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2009 Iowa Archery Buck

treft133

Member
Truly a Dream Season!

This Summer in early June I received my first picture of what appeared to be a deer with great potential. This farm has had history to hold nice deer in the Summer, only to watch them transition a couple of miles South toward the bigger timbers come hunting season. (In search for more does. I really only have 2 does with fawns in the area. Kind of unusual.)
As the Summer progressed I continued to get trail cam pictures of the deer on only one side of the farm. I was beginning to determine the area as his "home core area".

So I began focusing on how to keep this deer around long enough into the hunting season that I could get a crack at him. My first thought was to completely stay out of the area as it was only about a 2 acre timber that connected a couple of brushy creeks in the middle of wide open farm country. In early August I made the move to add a small 1/8 acre food plot, just enough for the deer in the area, plus that was all the space I had. The Whitetail Institute Secret Plot XL worked like a charm. It was quickly establishing itself and was attracting deer.

As hunting season approached I placed a trail camera on the food plot, where I could get in and out without disturbing much of the area. Low and behold the big 10 was showing up with a few other good deer. He would visit the plot once every 6-10 days on a regular basis, working a scrape. During the last week of September I caught him in broad daylight working a the scrape in the corner of the food plot. Needless to say it was hard going to sleep at night, as I awaited for opening night of the 2009 Archery Season.
Opening night came and went with rains and unfavorable winds. The following week I hunted on Monday night only to have a few small bucks come in at last light. Upon checking the camera the big 10 was there just a few days prior. I started doing my math and figured the coming weekend he would be due to show up again, if he was still on his summer schedule. Saturday morning brought snow fall and cold temps, a dream for those early season bowhunters. That night I sat on stand only to see the same 3 small bucks at last light.

Sunday Night-The Finally Evening
Sunday afternoon I was excited to see that the wind was still quite favorable for this particular stand location. So about 4:15 I get settled into the stand. At 4:45 I caught some movement through the trees in the bean field to the south of me. It was a small fork buck. He was slowly feeding his way to the small 2 acre timber. Within the next 15 minutes he had worked his way to the creek and had entered the brushy side of the timber. At this time I had decided to kind of ignore him as he was basically behind me. About 5-10 minutes later, from the same direction I hear a loud crash and the busting of brush. I quickly looked over my shoulder to see nothing, whatever it was had stopped. About 10 seconds later, it happened again, only this time I could see what it was. It was the big 10 a mere 45 yards from my stand! He had probably been bedded there the whole time. He was not happy that this little buck woke him from his afternoon nap. Needless to say the time on my watch said 5:05, plenty of time before dark, right? Well, during the next 20 minutes this buck stayed in the thick cover, raking trees and munching on a few small leafs. After feeding on some leafs, he decided to get a drink of water. I thought to myself, here we go, this is going to be my chance. NOPE, he walked straight down the bank and never turned broadside until got into the water. At this point he is within 15 yards with absolutely way to shot with that much brush between us. I Never thought he would come from that way. (I'll never say that again when I am setting my stands.) After drinking and playing in the water for almost 30 minutes. (Yeah no kidding, 30 More Minutes!! My Knees were seriously getting weaker by the minute.) Finally as he started to walk back up the bank he stepped into a small shooting lane. I got to full draw, bahhhhhed to get him to stop, settled in and completely smoked him! He took off up through the brush and headed east along the edge of the creek to a grassy side hill, completely out of sight.

After making a great shot and watching the deer take off I shouted and yelled from the stand like a little kid, literally not making any sense. I am sure most of the sounds could not be made into words. Having felt like I made a deadly shot I called the wife and some hunting buddies to tell them the good news.

We decided that it would be best if I were to come home, regroup and head out after dark. About 8:00 we picked up the trail and with in minutes he was in my hands. Truly a Dream Come True!

Thanks again guys for all the great help! At least this year the tracking drop was only a few minutes, rather than a few days. I can't wait to help you guys in the coming weeks and months!

The deer weighed 218 pounds.
Unofficial Gross Score 166 4/8 Unofficial Net Score 160 7/8

http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=2160

http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=2148

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http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=2161

http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=2162

http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=2150
 
Heck of a buck, history, etc. Congrats, what a kill- especially this early, nice job!
 
sweet buck with an even sweeter story. it sounds like the work you put in this season really paid off. Congrats.
 
Congrats. Sweet buck, sweet food plot, sweet hole from the broadhead...what head were you using?
 
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