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I can't believe that worked moment.

MattMan81

MattMan81

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2020
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The Mitten
Tell your story about a "I can't believe that worked moment." The ones that you doubt it will work. But happy it did. I got two.

First was in the grass behinds my parents house. Took an antler, raked a tree with a few grunts.. 5 minutes later a small buck showed up. No luck with it sense. But I couldn't believe it worked..

Second. First rut with a saddle. Hung in a tree that had fresh tracks going back and fourth. Had a buck come walking by with no clue I was there.
 
Saddle hunting. It was roughly 4 to 5 years ago a coworker of mine was talking about saddle hunting to me and at the time it sounded terrible. Small platform, what? That looks uncomfortable!

I actually had a conversation with him recently and we both laughed at how I now go around telling everybody it’s been such a great improvement to my hunting
 
How about an almost worked moment.

I was hunting a decent 8 point during the rut last year that had gotten by me on two occasions, both times just out of bow range. I knew the general area where he would cross but, couldn't get set up close enough for him to be in recurve range without him smelling me before he got there. On my third hunt I intentionally walked in on a path that caused him to cross my trail. I kept my boots clean, avoided touching any vegetation and sprayed doe in estrus scent over everything for the last 50 yards to my stand. About 9 am I saw him crossing about 40 yards out, he hit my trail that morning, turned and slowly started working down the scent trail I left, smelling every branch and spot I sprayed with estrus scent. It took him about 15 minutes to cut the distance from 40 yds to 17 yds but, then he caught a whiff of me on a branch that I knew had rubbed my pack that morning when I ducked under it. He got nervous and turned broad side with one branch blocking his vitals and proceeded to stand there for another 5 min with me trying to find a way to get an arrow through the limb. I needed him to take one step but, instead he took two or three big jumps straight away and then slowly walked off.
 
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My first year hunting. I grunted a spike on public land. But I was young so l told myself I'll only shoot anything with 6+ points. Waited for spike to go away. 30 minutes later I grunted the SAME spike back. Let him go again. This happened 2 more times!! Could not believed that the same spike keep coming back but no other deer show up so I figured he is the only one in area. Decided I'll take him and started grunting again, he came back but by Murphy's law THIS time he finally saw me and ran.
 
I guess not really a crazy play on my part but a crazy sequence of events.

2018, last morning of the season. Spitting snow, howling winds, in other words perfect rut conditions. November is wearing on the home life, washer broke and wife is texting me wanting to come home and fix it. I want to grind out the last day so I fall back on the old whoops no service here.

I was in a good spot but kept seeing deer ~75 yards away first couple hours of the morning. Around 10 I figured what the heck do I have to lose and got down, moved over there, and set up about 8 feet high all the higher I could get in the tree I picked.

Right about noon I caught a glimpse of a big boy coming down the hill at me. Had about 10 seconds to get ready, draw back, 20 yard chip shot...doink. Shot right under him. Turns out I actually nicked his leg.

The thoughts that went through my head are unpublishable. He runs off but stops about 75 yards away.

Then, for whatever reason, he comes back. Circles down below me a bit and starts coming right back straight at me. I have another arrow knocked by this point, draw when he gets behind a tree at 25, he keeps coming, at about 12 yards and remember I'm only 7-8 feet off the ground, I take the frontal shot when he stops. Didn't miss that time.

Just a crazy hunt. Love killing midday bucks when guys are back home napping. Could have slept in and stayed out of the cold. Could have called it quits at 11 and fixed the washer. Could have stayed in the tree I was in and watched this guy walk by in rifle range. Deer should have ran out of my life forever when I ganked the first shot, but he gave me another crack. Sometimes it all just comes together.
 
