Lostinthewoods
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We appreciate you following along and posting in here!
It's nice to get some feedback. Good luck to you the rest of your season.
Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ
- Thread starter Lostinthewoods
- Start date
We appreciate you following along and posting in here!
It's nice to get some feedback. Good luck to you the rest of your season.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
It wasn't exactly how I would have written it up if I could choose, but we got it done with the whole family there. I'll get the rest of the story and better pics up soon.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
As I said, this hunt didn't turn out the way I would have wanted it to, but it happened the way it did. I made a few mistakes, learned a few lessons, but we got it done.
With November arriving, so too came my wife's controlled hunt season. I spent countless hours over the summer walking around the desert trying to learn as much as possible. I did spend some time actually looking for nicer bucks and managed to turn a few up, and I couldn't wait for November to roll around and get after some rutting muleys with my wife and kids.
I planned to hunt weekends and only take a few days of leave the week of Thanksgiving. Since my in-laws came to visit us last week, we weren't able to hunt until Sunday, and since we were bringing both of our kids with us, we ran a little behind that morning. We didn't get out there until just before 11.
It didn't take me long to find some deer.... 5.2 miles away.
I counted 35 little brown dots moving around up there, and I was sure there would be more. I even saw a buck decent enough to actually tell it was a buck.
I'm sure there were deer closer to us in the sagebrush, but I'm not a huge fan of hunting deer I can't see. So we packed the kids back into the truck and headed up hill to play around in the snow.
For me there's just something I absolutely love about hunting animals, especially deer, in wide open grass lands. So when I saw they were up in the grass, my heart fluttered with a bit of excitement. We quickly found one of the groups of deer, and it had 2 bucks in it. A small raghorn, and a very large buck I only got a short glimpse of. The little guy laid down up high, and I lost the big buck after he dropped down into the drainage. He was really nice.
So we loaded up the kiddos and started making our move.
Both kids actually behaved pretty well and seemed to enjoy the first stalk. The weather was chilly, but the sun was just strong enough to keep them warm. My daughter was wrapped in a few jackets inside my pack, and my son absorbed all of the excess heat from my chest. Later on in the day I could tell his feet were getting cold, which kind of bothered him, but he did really well considering the conditions.
As we began to crest the ridge where the deer were bedded, I told my wife to take one step at a time and take extra time to glass all of the new terrain she could see each time. Not surprising to me, the big buck was bedded on the opposite side of the drainage from the rest of the deer, which put him only 60-80 yards away from us when we got to the top of the ridge. As soon as I saw the tips of his rack, he bolted. He ran to the bottom of the drainage and around the corner out of sight before my wife even knew he was there. It happened extremely fast, and there was no looking back from him.
The rest of the deer simply stood up and walked a few yards up hill and into clear sight. I asked my wife if she wanted to shoot the smaller buck, and not being picky at all, she said yes. The deer stopped at just under 200 yards, and she laid prone to take the shot as I moved back to keep the kids away from the muzzle blast. I don't know what happened, or how she did it, but she missed the layup. She must have hit some brush right in front of her, because I have no clue where the shot went.
After the miss, the deer moseyed off and drop off the ridgeline and out of sight. It might sound bad for me to say this, but I honestly was a little glad she missed. I didn't want it to be over so soon. I wanted to do some more hunting.
We walked toward where we watched the deer disappear to check a few small drainages and circle back to the truck. There were still a lot of deer further up the ridgeline, and there was a road on top of the ridge so we decided to drive around and get above the herd.
The drive also rewarmed the kiddos, and got them just enough motivation to put up with is dragging them along for another walkabout. Since there were deer basically everywhere, we had a tough time moving around to get into a spot which gave us a good vantage point. Eventually I accepted the fact we weren't going to get to a 'spot' and I just had to glass and wait.
I spent nearly an hour searching every nook and cranny for a big buck laying down. After a minutes of looking I found this buck.
Since there was no rush I kept searching the rest of the area, and didn't even tell my wife I'd seen the buck for three reasons; I didn't want to get her excited, I was tired, and I also didn't want to miss a big buck bedded within my view.
