OneCam
Well-Known Member
As the anticipation of the November rut approached, anxiety was running through my veins. This was the first time I'd hunted this farm in 15 years. Things had really changed. The timber was basically unpenetrable with brush, so I opted for a field edge stand.
I'd seen 3 different shooter bucks in the last 2 days, and on my drive to my hunting area I watched a tremendous buck chasing a doe across a picked bean field just outside of town. My stand wasn't quite where I wanted it, but it was too late to move it, so I thought I would employ a "new too me" strategy. A decoy.
The winds were perfect, light out of the WNW. The evening breeze was refreshingly cool, but not cold. The big bucks had passed within 50 yds of my stand on previous hunts, and I was basically going for the now or never hunt. I've bowhunted for 20 yrs. and this was my first hunt with a decoy. I placed the decoy, a doe, up wind of my stand about 20 yds away, and quartering away, hoping one of these bucks would approach on the downwind side from her rear. I perched myself on stand for the evenings events, which I just knew were about to unfold.
As I got settled in, I hung my quiver, hooked my safety belt and attached my release to my wrist. It wasn't long and I heard the distinct grunt of a nearby buck. I grabbed my bow and got ready just in case. I doe came first, running within feet of my decoy. The buck, a small 6 pointer followed, and they ran out of sight, neither paying any attention to my setup. Minutes had passed and across the field I spotted a very respectable buck working a scrape. A doe then appeared behind him, he watched her intently and checked her scent. She on the other hand had full focus on one thing - MY DECOY. She started out into the field working directly toward me. She was very stiff legged and wary, the buck continued to watch. The buck was still approximately 100yds away, and the doe was now approaching 40. This is when she began to stomp and snort, letting every deer in the county know something wasn't quite right. The only good thing, in my mind , was she was still upwind of the setup. I was ready to write the evening off as a failure, but she was getting closer, and low and behold, so was the buck! The doe now is at my decoys feet, she's still stomping and snorting, the buck is 40 yds away and closing in. I can't believe what I'm seeing, He's still coming The moment of truth is fast approaching, and I'm going to have to make a move soon - real soon! With the buck 20 yds and closing I come to full draw, the doe sees me move and she bolts like a rocket. He continues on his path to the decoy. I still can't believe it, I'm going to get a shot. As his nose gets within inches of the rag I've dowsed with doe estrous, I settle my pin right behind his shoulder and punch the trigger - perfect hit, pass through! He jumps with the usual mule kick of a well placed arrow, but doesn't run off. Now standing 10 feet from the decoy with the life running out of both sides of the buck, he begins to stagger. My nerves are gone! I hang my bow and sit down before I fall down. 30 seconds later he's down within 10 feeet of the decoy. I can't believe it, he's mine, the plan has come together. He was an 8 pointer, a deer I hadn't seen all year, roughly 130". Not a buck of a lifetime, but definitely a hunt of a lifetime! . . .Pupster
I'd seen 3 different shooter bucks in the last 2 days, and on my drive to my hunting area I watched a tremendous buck chasing a doe across a picked bean field just outside of town. My stand wasn't quite where I wanted it, but it was too late to move it, so I thought I would employ a "new too me" strategy. A decoy.
The winds were perfect, light out of the WNW. The evening breeze was refreshingly cool, but not cold. The big bucks had passed within 50 yds of my stand on previous hunts, and I was basically going for the now or never hunt. I've bowhunted for 20 yrs. and this was my first hunt with a decoy. I placed the decoy, a doe, up wind of my stand about 20 yds away, and quartering away, hoping one of these bucks would approach on the downwind side from her rear. I perched myself on stand for the evenings events, which I just knew were about to unfold.
As I got settled in, I hung my quiver, hooked my safety belt and attached my release to my wrist. It wasn't long and I heard the distinct grunt of a nearby buck. I grabbed my bow and got ready just in case. I doe came first, running within feet of my decoy. The buck, a small 6 pointer followed, and they ran out of sight, neither paying any attention to my setup. Minutes had passed and across the field I spotted a very respectable buck working a scrape. A doe then appeared behind him, he watched her intently and checked her scent. She on the other hand had full focus on one thing - MY DECOY. She started out into the field working directly toward me. She was very stiff legged and wary, the buck continued to watch. The buck was still approximately 100yds away, and the doe was now approaching 40. This is when she began to stomp and snort, letting every deer in the county know something wasn't quite right. The only good thing, in my mind , was she was still upwind of the setup. I was ready to write the evening off as a failure, but she was getting closer, and low and behold, so was the buck! The doe now is at my decoys feet, she's still stomping and snorting, the buck is 40 yds away and closing in. I can't believe what I'm seeing, He's still coming The moment of truth is fast approaching, and I'm going to have to make a move soon - real soon! With the buck 20 yds and closing I come to full draw, the doe sees me move and she bolts like a rocket. He continues on his path to the decoy. I still can't believe it, I'm going to get a shot. As his nose gets within inches of the rag I've dowsed with doe estrous, I settle my pin right behind his shoulder and punch the trigger - perfect hit, pass through! He jumps with the usual mule kick of a well placed arrow, but doesn't run off. Now standing 10 feet from the decoy with the life running out of both sides of the buck, he begins to stagger. My nerves are gone! I hang my bow and sit down before I fall down. 30 seconds later he's down within 10 feeet of the decoy. I can't believe it, he's mine, the plan has come together. He was an 8 pointer, a deer I hadn't seen all year, roughly 130". Not a buck of a lifetime, but definitely a hunt of a lifetime! . . .Pupster