First time rattling; probably 25-30 years ago. Two of us; my buddy Byron in a treestand and me on the ground with the horns. Cold, clear and windless morning in the Shenandoah Valley. Once he was set in the tree, I got situated and then started working the antlers. Not a minute into it, we heard something barreling down the mountain and through a 10 year clearcut...sounded like a freight train. A few seconds later, a deer leapt from the thick stuff and charged into the creek bottom we were in, skidding to a stop directly between me and Byron...a little 6 pt, and he was fired up. Byron had no shot from the tree with his rifle, and I was standing there in plain view with an antler in each hand and a 44 on my hip; probably 15 yards from the buck...what to do? Figured what the heck, so I dropped the antler in my right hand and let it swing on its tether. The deer's gaze dropped to the swinging horn, while I tried to nonchalantly draw the revolver. Almost worked; cleared the leather and had the gun about halfway up before he decided the gig was up and bolted. The whole deal was hysterical, and I was shocked that both the rattling and the swinging antler worked...almost.
 
paradocs said:
First time rattling; probably 25-30 years ago. Two of us; my buddy Byron in a treestand and me on the ground with the horns. Cold, clear and windless morning in the Shenandoah Valley. Once he was set in the tree, I got situated and then started working the antlers. Not a minute into it, we heard something barreling down the mountain and through a 10 year clearcut...sounded like a freight train. A few seconds later, a deer leapt from the thick stuff and charged into the creek bottom we were in, skidding to a stop directly between me and Byron...a little 6 pt, and he was fired up. Byron had no shot from the tree with his rifle, and I was standing there in plain view with an antler in each hand and a 44 on my hip; probably 15 yards from the buck...what to do? Figured what the heck, so I dropped the antler in my right hand and let it swing on its tether. The deer's gaze dropped to the swinging horn, while I tried to nonchalantly draw the revolver. Almost worked; cleared the leather and had the gun about halfway up before he decided the gig was up and bolted. The whole deal was hysterical, and I was shocked that both the rattling and the swinging antler worked...almost.
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Excerpt from one of the best posts on the entire site:

Killing a deer with a bow, down on ground level with it, is a special treat. I use to say that one like that was worth 10 from a tree stand. When I first started bowhunting I use to spend a lot of time slowly moving through the woods trying to do so. I even developed a technique, for getting within bow range even after they see me. It's easier to explain telling, instead of writing about it.

.....While still hunting, if I could see a deer before it knew I was there, I would drop down and put the stems of several fallen leaves between my fingers and a few in my mouth. Once that was done I would start my stalk. Sooner or later that deer would become aware of my presence and become alert. With the deer keyed in on me I would release a leaf and as it would float to the ground the deer would lock in on the movement of the leaf, forgetting about me.

I would be downwind, so it couldn't smell me. I usually had some sort of camo on, so once I froze, it couldn't really see me but still it knew that some sort of movement had alerted it. Once it saw the leaf fall, a very natural thing that it had seen all it's life, it was satisfied that everything was cool. To that deer, it was just a leaf floating to the ground.

Usually they would flick their tail and return to browsing or picking up acorns. Then I would continue my stalk until they noticed my movement again. Then I would go through the process again and again until I was in bow range. It didn't work every time but the times that it did was very rewarding.

Link:

My Style of Hunting By Mr. Warren Womack

For all you folks new to mobile climbing methods, or those of us that have tinkered with our system enough to be dangerous.... "Not only is it good practice but it's also a good conditioning program for climbing. I try to shoot every day and climb up to shoot and down to retrieve arrows, about...
saddlehunter.com
 
Shooting my first buck in rifle season last year. I much prefer to anticipate the animal coming and scope the target with a slow, steady draw. I like careful, lethal shots. With this deer, I had literally just turned around and taken a few steps in a wide open clear cut after talking to another person, suddenly saw the buck at 100 yards across the field, scoped him, and shot freehand from the shoulder in only a few seconds. I thought I missed him the first shot because he barely reacted. I shortly learned it’s because I blew out his heart!
 
Christmas Eve last year I found a good rub line in a new swamp area. Went home and told the wife, “I’m gonna kill that sumbitch”. Went day after Christmas with the powder gun. He came down the line, I slipped and was hanging due to wet boots and a funky angle. Took the shot (~50 yard) despite my position and missed. He was alert but not spooked. Got back on my feet to reload. Black powder smoke hung in the air, and I’m reloading on an angled scout and steps. By the time I was ready, he had walked into the brush. He had walked within 20 yards of my tree. Total disbelief that he hadn’t busted me.

Gained my composure after a few minutes of self loathing. Blew a grunt as a Hail Mary, and sure enough he comes within 30 yards, lays down with his back to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I was hunting with my wife a couple of years ago. We sat in the AM and saw nothing. We decided to get down and move to a new set. Walking down an old grassy logging road, I caught a set of antlers out of the corner of my eye. There was a buck standing in chest high brush 30 yards off to the right of us. We both stopped and crouched down into the catcher's position.

