So I have been doing all day sits the past week or more and I'm getting beat up and tired. I've seen two shooters, lots of young bucks and almost had a shot at a good one at 12 yards, but it happened too fast and I couldn't shoot.
So today I slept in. Planned on going somewhere around 9ish, but after checking Scoutlook, I noticed the wind was set to switch drastically around 11, so I waited until 11, grabbed some lunch, ate it in the truck and then started my long walk.
I made my way into an area that I hadn't set foot in yet this year, but year in and year out, it features big buck sign as the rut hits. This year was no different and the sign didn't disappoint.
With the giant scrape and huge rub right in front of me and thick cover surrounding me, I knew I would hunt this spot at least one other day this year. So I chose to drill out bolt holes instead of just using climbing sticks. Finally around 1:40pm I was settled in and ready to kill.
Around 3:00pm I decided to do a few doe bleats, I was going to sit and not make a sound, just because I was so confident in all the sign, but something just felt right, so I did a few bleats.
Around 3:10 I catch movement to my right. Deer...Big body...70 yards and closing. Buck....SHOOTER!
I am already slowly rotating to hide behind the tree better and setup for a shot at the scrape. He is now at 25 yards and working a different scrape overhanging branch. I have no shot over there. After working the scrape over and scenting the air, he makes his way towards me. However, instead of walking right to the main scrape, he veers slightly and ends up walking 5 yards from my tree. The angle is no good and he's on the same side as me now. Fortunately he turns and decides to visit the main scrape, which is about 16-17 yards away from me. He ends up walking up to it and I come to full draw, he's broadside, auto-pilot takes over and I watch the arrow bury deep, a little low, but looked really good, heart shot I'm thinking. I check my phone, it's exactly 3:18 and I just put an arrow through a real nice public land buck. I'm kind of on top of the world, but also know that nothing is guaranteed, and that even if he is down, a ton of work lays before me.
When the arrow hit, it sounded great and from what I saw, looked great. He mule-kicked and ran hard for 80 yards before I couldn't even catch glimpses through the thick cover.
I didn't hear him crash, but the oak I was in still had leaves and the wind was giving them a thorough shake.
So, I waited until 4pm just to be safe. Expecting to climb down and find a blood soaked arrow, instead I was surprised by a lot of white hair, a little fat and hardly any blood on the arrow. There was a little on the fletchings though, so it appeared to be a pass through. The arrow didn't smell like guts and no gut juice on it. It was also facing back at the stand, so it kind of "fell out" of him I guess, but right where he stood at the shot. I sat pondering what to do....I decided I'd likely back out, but wanted to check a short distance ahead for blood just in case. I don't want to lose an easy recovery to all of our wonderful coyotes (that's sarcasm, I hate them).
So after a few minutes of slowly and carefully following roughed up leaves, I finally spotted a couple drops of blood. Few more, then suddenly the blood gates opened and it was a red carpet. My hopes were high.
Hopes, "were" high...Until I got to the powerline about 100 yards away and still don't see a dead buck. On the other side of the powerline, private property that I can't access....I tracked blood up to the line and glassed around from there just to make sure he wasn't right there.
I'll go back in the morning and speak to the people that work for the company that owns the land, see if I can beg someone for permission to track.
My hopes aren't high though. A lot of people sneak on that property to hunt illegally, so my guess is they won't be very welcoming to a hunter.
So right now, I'm either tagged out, or completely dejected. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Like I said though, I doubt I'll be allowed to recover the deer.
So as of right now, I'm completely dejected, but holding out a small amount of hope.
I'll attach a photo of one of his rubs (theres a few just like it)...the primary scrape I was hunting over and what most of the blood trail looked like. I'm always amazed at how much blood deer can lose and keep going. With the amount of blood on the ground, I'd have been dead after the first 20 yards.
The scrape is more impressive in person than the picture. You can't see all the chewed up licking branches and the scrape is actually bigger than what I got in the picture. Perfect example of the type of scrape worth hunting over.
So today I slept in. Planned on going somewhere around 9ish, but after checking Scoutlook, I noticed the wind was set to switch drastically around 11, so I waited until 11, grabbed some lunch, ate it in the truck and then started my long walk.
I made my way into an area that I hadn't set foot in yet this year, but year in and year out, it features big buck sign as the rut hits. This year was no different and the sign didn't disappoint.
With the giant scrape and huge rub right in front of me and thick cover surrounding me, I knew I would hunt this spot at least one other day this year. So I chose to drill out bolt holes instead of just using climbing sticks. Finally around 1:40pm I was settled in and ready to kill.
Around 3:00pm I decided to do a few doe bleats, I was going to sit and not make a sound, just because I was so confident in all the sign, but something just felt right, so I did a few bleats.
Around 3:10 I catch movement to my right. Deer...Big body...70 yards and closing. Buck....SHOOTER!
I am already slowly rotating to hide behind the tree better and setup for a shot at the scrape. He is now at 25 yards and working a different scrape overhanging branch. I have no shot over there. After working the scrape over and scenting the air, he makes his way towards me. However, instead of walking right to the main scrape, he veers slightly and ends up walking 5 yards from my tree. The angle is no good and he's on the same side as me now. Fortunately he turns and decides to visit the main scrape, which is about 16-17 yards away from me. He ends up walking up to it and I come to full draw, he's broadside, auto-pilot takes over and I watch the arrow bury deep, a little low, but looked really good, heart shot I'm thinking. I check my phone, it's exactly 3:18 and I just put an arrow through a real nice public land buck. I'm kind of on top of the world, but also know that nothing is guaranteed, and that even if he is down, a ton of work lays before me.
When the arrow hit, it sounded great and from what I saw, looked great. He mule-kicked and ran hard for 80 yards before I couldn't even catch glimpses through the thick cover.
I didn't hear him crash, but the oak I was in still had leaves and the wind was giving them a thorough shake.
So, I waited until 4pm just to be safe. Expecting to climb down and find a blood soaked arrow, instead I was surprised by a lot of white hair, a little fat and hardly any blood on the arrow. There was a little on the fletchings though, so it appeared to be a pass through. The arrow didn't smell like guts and no gut juice on it. It was also facing back at the stand, so it kind of "fell out" of him I guess, but right where he stood at the shot. I sat pondering what to do....I decided I'd likely back out, but wanted to check a short distance ahead for blood just in case. I don't want to lose an easy recovery to all of our wonderful coyotes (that's sarcasm, I hate them).
So after a few minutes of slowly and carefully following roughed up leaves, I finally spotted a couple drops of blood. Few more, then suddenly the blood gates opened and it was a red carpet. My hopes were high.
Hopes, "were" high...Until I got to the powerline about 100 yards away and still don't see a dead buck. On the other side of the powerline, private property that I can't access....I tracked blood up to the line and glassed around from there just to make sure he wasn't right there.
I'll go back in the morning and speak to the people that work for the company that owns the land, see if I can beg someone for permission to track.
My hopes aren't high though. A lot of people sneak on that property to hunt illegally, so my guess is they won't be very welcoming to a hunter.
So right now, I'm either tagged out, or completely dejected. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Like I said though, I doubt I'll be allowed to recover the deer.
So as of right now, I'm completely dejected, but holding out a small amount of hope.
I'll attach a photo of one of his rubs (theres a few just like it)...the primary scrape I was hunting over and what most of the blood trail looked like. I'm always amazed at how much blood deer can lose and keep going. With the amount of blood on the ground, I'd have been dead after the first 20 yards.
The scrape is more impressive in person than the picture. You can't see all the chewed up licking branches and the scrape is actually bigger than what I got in the picture. Perfect example of the type of scrape worth hunting over.
