Grubby
Member
The last couple years I have really enjoyed reading everyone's stories on how they got it done, so decided to share mine.
I am the proud father of two boys and I also travel for work, so my time during the off season is pretty limited. I am very fortunate to have permission on several properties that hold quite a few deer, and have very light hunting pressure. I usually stay out of my spots until November and then rely on terrain features and observed travel patterns from seasons past to try and put myself in the right spot. The fall of 2018 was going to be the second year in a row I would have three weeks off in November to hunt. Needless to say in the months and weeks leading up to November I was pretty excited.
Light rain was forecasted for the first day I was able to hunt, Nov 5, but temperatures were below average so I was still optimistic. After climbing in the stand I started going through the pics from a camera I had on a spot where deer cross under a fence 35 yards from my tree. I hadn't checked the camera in over a month and was happy to find two pictures of a buck that had busted me drawing my bow last year after he had used the same spot to cross under the fence. The buck is a big 9 pointer that would go maybe mid 160s and I was really hoping to get another chance at him this year. With three weeks in front of me and 3 other mature bucks that I had seen in the same timber in 2017, optimism was high. The stand is located on a big ridge in the corner of a 15 acre timber where two brushy fence lines and two ridges intersect. It is one of those spots deer can come from any direction at any time of day. As the sun rose I could see several small rubs and a freshly worked scrape maybe 6 yards from my tree. It seemed the spot was going to be hot again this year. I hunted at least a couple hours every morning for the next couple weeks, staying in the tree until 1 or 2pm most days. I was seeing deer on nearly every sit, but almost all were young bucks and a few does. The spot has been very good to me over the last 5 years and I have shot my last 3 bucks there. After seeing only two 3 or 4 year old bucks over nearly two weeks, doubt was starting to creep in. Still the thought of the big 9 making another appearance kept me coming back.
I finally decided to abandon my post after very few sightings over a couple days of what should have been ideal conditions for the ridge. I decided to try an area of a large farm that I have hunted for probably 14 years but had never had a stand at. I found a large multi trunked oak in the corner of a cornfield where a real brushy ditch ran out into the field. The ditch created a strip of field that was 30 to 50 yards wide and probably 200 yards long. As I was halfway up the tree screwing in steps I look over to see a doe and fawn passing by at 30 yards with no idea I was there. The first night I saw maybe 8 or 9 does and almost all passed within range, this was more like it! Most of the does were entering the field through a narrow opening in the corner of a fence. I had a few pictures of bucks using the opening but not many. The next morning was Nov 22, Thanksgiving and I was back in the same spot for a short hunt. Between 6:50 and 7:05 I saw three good bucks. It was still pretty dark and the closest they got was 70 yards but two were definite shooters. They had come across the cornfield and entered the timber a ways up the fence line. On the way out I wanted to see if I could find the spot where the bucks had crossed. About 80 yards from the tree I was in, there was a massive oak that had dropped a branch right on the fence and flattened it. I decided to move the stand to that oak tree.
The next time I was able to hunt was the afternoon of Sunday Nov 25, the last day of my 3 weeks off. The temperature was 28 degrees with overcast skies, and the wind was blasting out of the north in excess of 40mph. The drive to the spot is about 20 minutes and I just felt really good, like something was going to happen. I was thinking about how fast the last three weeks had gone by, and how fortunate I had been to spend so much time in the woods of southern Iowa chasing these awesome animals. I climbed into the massive oak at 3:30 and started questioning my sanity shortly after. The tree is on the north edge of the timber and the wind was ripping! I used the oak to shield myself the best I could and drank a couple cups of coffee. Around 4 o'clock a couple does worked a little closer to the field edge but bedded down about 80 yards away. I started to wonder if any deer would come out to feed with 40 plus mph winds, or would they wait until they died off.
About 4:30 I looked out into the field and there big as life, was a good buck standing on a terrace looking my way. I instantly knew he was a shooter and I needed to prepare myself for the shot. He was about 150 yards away but soon as he started down the terrace I knew he was in a hurry to cross the field. I grabbed my bow and started to quickly check things over, taking care not to lose sight of the buck. He had to cross the ditch in the field and I knew with the winds I would not be able to hear him if I lost sight. The buck covered the 150 yards in what seemed like barely a minute. He came across the cornfield at 20 yards but because of branches and his quick pace I had no shot. He jumped the fence and kept up his quick pace for maybe another 20 yards into the timber. Fortunately he stopped on his own because I doubt he would have heard any noise I could have made with the winds. He was quartering away and I had to crouch a little to find an opening. I knew he wouldn't stand there for long, and that he was close so soon as the top pin was settled on him I let her fly. Soon as the arrow hit I heard the unmistakable pop and the placement looked good. He charged off and after running maybe 100 yards he slowed down and changed direction a couple times, then I lost sight of him. I was instantly overcome with the rush that we all chase and just felt really good about the shot. The whole thing had taken less than two minutes to unfold and I just felt really lucky for things to have happened the way they did. There was still almost an hour of light left and when I got down the arrow had passed through and it looked good. After following an easy trail through the snow with lots of spray I knew he was down. I sat down by him and soaked in the moment, you have to when you finally have a day where it all goes right.
