit using it because you would see tails going every direction when you went through. One corner of our property ends there and luckily we have a few big trees on our side of the fence against the bean field. So after the once again non eventful morning hunt my brother and I went and grabbed a stand and sticks to put up. I told him I wanted for once to be like everyone else's stories where they saw a great buck and went and set up for him and shot him the next night. He thought that was funny assuring me it was probably the night before and last night were his two consecutive nights. Anyway we got the stand hung and I just had to bring our pole saw back to clear a few lanes before the nights hunt. I had a perfect northwest wind keeping my scent out of the field which was good because I worked up a little sweat trimming lanes. I hadn't even sat down yet when a doe busted out of the corner of the landing strip. I grabbed for my bow as a big eight came out after here at about 30 yards. I almost drew back and probably would have shot him if I hadn't had such high hopes of a return visit. I immediately started kicking myself as they ran out of sight. After that I had a bunch of does came in and out with some small bucks chasing them. With about 45 minutes left before dark all the does looked to the south and a great nine point with a split brow that I had passed on the night before came right by me at 20 yards. It's a lot easier to pass them up when you've already seen them and made a decision to let them walk. So with about 30 minutes of light left and about 10 does within 50 yards of me I look to my right and see tall white tines coming out of the landing strip towards me. I didn't know who it was but I knew it was a mature shooter immediately. I grabbed my bow and could see all the does lock on to me as I brought up the rangefinder and ranged him on a straight line at 40 yards. I drew and as soon as he paused broadside I let it go. The shot looked great and he took off over the hill as I watched my green afterburn nock break off with the back half of the arrow. I started shaking for the first time because it happened so fast. And then I started to worry about if the shot was as good as I thought. I got settled down made a few calls to let my brother and parents know I hit a big one. When it got dark my brother pulled in the field to scare the deer away and we went to check the arrow which would have been hard to find without the green nock shining in the dark. Everyone I think should utilize these when hunting it can give you information that is otherwise hard to know or find. I was beyond worried because not only was the back half of my arrow there but the front 6 inches with the G5 montec was too. I started thinking I hit the shoulder and it bounced off.We started trailing across the open bean field to at least get to where he went in the timber. We were only finding tiny specs of blood and I had a big knot in my stomach. It was slow going for 70 yards to the timber edge. When we got to the grass ditch leading to the timber the blood got just a little better and we could tell it was coming out both sides now. It was a good sign when we got to the timber and there was a main trail and we could see better blood spots along it. We decided to back out and then decided to go three more yards to see if the blood got better. It was the same and decided to back out again and as we stood there deciding to leave I caught a glimpse of a white tine not even 10 yards away in the brush. What a feeling that was. After some high fives and slapping the tag on
I flipped him over and saw my shot was perfect hitting the top of the heart and somehow exiting just in front of the right leg on the other side which explains why the arrow broke in two. But with the angle of the shot I still don't know how it came out there. It is my best buck with a bow grossing right at 155. Good luck to all those still out there. It's been forever since I filled my bow tag this early. I suppose I should get a few things done around the house but I have some doe tags burning a hole in my pocket. 
We hadn't actually saw him until my first encounter on Tuesday night. I was sitting in a stand overlooking a nice brassica plot and I saw a couple of great bucks by me. I kept seeing deer just pile out of what we call the landing strip into the bean field on top of the hill into the cut beans. With about an hour left before dark I saw this big guy come out and disappear over the crest of the hill. I never saw him come back out even though most of the other bucks kept chasing does across the hills. I knew I needed to get a new stand up in that corner. The landing strip is basically a long pretty open ridge full of locust trees and grass. We never thought much of it but we've noticed this season that the deer absolutely love bedding up there during the day. We had a path through there but quit using it because you would see tails going every direction when you went through. One corner of our property ends there and luckily we have a few big trees on our side of the fence against the bean field. So after the once again non eventful morning hunt my brother and I went and grabbed a stand and sticks to put up. I told him I wanted for once to be like everyone else's stories where they saw a great buck and went and set up for him and shot him the next night. He thought that was funny assuring me it was probably the night before and last night were his two consecutive nights. Anyway we got the stand hung and I just had to bring our pole saw back to clear a few lanes before the nights hunt. I had a perfect northwest wind keeping my scent out of the field which was good because I worked up a little sweat trimming lanes. I hadn't even sat down yet when a doe busted out of the corner of the landing strip. I grabbed for my bow as a big eight came out after here at about 30 yards. I almost drew back and probably would have shot him if I hadn't had such high hopes of a return visit. I immediately started kicking myself as they ran out of sight. After that I had a bunch of does came in and out with some small bucks chasing them. With about 45 minutes left before dark all the does looked to the south and a great nine point with a split brow that I had passed on the night before came right by me at 20 yards. It's a lot easier to pass them up when you've already seen them and made a decision to let them walk. So with about 30 minutes of light left and about 10 does within 50 yards of me I look to my right and see tall white tines coming out of the landing strip towards me. I didn't know who it was but I knew it was a mature shooter immediately. I grabbed my bow and could see all the does lock on to me as I brought up the rangefinder and ranged him on a straight line at 40 yards. I drew and as soon as he paused broadside I let it go. The shot looked great and he took off over the hill as I watched my green afterburn nock break off with the back half of the arrow. I started shaking for the first time because it happened so fast. And then I started to worry about if the shot was as good as I thought. I got settled down made a few calls to let my brother and parents know I hit a big one. When it got dark my brother pulled in the field to scare the deer away and we went to check the arrow which would have been hard to find without the green nock shining in the dark. Everyone I think should utilize these when hunting it can give you information that is otherwise hard to know or find. I was beyond worried because not only was the back half of my arrow there but the front 6 inches with the G5 montec was too. I started thinking I hit the shoulder and it bounced off.We started trailing across the open bean field to at least get to where he went in the timber. We were only finding tiny specs of blood and I had a big knot in my stomach. It was slow going for 70 yards to the timber edge. When we got to the grass ditch leading to the timber the blood got just a little better and we could tell it was coming out both sides now. It was a good sign when we got to the timber and there was a main trail and we could see better blood spots along it. We decided to back out and then decided to go three more yards to see if the blood got better. It was the same and decided to back out again and as we stood there deciding to leave I caught a glimpse of a white tine not even 10 yards away in the brush. What a feeling that was. After some high fives and slapping the tag on I flipped him over and saw my shot was perfect hitting the top of the heart and somehow exiting just in front of the right leg on the other side which explains why the arrow broke in two. But with the angle of the shot I still don't know how it came out there. It is my best buck with a bow grossing right at 155. Good luck to all those still out there. It's been forever since I filled my bow tag this early. I suppose I should get a few things done around the house but I have some doe tags burning a hole in my pocket. 
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