Jump to content

  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

Story about a successful public land hunt - at it's best

1eyeReD

By 1eyeReD
in Archery - Bowhunting

 Share

Recommended Posts

1eyeReD Rising Star

1eyeReD

Posted
Posted

I've been chasing whitetail deer with my bow for 4 seasons including this one. I only have a doe under my belt as far as far as the whitetail species goes. Though I've killed small mule deer bucks with my 2004 Hoyt UltraSport when I used to live in CO, I don't think any big game animal has ever tested and frustrated me as much as the whitetail deer. Many encounters, a clean miss on a very nice approximately 140" 10 pt, and several seasons later, I just couldn't get a buck on the ground. I've passed on smaller bucks both both on public and private land, but rarely have encounters with shooter bucks. On private, I'd tell myself make sure it's at least a 120" or up 8 pt. On public, if it's any 8 pt, it's game.

I mainly hunt large public tracts and I hunt deep. I scout a ton and I hunt ever so obsessively during the season. This is my story of a successful public land hunt as it just happened on Friday, October 19th. Please read on, but I warn you, this is a story so it will be long winded.

The evening of Friday, Oct 18th, a friend of mine and I decided to hunt some deer travel routes along freshly cut fields on state land in the southeastern part of Minnesota. Being in a managed zone, we had does in mind. I've only scouted this property once in August and have never hunted it before. He was set up at the end of the field on top of a long steep ridge while I hunted the woods along a cornfield edge two fields over. It was a calm evening with grey skies and occasional drizzles. I didn't see anything but some turkeys and got down. As I walked the DNR forestry non-motorized vehicle trail back to the truck, it was just dark enough for me to make out some deer like silhouettes on the opposite end of the field between the field I hunted and the field my friend was at. One of the silhouettes was significantly larger than the others and it wasn't with the rest of the group. It stayed near the edge. I turned my head lamp off and continued walking. They all cautiously watched as I was walking out of the area with about 200 yds between me and the silhouettes, but they didn't spook.

My friend reports that he had 6 does pass through on different occasions (he saw two, three and a single) but he was on the wrong trail. He said they were coming on different trails so the game plan was to come back and cover both trails the next day. That way we can capitalize on what we think is "the pattern".

I agreed to coming back and hunting exactly as planned with the solid information he had. Next day we returned for an evening hunt, but opted to arrive early around noon so he can show me the trails he saw deer on. The two trails they were taking were quite close to eachother. These trails actually crossed so one guy would be able to cover both at the crossing just so as long as a tree with good shooting lanes is nearby. We found one suitable for a climbing stand close enough to offer a 20 yd shot to both trails. I let my friend sit there and told him I'll just find a spot on the other side of the ridge as I don't like hunting within sight of another hunter.

I went further down and found that the spot where I told him I'd be at didn't have any decent trails. The trails my friend was watching didn't end up where had thought. What now? - It didn't take me more than a second to decide. I'll hunt where I saw the silhouettes the evening before! So off I went back out to the DNR forestry road and going another 1/3 of a mile to the next field over. I walked towards the opposite edge checking for any entrances into the field from the woods and there were quite a few. Along this edge, the length of the field, there were large fresh scrapes with deer droppings in some every 20 to 40 yards. At nearly every entrance into the field, about 4 of them I found, there were fresh rubs. I got pretty excited. As I walked this edge trying to find a good location to set up, I woke up a forkie bedded in some grass right along the edge. He let me get near 60 yds from him before he trotted off. Didn't even look spooked as he kept stopping to look back at me. This actually slowed me down as well as I didn't want to scare him and have him blow.

I finally found a decent entrance with a fairly large trail entering from the woods. Deer droppings were fresh, lots of tracks going to and fro, this is where I'm setting up. But I had a dillema. Even with the Lone Wolf and climbing sticks on my aching back, there weren't any trees suitable to hang a stand. I was running out of time, it was 2:30pm by now so I took the trail in and found a spot to set up about 50 yds back overlooking the main entrance trail and some cris-crossing secondary trails. I didn't have much choice but to set up as I'd lose the evening hunt if I kept searching around for a spot to set up.

Once I got set up, I was able to see the other end of the corn field about 400 yds in lenth, about 200 yds wide. Not a very big field but it's sandwiched between two larger fields with blocks of woods separating the fields. The blocks of woods were on each end of the length of the field, not the width. I was set up in the block of woods on the opposite end of where I came from. Along one the length of the field, is woods, but a ridge so it's a pretty steep angle going down. The opposite side of the length of the field is a row of trees and the DNR forestry road I came in on. Beyond that, a large private corn field.. On my side, though I'm in a block of woods, it is also a ravine and I'm on the opposing side of the ravine, this ravine was carved pretty steep probably by the spring rains of years past. Anything that I'm going to shoot will have to come from behind me and be headed for the field. If it makes it past me, it would go down the ravine and up into the field.

I sat for a few hrs and it got late. Prime time was quiet with a steady north wind and blowing right into my face which is bad for this setup. I sent a text to my friend telling him I'm going to probably get down early as I'm not seeing anything. He text back, "aint seeing anything either". I had about 20 minutes of legal shooting time left. The sun is barely hovering above the western horizon or what I could see of it. I got antsy and decided to call it a day, but not without making some a final attempt to "try something".