Thanks for reading my long winded post. Good luck to everyone still getting after them.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
I am the proud father of two boys and I also travel for work, so my time during the off season is pretty limited. I am very fortunate to have permission on several properties that hold quite a few deer, and have very light hunting pressure. I usually stay out of my spots until November and then rely on terrain features and observed travel patterns from seasons past to try and put myself in the right spot. The fall of 2018 was going to be the second year in a row I would have three weeks off in November to hunt. Needless to say in the months and weeks leading up to November I was pretty excited.
Light rain was forecasted for the first day I was able to hunt, Nov 5, but temperatures were below average so I was still optimistic. After climbing in the stand I started going through the pics from a camera I had on a spot where deer cross under a fence 35 yards from my tree. I hadn't checked the camera in over a month and was happy to find two pictures of a buck that had busted me drawing my bow last year after he had used the same spot to cross under the fence. The buck is a big 9 pointer that would go maybe mid 160s and I was really hoping to get another chance at him this year. With three weeks in front of me and 3 other mature bucks that I had seen in the same timber in 2017, optimism was high. The stand is located on a big ridge in the corner of a 15 acre timber where two brushy fence lines and two ridges intersect. It is one of those spots deer can come from any direction at any time of day. As the sun rose I could see several small rubs and a freshly worked scrape maybe 6 yards from my tree. It seemed the spot was going to be hot again this year. I hunted at least a couple hours every morning for the next couple weeks, staying in the tree until 1 or 2pm most days. I was seeing deer on nearly every sit, but almost all were young bucks and a few does. The spot has been very good to me over the last 5 years and I have shot my last 3 bucks there. After seeing only two 3 or 4 year old bucks over nearly two weeks, doubt was starting to creep in. Still the thought of the big 9 making another appearance kept me coming back.
I finally decided to abandon my post after very few sightings over a couple days of what should have been ideal conditions for the ridge. I decided to try an area of a large farm that I have hunted for probably 14 years but had never had a stand at. I found a large multi trunked oak in the corner of a cornfield where a real brushy ditch ran out into the field. The ditch created a strip of field that was 30 to 50 yards wide and probably 200 yards long. As I was halfway up the tree screwing in steps I look over to see a doe and fawn passing by at 30 yards with no idea I was there. The first night I saw maybe 8 or 9 does and almost all passed within range, this was more like it! Most of the does were entering the field through a narrow opening in the corner of a fence. I had a few pictures of bucks using the opening but not many. The next morning was Nov 22, Thanksgiving and I was back in the same spot for a short hunt. Between 6:50 and 7:05 I saw three good bucks. It was still pretty dark and the closest they got was 70 yards but two were definite shooters. They had come across the cornfield and entered the timber a ways up the fence line. On the way out I wanted to see if I could find the spot where the bucks had crossed. About 80 yards from the tree I was in, there was a massive oak that had dropped a branch right on the fence and flattened it. I decided to move the stand to that oak tree.
The next time I was able to hunt was the afternoon of Sunday Nov 25, the last day of my 3 weeks off. The temperature was 28 degrees with overcast skies, and the wind was blasting out of the north in excess of 40mph. The drive to the spot is about 20 minutes and I just felt really good, like something was going to happen. I was thinking about how fast the last three weeks had gone by, and how fortunate I had been to spend so much time in the woods of southern Iowa chasing these awesome animals. I climbed into the massive oak at 3:30 and started questioning my sanity shortly after. The tree is on the north edge of the timber and the wind was ripping! I used the oak to shield myself the best I could and drank a couple cups of coffee. Around 4 o'clock a couple does worked a little closer to the field edge but bedded down about 80 yards away. I started to wonder if any deer would come out to feed with 40 plus mph winds, or would they wait until they died off.
About 4:30 I looked out into the field and there big as life, was a good buck standing on a terrace looking my way. I instantly knew he was a shooter and I needed to prepare myself for the shot. He was about 150 yards away but soon as he started down the terrace I knew he was in a hurry to cross the field. I grabbed my bow and started to quickly check things over, taking care not to lose sight of the buck. He had to cross the ditch in the field and I knew with the winds I would not be able to hear him if I lost sight. The buck covered the 150 yards in what seemed like barely a minute. He came across the cornfield at 20 yards but because of branches and his quick pace I had no shot. He jumped the fence and kept up his quick pace for maybe another 20 yards into the timber. Fortunately he stopped on his own because I doubt he would have heard any noise I could have made with the winds. He was quartering away and I had to crouch a little to find an opening. I knew he wouldn't stand there for long, and that he was close so soon as the top pin was settled on him I let her fly. Soon as the arrow hit I heard the unmistakable pop and the placement looked good. He charged off and after running maybe 100 yards he slowed down and changed direction a couple times, then I lost sight of him. I was instantly overcome with the rush that we all chase and just felt really good about the shot. The whole thing had taken less than two minutes to unfold and I just felt really lucky for things to have happened the way they did. There was still almost an hour of light left and when I got down the arrow had passed through and it looked good. After following an easy trail through the snow with lots of spray I knew he was down. I sat down by him and soaked in the moment, you have to when you finally have a day where it all goes right.
Thanks for reading my long winded post. Good luck to everyone still getting after them.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