When I decided he was the biggest buck, I set the spotting scope on the buck and told my wife I found one. Before she even looked through the spotter, she was noticeably excited. And as soon as she saw the buck, I could see the effects of the cold and adrenaline starting to run their course.
We moved as close as we could, and I talked her through the shot. I made sure she was stable and had her do a few dry fires. She seemed just fine so I had her load a round and reconfirmed the distance. The buck was still bedded and I knew she could make the shot; she'd done it plenty of times before during practice.
So when she fired the first round and sailed it WAY over the buck's back, I was completely baffled. What the heck? How'd she miss two easy shots? After discussing what happened with my wife, I realized she didn't have the scope on the right magnification and her hold over was WAY too much. (I'm still not sure how she missed the first buck)
Luckily, the buck was distracted by an attractive doe that walked past him, and he slowly got up and followed her. These deer most not have too many run-ins with people, because they didn't seem to care to much about the gunshot or our kids making a ton of noise.
The buck was basically in the same spot as the first shot, so I coached her through the shot and made sure everything was setup correctly this time. Since the buck was quartered away to the right and the wind was blowing left to right, I told her to aim mid body and let 'er rip. Finally... A shot found it's mark... Or so I thought.
The buck hunched, ate that round and turned left. I told my wife to wait and put one in his arm pit, she let it rip immediately, but he hadn't turned enough. She hit him exactly where she was aiming, but the shot didn't appear to go into the chest cavity. She broke his shoulder, which motivated him to move further away from us.
The next time the buck stopped and gave us another shot opportunity he was further than what I was comfortable letting my wife shoot, but I gave her the right wind and elevation and she sent another round. The bullet hit the buck in the hind quarters, but he barely even flinched.
We sat and watched for a few minutes hoping he'd tip over, but he didn't. Eventually, he started slowly walking back downhill closer to us. He stopped again near the same place he was hit the first 2 times, so my wife shot at him again but missed twice. I'm pretty sure she was just cold and pumped with adrenaline at this point. She had spent almost 20 minutes laying behind the rifle and was dressed for hiking... Not laying on wet and cold snow.
At this point we only had one round left, and I asked if she thought she could make the shot or not. After rewarming her hands, gaining her composure again, and waiting for the buck to turn broadside, she sent the last round. It hit him just in front of the shoulder and the buck slowly stumbled down into the drainage below us. He stopped and stood on the edge for a few minutes before slowly walking out of sight.
I could not believe the buck took 4 rounds and didn't fall over. To say I was confused and baffled would be an understatement. I looked at my wife and didn't know what to say. It didn't look good.
I had my wife take the kids back up to the truck to warm up while I went down to see if I could find the buck.
Well I found the buck, but he was still alive. He looked really rough, but he was still alive.
I watched him for over an hour and 4 or 5 times I thought for sure he was going to stiffen up and die, but he never did. As light was almost entirely gone, he stood up! He stood for around 5 minutes before he began stumbling, falling and eventually regaining enough footing to walk off into the darkness.
He was one tough animal. I couldn't believe it. I regretted not bringing all of my ammo with us. All we needed was one more round.
I'm sure all of the hot does being chased by young bucks helped motivate the deer to stay alive.
It was a rough drive home, and a fitful night of sleep. I hated it, but I had to go to work in the morning, and couldn't get back out there until the afternoon. I was hopeful that he just walked to the next drainage and laid down again, and hopefully died.
With November arriving, so too came my wife's controlled hunt season. I spent countless hours over the summer walking around the desert trying to learn as much as possible. I did spend some time actually looking for nicer bucks and managed to turn a few up, and I couldn't wait for November to roll around and get after some rutting muleys with my wife and kids.
I planned to hunt weekends and only take a few days of leave the week of Thanksgiving. Since my in-laws came to visit us last week, we weren't able to hunt until Sunday, and since we were bringing both of our kids with us, we ran a little behind that morning. We didn't get out there until just before 11.
It didn't take me long to find some deer.... 5.2 miles away.