I let out one single grunt out of the tube hanging around my neck. The antlers turned and started slowly heading toward us. At about 15 yards, he stopped, staring right at me. All I could see was his antlers and face, no clean shot. We sat like that in stalemate for what seemed like an eternity, although it was probably only a minute or two. Afraid to move and unsure of what to do next, I just crouched...legs burning, knees hurting, sweat running down my face...

...and then his head jerked to the side and his eyes got big. I slowly looked over to my wife and realized she had a leg cramp and was falling backward in hilarious slow motion. I thought, "Oh no, that's it. He's going to run..."

...but instead he turned and took three steps toward her. I guess he couldn't figure out what she was since she was wearing a leafy jacket and kind of curled up into a ball on the ground. After the third step, his broadside chest opened up through a small clearing in the brush at 15 yards. THWACK! Double lung, game over.

One grunt, a slow motion fall, and a whole lot of luck.
 
Purposely NOT trying to sneak. Purposely making as much racket as possible during my approach to the stand.
Yeah, going in deadly silent is best but there are times due to frozen, or super dry conditions that make sneaking literally impossible.
I've stomped my way in with the cadence of a buck on a mission and I've tooted on the grunt call while doing it.
The only issue is getting up the tree quick enough because it often brings competing buck in to investigate.

It's pretty easy, and effective, to sound like a buck running does.
 
A few years ago, I was hunting a hillside above a hot white oak tree overlooking a little valley with a creek at the bottom and beyond that, a 3 year old cutover. About 8 AM or so I observed two nice bucks walking the creekbank about 80 yards to my North. They were walking parallel to the creek, and they were not heading my direction. I figured what the heck and let out a doe bleat. Nothing happened. I let out another louder doe bleat. Nothing happened. Finally, irritated, I let out a loud MAAAAH! They stopped, looked up the hill and came in on a string. I arrowed the larger of the two at about 14 yards. He dropped to a spine shot and that was that.
 
DB4x4 said:
I was hunting with my wife a couple of years ago. We sat in the AM and saw nothing. We decided to get down and move to a new set. Walking down an old grassy logging road, I caught a set of antlers out of the corner of my eye. There was a buck standing in chest high brush 30 yards off to the right of us. We both stopped and crouched down into the catcher's position.

I let out one single grunt out of the tube hanging around my neck. The antlers turned and started slowly heading toward us. At about 15 yards, he stopped, staring right at me. All I could see was his antlers and face, no clean shot. We sat like that in stalemate for what seemed like an eternity, although it was probably only a minute or two. Afraid to move and unsure of what to do next, I just crouched...legs burning, knees hurting, sweat running down my face...

...and then his head jerked to the side and his eyes got big. I slowly looked over to my wife and realized she had a leg cramp and was falling backward in hilarious slow motion. I thought, "Oh no, that's it. He's going to run..."

...but instead he turned and took three steps toward her. I guess he couldn't figure out what she was since she was wearing a leafy jacket and kind of curled up into a ball on the ground. After the third step, his broadside chest opened up through a small clearing in the brush at 15 yards. THWACK! Double lung, game over.

One grunt, a slow motion fall, and a whole lot of luck.
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That is an awesome story.
 
A few years ago I was in camp alone and woke to a steady, heavy rain. I got up trying to decide where I was going to head where I might not have to walk too far in the rain when a truck pulled in and a couple of my buddies got out and came into the camper. They had decided they were going to hunt close by camp so they could come back and get dry after a bit. Well I decided I was going to head north to a spot I had hunted about a week prior that wasn't too far off the road. I left them in camp and got in the truck and started driving out on the winding two track through the woods. About a quarter mile down the road a doe suddenly burst out of the dark and rain and ran through my headlights heading south with a decent buck right on her tail.

