Got a dandy one!

[NorthernMN]

I know we are about due to start seeing those fine rifle kills show up but I figured I would post up the buck I took on October 20th with my bow. Giving up rifle hunting was the best think I ever did. You get a long season, not too many other hunters in the state land, and the deer aren't going crazy from being shot at. Anyway, here is my little story and picture....

Well, I decided to take the day off work on Friday, Oct 20th and get in some much needed time on the stand. This coming weekend was the youth early antler less firearms hunt so it was my last chance to spend some quiet time on the stand before the kids with guns get out. I think it is great to get the kids out but it really puts a damper on us archery hunters.

I got up at 4:00 am and drove 30 minutes to a piece of fine Minnesota state public land in Lake of the Woods County that I had not yet had the chance to hunt. I did a little scouting and bird hunting a couple of weeks earlier and had marked a few choice looking areas on my GPS. I unloaded my gear and headed for my spot. It was dark and quiet as I made my way through the woods. The overnight low was 23 degrees and there was a chance of snow in the forecast. The wind was calm. I hoped the cold snap would get the deer motivated and moving around. I finally found my tree in the dark and unpacked my climbing stand. By the time I got all settled in it was nearly 6:15 am. My timing had been nearly perfect. I sat in that tree as the snow gently fell and light began to creep into the woods. I spent the next 5 hours getting snowed on and never saw so much as a bird. It was time for plan B.

I had marked another spot of state land about 3 miles away and it started looking better every second. I figured my situation couldn't get much worse so I packed up and headed for my truck. I parked at my new spot and uploaded my climber and bow and headed into the new unknown. I only walked about 200 yards into these woods and came upon a huge scrape. It was big and it was fresh. I turned back and saw my truck. I had not gone far enough. I needed to head further into the woods. I mean, I could still see my truck and I was only about 200 yards from the road. I am not lazy. I would happily walk a mile in to get a good setup. I don't know what came over me but something felt good about this spot. I walked around a bit and found 2 more scrapes within 20 yards. They were big too. I mean 7' - 8' around. I just couldn't take it. I wanted a piece of this action bad.

I found a great mature Aspen tree and setup 26 yards to the south of one of those big scrapes. A quick check of my watch showed me it was 2:00 pm. I was all ready for a good afternoon hunt. After only 10 minutes here comes this little spike buck. He was looking and sniffing and wandering around. A good sign I thought to myself. “There is deer here and that is important when you are hunting deer”. I spent the next four hours watching deer after deer come meandering through. I counted 17 deer in only 4 hours.

After spending all afternoon watching deer it seemed as though I was getting less excited each time I would see another one. That “chance of snow” in the forecast had been falling on me all day. I was soaking wet since it was 30 degrees and the snow was melting as fast as it hit me. The wind starting to picking up and the cold began to bite. I think my mind started to drift and I began planning my next hunt as I waited for darkness to come.

I was scanning the woods when I looked to my left. I think my heart just stopped for a couple seconds. Here was this buck just standing there 50 yards to the left of me. He was checking out something on the ground and I was desperately trying to get my arms to function so I could look at him with my binoculars. When I finally managed to get them to my face I couldn't see anything. All the snow had filled the eye cups with slush. I worked frantically to clear at least one side to get a better look at this deer. I finally cleared one side enough to see and when I looked my heart went into overdrive. This was an awesome buck. He had a big body, thick antlers, and he was coming my way. I reached for my bow and as if he had special powers of intuition he looked right at me. I froze. I thought it was over just as quickly as it had started. I have played this game before. Sometimes I won and sometimes I lost. I could feel myself shaking and I struggled to remain still. Seconds turned into minutes. He finally looked away and started walking. I grabbed my bow and clipped my release in one motion. He was moving quickly and he was heading for that scrape. I just started thinking 26 yards to that scrape. He looked like he was on a mission. I drew on him as he moved across in front of me. 26 yards I thought. He passed by that scraped without even slowing down. I panicked. He wasn't going to stop and I was running out of clear shooting space. I moved my sight in front of him and watched him come into my pin. I was settled in and as his shoulder came across my pin I touched the release. I watched my blaze orange crested Gold Tip burry into his chest. In and instant he spun hard and started to run. He only made it about 30 yards when I noticed he was running right into trees. He was dead on his feet as he managed to cover another 30 yards and crash hard.

Now I was really shaking. I sat back down in my Summit climber to regain my thoughts and my breath. I spent the next few minutes reflecting on the odd set of circumstances that had brought me together with this buck. Maybe it was just plain luck. I like to think that even if it was luck I deserved it. I hunt hard and maybe just this once a little good luck was all I needed.

[HC Eye Hunter]

Excellent buck!!! And a great story! That feeling is what keeps us bowhunting!

[snapcrackpop]

Wow!

Can't beat that!

[eyepatrol]

Sweet! Nice buck and story!

Maybe I need to take up bow hunting too???

[Outdoors_Junkie]

Very nice buck! Thank you for sharing the story too!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Nice deer, nice story,, great picture!!!!

I like your bow and camo too( I have some asat as well) and also shoot a hoyt.. but an Ultra Tec.

[NorthernMN]

Thanks guys. I hope everyone is having some good luck out rifle hunting and being safe. Of course if you are a bow hunter like me you just turn your head and wait for the shooting to stop so we can go back in the woods.

[harvey lee]

Nice buck,great story.

[Borch]

Very nice buck!

Sounds like a very rewarding day!

[fishermn]

Great story, and awesome buck! Congratulations!

[FL SNIPER]

That's awesome man! Good for you. Good story and great pic.

[Stratosman]

Quote:

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“There is deer here and that is important when you are hunting deer”.

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Favorite line of the story! Nice deer!

[DRH1175]

congrats awesome buck!