simple man
New Member
![IMG_0641[1].JPG](https://saddlehunter.com/community/data/attachments/3/3046-1fded78cd579cb88ea8fd99d4c14098f.jpg "IMG_0641[1].JPG")
![IMG_0644[2].JPG](https://saddlehunter.com/community/data/attachments/3/3047-56057a03a53e96716a9a126c2f52b464.jpg "IMG_0644[2].JPG")
This story starts back at the end of 2016 season. Another year had passed and no trophy bucks to show for it. So i was contemplating on what to do for next year. I have a 40 acre tract of private land i can hunt. Also have small 2 acre wood lot on my property. The 40 acre property on has 2 hills on the property.Their is a creek that runs though the middle of the property.The creek meanders by the largest hill. This one is littered with large rubs and scrapes every year. During the 2015 & 2016 seasons i had gotten pictures of bucks chasing does on both sides of this hill. I learned the does were bedding on top of this one large hill in September of 2016. I had always hunted this hill in early season or just when ever i wanted a good chance of seeing deer.Frustrated with how my 2016 season went. I decided i was not going to hunt this hill until November 6th or later for 2017. I thought if i could just leave that spot alone. The does would be using this spot heavily during those 2 prime weeks of when the first couple of does come in to estrous. So i stayed away from this spot. Even though their were some times where i wanted to hunt the edge of it. I stayed away for fear altering the doe traffic in this little honey hole. So i hunted the front of the property during early season. Even opted to stay home and hunt less. Took scouting trips to another public peace of ground i hunt in December. Anything to keep the pressure off that area. Managed to kill 2 does with my Bow in October.
So November 6th Finally rolls around. The past week and current temps were up to 76-78. Rain forecasted for the later part of the week. As Wednesday the Nov 8 rolls around. Rain forcast for all night diminishing in the morning .Also cold front forcasted to move in with the rain. The Morning temp was supposed to be 51 which was almost 10 degrees colder than the first part of the week.
I planned on hunting the honey hole for the next morning. I wanted to get in their 1 1/2 half hours to 2 hrs before day light. Day break is about 6:40 for us this time of year. According to NOAA the rain was not going to stop untill 8 AM. I thought if i could get in their right after rain stops with the cold front coming. With the prime chasing period right around the corner. Surely it would be a good sit with a high chance of seeing some sort of rut activity. Had a hard to falling asleep with the anticipating hunt the next morning. Since i have no rain gear. I set my alarm for 4:00 AM. I woke up 2:40 am.Tossed and turned for another hour but could not sleep. So i get up and take my shower,eat and hit the road for a 30 minute ride to the property.
I get almost to the property and the rain stops. I get dressed outside my truck. Throw my stand on my back,cross the creek via a beaver damn. Walk another 600 yards to the hill top. The whole time having to hold the bottom portion of the stand to reduce noise. Each step of the way seems like their is more noise than i would like. Luckily their was background noise due to the rain dripping off the trees. So i get to the tree finally. Put the noisy ass climber on the tree. Climb up and tug on my rope. It has weight but not enough. I look down and i had clipped on my back pack but not my gun. So i work my way back down with the stand and tree strap on my safety harness. Climb out of stand on to the ground and clip my gun on. I finally get climbed up to 30 ft and settle in.Thank god for being covered head to toe in Scent lock.
Day breaks and the rain starts back. The light rain finally stops about 8:30 and my back is soaked. About 9:00 am i hear a commotion off to my right. Something is running my way making a noise i have never heard ever come from a deer. This was like a loud grunt mixed with like a hack noise.Loud enough it was echoing in the woods. The mature doe crests the hill just of my right shoulder about. Buck in toe making this loud noise every couple of steps. As they were at a pretty good trot. Had to raise my gun real fast. The gun makes a ting noise on the stand and the buck stops. He is at about the 1:00 clock position and behind a tree. He makes the grunt/hack noise about 3 more times. Takes 2 more steps not quite clear of the tree and limbs. Starts to quarter away and i squeeze of a round while he makes a right turn down the hill.The next 30 minutes takes an eternity.
I climb down and no buck in site. So as my heart sinks i go back to the place of the shot. I start following the blood trail and its bright red. I come across chunks of bone. At this point i am thinking a may only gotten the outer portion of his front shoulder. So i track the deer 120 yards back to a clear cut. Brush is over 6 ft tall. Large pools of blood at the edge of the clear cut. I take 3 steps in and jump a deer. I was not sure if this was my deer. So i backed out.
I came back with my dog. This dog has no training. I have seen the dog trail blood from deer i shot on the back of my property. So with the tall grass and weeds. Seeing the blood was almost impossible. I led the dog to the last big pool of blood. We came to a intersection in the brush. Dog wanted to go left but the trail looked more used to the right. I make large arching pass to the right. I circled back to the starting point. At this point the home made leash i made had broken. So i decided to take one more look. Again the dog wants to go to the left. I do not immediately follow the dog but take a path more right in front of me. I make it 60 yards and start calling for the dog. I can hear him panting to left. So i finally walk to the left and come across a trail. I follow it and the dog greets meet me. I look past the dog 10 yards and their lays the buck. Some how with the deer turning and running away at the time i shot. I ended up hitting the deer in the left rear quarter.
I know the story is long but hopefully some of you enjoyed it. The deer is not huge compared to others i have seen on this web page. He is pretty good for the area i hunt in. With years of running trail cams on this property. Bucks in the 3-4 age range are almost non existent. I am thinking he is 2-3 years old but my best buck to date. I have just learned about saddle hunting and have acquired a sit drag. I have it ready to hunt but do not have any prepped trees. I also do not own climbing sticks yet. Hope fully next year i will have another story how i killed a buck out of my saddle.