I picked up my Knight & Hale Pack Rack and crashed it with a lengthy aggressive sequence. Paused, grunted a few times, crashed it again, waited. 5 minutes passed. A brown body appeared about 200 yds down the field along the side which I described as the ridge to the north of me on my right. I had 15 minutes left. I knew in my mind, it had to be a buck. Too bad this sharp hunter left his binocs at the truck so I couldn't quite verify! So I had to wait as he started making his way over.

He came at a steady pace, but hung up at about 150 yds. I cracked the pack rack again, he turned to look, I saw light bounce off the antlers. If I can see the curve of the main beam from here, it had to be a good one. But he put his head down and started messing with what was probably a scrape... "Crud". What will get this guy to come over? I'm losing light fast! I snort wheezed with my mouth, knowing I'll either get him to come over or spook him. He looks up and disappears into the woods along the field. Dangit! But wait - it's a ridge! He must be coming along the ridge just behind the trees so he can look out into the field without being detected.

Then it hit me, even if he continues along the edge, I'd still have no shot because I'm too far into the woods. It'd be a 50 yd shot with limited lanes or holes to shoot through. I knew he wouldn't cross into the block of woods on my side as the ravine separating me and the field was rather deep. My mind was racing. I said eff it, I'm getting down. I'm gonna sneak to the edge and wait for him on the ground. This is where it gets interesting....

I lowered my bow down with my bow rope, unhooked my trees spider harness and climbed down carefully. Love these Lone Wolf climbing sticks! So quiet!! Between the base of my tree and the edge of the field, I crossed the little ravine with every intention to be as quiet as possible without sacrificing speed. Twigs were snapping all over the place, I just couldn't quite find anywhere to step without making noise.. So I grunted as I went. Found a hole with just a little brush cover behind me right on the edge. I was two steps away from the field. Waited. Heart pumping... Thinking: "This is probably the dumbest idea ever."

Several minutes passed, seemed forever. That's it, I think he caught me and left already. Still thinking this is a dumb idea, I leaned over and looked to the right. There he was walking at a quick pace straight towards me, 20 yds away! I think quick, "what do I do?" the only broadside shot I'll get is going to be about 2 yds if he don't bust me and I don't want to take a frontal shot. At 15 yds and still going at steady trot with head down swinging side to side, I drew back. He slows down and stops at about 7 yds.

I'm crouched down under some brush, at full draw, watching in disbelief as he freshens a scrape, hair on his back all raised up. He's licking branches, peeing, and kicking dirt all over the place. On top of his head, all I saw was points, I counted 4 on one side and in my mind there was no doubt he was a shooter to my standards. At this range, he looks huge. By this moment, I held my draw about a minute, my arm feeling faint, burning.. This deer was facing me head on and his head keeps bobbing up and down, there is not much of a chance of a clean frontal shot. Then he turns slightly, sharp quartering in.

I've studied deer anatomy before. I know the front shoulder bone is high up at my angle to him as I was slightly below him and the bone connecting that to the rest of his leg is a little further back. If I can just sink it into the inside part of the front right shoulder, basically between the front right quarter and the rib, but a little lower, I should be good for a heart shot and even some lung. I steadied my pin right on a crease giving me a slight idea of where the right quarter connects to the body. Here, the meat will be less dense. This is somewhat of a frontal shot, but more like a sharp quartering in. My mind is still racing. 7 yds. 60 lb draw. 100 grain G5 Montec CS. Should go deep enough. I let fly.

It was so dang close of a shot, all I saw was a flash of red from my nokturnal lighted nock. The arrow sunk in all the way up to the fletching. He freaked out and ran out into the corn field angling back towards where he came from. I saw about 8 inches of arrow fall out as he sprints off. He stops at 50 yds just slightly over the hill where I can she his head and his rack. I'm thinking "Please go down, please go down." He disappears. I couldn't tell if he went down or ran into the woods behind him. But I hear tons of crashing. I can see corn cobs and dirt flying above the hill. I checked my phone. 6:14PM. Holy cr*p.

I put my bow down. Waited a few minutes. Text my friend. He's just now getting down. I waited about 10 minutes and carefully went over to where he disappeared. Picked up the half of the arrow that fell out, turned off the Nockturnal. Looked over and there he was belly up.

I can't believe this just happened. I can't believe it happened the way it did. I went over to find that he would've been a decent public land 8 pt, but one side was goofy. Oh well. I was ecstatic. Never been happier. After 4 seasons, I finally shot my first whitetail buck.

full-30035-25616-20121019_205458.jpg

Upon dressing the animal, I found that the Montec CS actually broke right through the lower end of the shoulder bown, slipped right between two ribs, slit the heart, cut through a mess of major arteries and pierced a lung and lodged at the mouth of the stomach. That explained the quick death. It was about less than 10 seconds from the shot and when he dropped.

This will be my most memorable hunt ever. I still can't believe this happened the way it did. But it was a perfect story. Quite unbelievable, but it happened. Thank you, Lord. And thanks to this forum. I learned a great deal about deer movement, patterning deer and seasonal behaviors by reading the posts of others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
engfish Community Regular

engfish

Posted
Posted

What a great story and a great buck. You worked hard to get a real trophy--your first whitetail buck. Sometimes you've got to trust your gut. Smart thinking, too, to use the grunt when you were making all that noise. That's one for the playbook. grin

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now ↓↓↓ or ask your question and then register. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept