TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
Sunday afternoon I drove out by my parents' to hunt in a spot I have hunted many times in the past. It was the same stand where I had a face to face with the group of bucks that I wrote about a few weeks ago.
Of course, I get there and realize I don't have my harness and I don't have my binos and range finder. I do have my saddle though so I used that in the tree stand. And I have ranged every shooting lane in that tree so I wasn't too worried about that. But not having my binos was pretty rough. I like to spend time looking through them and I definitely like seeing deer before they get close.
As I was climbing into my stand I saw a big bodied deer about 200 yards away on the next property over, but I lost him for a second and I assumed he was bedded down over there somewhere.
It was very still and very quiet for about and hour and a half, but then I noticed he was on his feet again, and then I saw that he was running off other deer. One went to the south and another went north. The one who went north crossed the creek and started to the East and got out in front of my about 80 yards. He was in a little thicket of willows or box elders and I could just make out his antlers.
He stopped for a while and I thought maybe he bedded down, but all of a sudden he started stomping back and forth in the thicket and then he ran about 20 yards north out into the open and just stared to the north east.
I looked out that direction and see another deer cross the road and the hayfield and come into the CRP at the same time this buck by me runs east and I can't see great but it looks like they are going to meet out in the middle of the CRP.
My view of this was limited by several tree trunks, but I didn't see anything come into view going south or east. So I lightly tinkled my rattling horns together and waited.
It was now about sunset and I was sorta hoping that it would come together but also hoping it wouldn't because I didn't want to deal with a down deer in the dark on a Sunday. But then why would I go hunting on a Sunday afternoon if I wasn't willing to take a shot, right?
This is where having my binos would have helped. I would have liked to get a better look at these deer, but I told myself that if one of them came my way I was going to shoot. This might have been a reaction to having passed on shots in Ohio and then not getting better opportunities. It probably was.
Well, sure enough one of the bucks is coming my way along the mowed path that will put him at 20 yards right as he comes out from behind the tree trunks on my right. I get ready and stop him thinking that his antlers looked good enough and let the arrow go.
In the picture above, the buck was at the red dot and he ran about 40 yard to edge of the willows or box elders by the green dot. Those are the same willows that a buck had been stomping around in and to the upper left you can see the green hayfield the other buck had come charging across.
I call him the Tenderloin buck because I got incredibly lucky in that I shot back and high, basically skewering his tenderloins and slicing a vein or artery that killed him in a minute or two. If it had been lower it would have been a gut shot and I would have had a hard time recovering him.
The arrow had red blood and a lot of fat on it. Very little blood trail. It was fortunate I saw where he fell over.
That's as he lay with his head held up by a little sapling.
He is probably a 2.5 year old with 7 points. If I had had time to look at him through my binos I might have passed, but I was very much caught up in the story I was telling myself that this buck had been cruising and I had been able to bring him my way with the antler noise. Also I just bought a new meat grinder and I felt like I needed some meat to work on. I'm pretty happy with the way it all worked out and was on cloud 9 while I drove my venison Uber home. I'm sure I will get out hunting more this fall, but I don't think I'll shoot another deer. Need a duck and a goose to complete my slam, and of course I'd love to get another turkey this year.
Of course, I get there and realize I don't have my harness and I don't have my binos and range finder. I do have my saddle though so I used that in the tree stand. And I have ranged every shooting lane in that tree so I wasn't too worried about that. But not having my binos was pretty rough. I like to spend time looking through them and I definitely like seeing deer before they get close.
As I was climbing into my stand I saw a big bodied deer about 200 yards away on the next property over, but I lost him for a second and I assumed he was bedded down over there somewhere.
It was very still and very quiet for about and hour and a half, but then I noticed he was on his feet again, and then I saw that he was running off other deer. One went to the south and another went north. The one who went north crossed the creek and started to the East and got out in front of my about 80 yards. He was in a little thicket of willows or box elders and I could just make out his antlers.
He stopped for a while and I thought maybe he bedded down, but all of a sudden he started stomping back and forth in the thicket and then he ran about 20 yards north out into the open and just stared to the north east.
I looked out that direction and see another deer cross the road and the hayfield and come into the CRP at the same time this buck by me runs east and I can't see great but it looks like they are going to meet out in the middle of the CRP.
My view of this was limited by several tree trunks, but I didn't see anything come into view going south or east. So I lightly tinkled my rattling horns together and waited.
It was now about sunset and I was sorta hoping that it would come together but also hoping it wouldn't because I didn't want to deal with a down deer in the dark on a Sunday. But then why would I go hunting on a Sunday afternoon if I wasn't willing to take a shot, right?
This is where having my binos would have helped. I would have liked to get a better look at these deer, but I told myself that if one of them came my way I was going to shoot. This might have been a reaction to having passed on shots in Ohio and then not getting better opportunities. It probably was.
Well, sure enough one of the bucks is coming my way along the mowed path that will put him at 20 yards right as he comes out from behind the tree trunks on my right. I get ready and stop him thinking that his antlers looked good enough and let the arrow go.
In the picture above, the buck was at the red dot and he ran about 40 yard to edge of the willows or box elders by the green dot. Those are the same willows that a buck had been stomping around in and to the upper left you can see the green hayfield the other buck had come charging across.
I call him the Tenderloin buck because I got incredibly lucky in that I shot back and high, basically skewering his tenderloins and slicing a vein or artery that killed him in a minute or two. If it had been lower it would have been a gut shot and I would have had a hard time recovering him.
The arrow had red blood and a lot of fat on it. Very little blood trail. It was fortunate I saw where he fell over.
That's as he lay with his head held up by a little sapling.
He is probably a 2.5 year old with 7 points. If I had had time to look at him through my binos I might have passed, but I was very much caught up in the story I was telling myself that this buck had been cruising and I had been able to bring him my way with the antler noise. Also I just bought a new meat grinder and I felt like I needed some meat to work on. I'm pretty happy with the way it all worked out and was on cloud 9 while I drove my venison Uber home. I'm sure I will get out hunting more this fall, but I don't think I'll shoot another deer. Need a duck and a goose to complete my slam, and of course I'd love to get another turkey this year.
