Midwestwhitetail
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2019
- Messages
- 107
It's been 2 years since I have killed any deer. I usually am good for atleast a buck and doe every year. This year I have been able to change the tide. A couple weeks ago I was able to shoot 2 doe about 30 minutes apart. This was the first time I have ever shot 2 deer in the same day. I was pretty pumped after the dry spell. Fast forward to the last couple days. I am in missouri and we have been pretty dry for us. We had some rain with cool Temps coming for Friday night. Friday morning I get a text from the big boss telling me to let my crew have a day off! I work construction and don't complain about an extra day to hunt during season. So I switched from work clothes to hunting clothes and took off out the door. Long story short Friday morning I had a nice 8 point come in on the west side of my stand. As I watch him coming in I get my bow knowing full well he is a shooter. All he has to do is clear all the brush and cedar saplings to give me a shot. For 5 minutes I watched that buck stand at 12 yards from the ladder of my stand and never give me that shot. He then proceeded to turn and walk straight away back through the brush knowing he was safe. I didn't sit very long Friday morning because it was warm and I had a project that needed finished. I rushed around and got the project finished. By the time I was headed back to the woods for an afternoon/evening sit it was 3pm and the Temps had dropped 20 degrees. As I sat/ stood in the stand on the edge of timber and CRP field it started to rain. The wind was blowing hard. A couple doe fed out into the field from the timber opposite of me. Then it really started to rain a very hard down pour. As I stood there trying to stay as dry as a guy can with no rain gear and hanging off the side of a tree, I thought to myself that being able to hunt, pursue conservation and all things outdoors is something I am so thankful for. The lighting flashed me out of my daze and I realized I better get out of the metal stand strapped to a tree and call it a night. I jogged back to the truck completely soaked and ready to get back out the next morning. I awake to the sound of more rain and whipping winds. I check the weather and see Temps in the mid 30's with 15mph winds and rain likely for a few hours. I throw on the layers and head out the door. I make it to the stand about an hour before legal shooting light. I climb up and get situated as the wind blows the rain into my face. As light approaches I am standing facing the east (behind my stand) as I see what appears to be an antler in the brush slightly moving. I grab the binos and peer through to see a buck bedded at 42 yards. Then I can see that this buck only has one antler. I have pictures of him from last year but never got to see him with my own eyes. Early velvet pictures in 21 showed he never tried to grow a left side only right and it was huge. He has so much mass and so much junk all over the one antler it's hard to describe. He eventually winds me due to the wind blowing directly at him. How he hung along for that long I don't know. As I sit there sulking wishing it would have played out different so I could have gotten a shot I look to my left and see a nice 8 point coming in. I look him over and decide to pass him up. He looked to be about a 3.5 year old with good potential in a year or too. This scenario played out about 5 more times of deer coming in and me letting them walk with no shot. Never in my life have I had a sit when I have seen more than 2 bucks and I was up to 7. Eventually a nice 9 point comes in and I look him over and pass him at about 35 yards. I watch him feed in the timber and start to think maybe I really like this one. He is nearing an opening in some oak and cedar trees. I range the opening 45 yards. I roll my sight and get ready. I have made up my mind I want him if he will give me a shot. He works his way to the opening and I draw back. He steps out I let out a soft "meehhh" and he stops as he does I feel the trigger of my release as the string sends my arrow on a crash course for the boiler room. But I hear sound I shouldn't have heard like a stick hitting against another stick just once. Then the sound I am waiting for a loud smack. But why is my arrow so far back. My arrow hit a twig off one of the trees about 15 yards before it got to this buck and deflected my arrow way back. The buck took off and I just knew I was never gonna find that buck. Fast forward a couple hours and I had gone and gotten my dog Finn. He is a Deutsch Drahthaar and had already tracked my 2 does a few weeks ago. I start him on the track and much to my surprise he takes right off. As I follow behind it doesn't take long to cover approximately 60 yards and see my dog running circles around a very dead deer. I was very lucky today that my arrow found something vital to hit and that I was able to recover this deer. I am happy with my dog and happy with the deer. I wasn't lucky at all last year but I sure used all the good luck I had saved up today.
