Tough One to Top
- Thread starter bigbuckhunter88
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That squirrel pic is AWESOME!! Like a painting! Great deer!November 1st 2020 was a day I will be trying to top in the whitetail woods for a long time. Morning hunt was windy and mainly uneventful. Checked a card and realized I was a day late as a big buck was there the day before. That evening I was supposed to take the wife hunting but she bowed out due to wind and switched the sitter to next weekend so I had the green light to go solo. I chose a different stand location where I thought I wasn't in the game, but at least in the stadium. It was a funnel between the river and an open field, I had a camera nearby but didn't have any shooters on it. I had taken the stand out of the giant, 3 trunked maple tree because it was to reclined and opted to just stand in the crotch of the tree about 12 feet up and could lean against any of the trunks. I was in and set up by 2. Half hour after settling in I caught a hind end moving through the brush across the river. I rattled, and 15 seconds later a small 2 year old was heading right to the base of the tree. I took a video with it ending with him at the tree, but took note that a deer in that path would be tough to draw on due to no cover. Shortly thereafter I had another small buck come right in, and then I got to watch and listen to a pair of otters do their thing swimming up and down. As the sun started setting I noticed 5 does and fawns in a field a few hundred yards aways. Eventually I saw a nice young 9 pointer enter the field and start chasing a doe. He had her going all over and eventually I lost sight of them heading my way. A few minutes later I heard the unmistakable crunching of a deer walking on a mission. I assumed it was the 9 pointer but I got ready anyway. When the deer cleared the thicket at 30 yards heading right to me I knew what deer it was. I wasn't expecting him but there he was. He kept steady walking on the same path that the first buck took. That trail took him directly to the base of the tree. He ended up getting to the base of the tree and behind one of the trunks of the tree I was in and I drew. I held for what seemed like forever and couldn't see the deer at all. No idea if he was alerted to me drawing or relaxed. Eventually I could hear him chewing. And then heard him take a step. And then another. A wall of tines entered into view of my sight housing and the heartrate and breathing increased. I had to look away until he took another step. Now I could see only his head and neck, but my arms were about at their max. I decided to slowly lean forward until my pin cleared his shoulder and I squeezed off the shot. It sounded and felt good but at 3 yards no chance of seeing anything. The deer took off with me looking for a hole and blood. He stopped at 30 yards and just stood there. After a few seconds of scanning I realized I should be reloading and getting another arrow in him. I just nocked my 2nd arrow and looked up to watching him start to wobble, and down he went 30 yards from stand.
Hes my dream buck. Hes got everything I could want and symmetrical to boot. The way it all happened was perfect. My phone had died sometime during the hunt so I didn't even go up to him. I went to get the family and my brother to help drag and load him. The wife was both happy and relieved that she would get her husband during November. The kids were excited for the adventure but especially the "blood, guts, and poop". It couldn't have gotten any better, and then I got the alert on my phone. The camera I set up there had caught that buck coming in, and in the background, in the crotch of the tree you can see a oversized squirrel.
Good luck to all still holding tags.
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Deer&Ducks
PMA Member
Wowza buck....standing in a crotch gets old pretty quick, way to make it work!