I sat there a minute and called an audible. With any luck I might be able to get in front of them and head them off. When I hit the next road I turned south instead of north and drove down to an old logging trail that went back in the woods to a couple year old clearcut that those deer were heading towards. I hopped out and loaded up my gear (still using a climber in those days) and started hustling down the trail in the dark and the steadily increasing rain. I was already soaked by the time I hit the edge of the clearcut and I paralleled the edge in about a 100 yds until I found a tree to set up in. I climbed up about 15 ft and pulled up my gear and bow and hung them up.

I was no sooner settled and I was thinking to myself "This is stupid! Its raining so hard you'll never be able to track one even if you have an opportunity" when the doe came running in and stopped right at the base of my tree. A few seconds later the buck came running up and the doe ran back the way she had come. He circled under my tree as I was lifting and drawing my bow and as he headed away I hollered at him hoping to stop him. Sure enough he stopped dead in his tracks looking back , giving me a perfectly quartering shot away inside 15yds. I tried to settle the sight on him but realized in the heat of the moment I hadn't removed the cover from the red dot scope I used as a sight on my bow at that time. CRAP! Well I guess its going to be a pure instinct shot. I took aim down the arrow shaft and let it fly. He kicked, ran about 10 yds and stopped, standing there looking around. I'm thinking "CRAP AGAIN! I missed . . . why didn't I remember to take the cover off!" As I'm grabbing for another arrow and all of sudden he just fell down there in sight 25 yds away. Turns out I heart shot him. No tracking required. To this day I still can't believe how well that worked out.

I won't mention that I clean missed a really nice 8 point inside10 yds last year in that same vicinity.
 
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boyne bowhunter said:
A few years ago I was in camp alone and woke to a steady, heavy rain. I got up trying to decide where I was going to head where I might not have to walk too far in teh rain when a truck pulled in and a couple of my buddies got out and came into the camper. They had decided they were going to hunt close by camp so they could come back and get dry after a bit. Well I decided I was going to head north to a spot I had hunted about a week prior that wasn't too far off the road. I left them in camp and got in the truck and started driving out on the winding two track through the woods. About a quarter mile down the road a doe suddenly burst out of the dark and rain and ran through my headlights heading south with a decent buck right on her tail.

I sat there a minute and called an audible. With any luck I might be able to get in front of them and head them off. When I hit the next road I turned south instead of north and drove down to an old logging trail that went back in the woods to a couple year old clearcut that those deer were heading towards. I hopped out and loaded up my gear (still using a climber in those days) and started hustling down the trail in the dark and the steadily increasing rain. I was already soaked by the time I hit the edge of the clearcut and I paralleled the edge in about a 100 yds until I found a tree to set up in. I climbed up about 15 ft and pulled up my gear and bow and hung them up.

I was no sooner settled and I was thinking to myself "This is stupid! Its raining so hard you'll never be able to track one even if you have an opportunity" when the doe came running in and stopped right at the base of my tree. A few seconds later the buck came running up and the doe ran back the way she had come. He circled under my tree as I was lifting and drawing my bow and as he headed away I hollered at him hoping to stop him. Sure enough he stopped dead in his tracks looking back , giving me a perfectly quartering shot away inside 15yds. I tried to settle the sight on him but realized in the heat of the moment I hadn't removed the cover from the red dot scope I used as a sight on my bow at that time. CRAP! Well I guess its going to be a pure instinct shot. I took aim down the arrow shaft and let it fly. He kicked, ran about 10 yds and stopped, standing there looking around. I'm thinking "CRAP AGAIN! I missed . . . why didn't I remember to take the cover off!" As I'm grabbing for another arrow and all of sudden he just fell down there in sight 25 yds away. Turns out I heart shot him. No tracking required. To this day I still can't believe how well that worked out.

I won't mention that I clean missed a really nice 8 point inside10 yds last year in that same vicinity.
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the biggest take away I got from this is you heart shot a deer instinctively and clean missed one with sights.

Sounds like you should just switch to a Trad bow and be done with it. ;)
 
GCTerpfan said:
the biggest take away I got from this is you heart shot a deer instinctively and clean missed one with sights.

Sounds like you should just switch to a Trad bow and be done with it. ;)
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There was a time I only shot instinctively even with my compounds. That was many, many, many moons ago back when life afforded me more time to practice. Life and less time admittedly leads to some crutches but I haven't completely lost the ability.

As far as the trad journey goes . . .I'm still working on it. Hopefully the longbow scores for me this year.
 
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