I counted 35 little brown dots moving around up there, and I was sure there would be more. I even saw a buck decent enough to actually tell it was a buck.
I'm sure there were deer closer to us in the sagebrush, but I'm not a huge fan of hunting deer I can't see. So we packed the kids back into the truck and headed up hill to play around in the snow.
For me there's just something I absolutely love about hunting animals, especially deer, in wide open grass lands. So when I saw they were up in the grass, my heart fluttered with a bit of excitement. We quickly found one of the groups of deer, and it had 2 bucks in it. A small raghorn, and a very large buck I only got a short glimpse of. The little guy laid down up high, and I lost the big buck after he dropped down into the drainage. He was really nice.
So we loaded up the kiddos and started making our move.
Both kids actually behaved pretty well and seemed to enjoy the first stalk. The weather was chilly, but the sun was just strong enough to keep them warm. My daughter was wrapped in a few jackets inside my pack, and my son absorbed all of the excess heat from my chest. Later on in the day I could tell his feet were getting cold, which kind of bothered him, but he did really well considering the conditions.
As we began to crest the ridge where the deer were bedded, I told my wife to take one step at a time and take extra time to glass all of the new terrain she could see each time. Not surprising to me, the big buck was bedded on the opposite side of the drainage from the rest of the deer, which put him only 60-80 yards away from us when we got to the top of the ridge. As soon as I saw the tips of his rack, he bolted. He ran to the bottom of the drainage and around the corner out of sight before my wife even knew he was there. It happened extremely fast, and there was no looking back from him.
The rest of the deer simply stood up and walked a few yards up hill and into clear sight. I asked my wife if she wanted to shoot the smaller buck, and not being picky at all, she said yes. The deer stopped at just under 200 yards, and she laid prone to take the shot as I moved back to keep the kids away from the muzzle blast. I don't know what happened, or how she did it, but she missed the layup. She must have hit some brush right in front of her, because I have no clue where the shot went.
After the miss, the deer moseyed off and drop off the ridgeline and out of sight. It might sound bad for me to say this, but I honestly was a little glad she missed. I didn't want it to be over so soon. I wanted to do some more hunting.
We walked toward where we watched the deer disappear to check a few small drainages and circle back to the truck. There were still a lot of deer further up the ridgeline, and there was a road on top of the ridge so we decided to drive around and get above the herd.
The drive also rewarmed the kiddos, and got them just enough motivation to put up with is dragging them along for another walkabout. Since there were deer basically everywhere, we had a tough time moving around to get into a spot which gave us a good vantage point. Eventually I accepted the fact we weren't going to get to a 'spot' and I just had to glass and wait.
I spent nearly an hour searching every nook and cranny for a big buck laying down. After a minutes of looking I found this buck.
Since there was no rush I kept searching the rest of the area, and didn't even tell my wife I'd seen the buck for three reasons; I didn't want to get her excited, I was tired, and I also didn't want to miss a big buck bedded within my view.
When I decided he was the biggest buck, I set the spotting scope on the buck and told my wife I found one. Before she even looked through the spotter, she was noticeably excited. And as soon as she saw the buck, I could see the effects of the cold and adrenaline starting to run their course.
We moved as close as we could, and I talked her through the shot. I made sure she was stable and had her do a few dry fires. She seemed just fine so I had her load a round and reconfirmed the distance. The buck was still bedded and I knew she could make the shot; she'd done it plenty of times before during practice.
So when she fired the first round and sailed it WAY over the buck's back, I was completely baffled. What the heck? How'd she miss two easy shots? After discussing what happened with my wife, I realized she didn't have the scope on the right magnification and her hold over was WAY too much. (I'm still not sure how she missed the first buck)
Luckily, the buck was distracted by an attractive doe that walked past him, and he slowly got up and followed her. These deer most not have too many run-ins with people, because they didn't seem to care to much about the gunshot or our kids making a ton of noise.
The buck was basically in the same spot as the first shot, so I coached her through the shot and made sure everything was setup correctly this time. Since the buck was quartered away to the right and the wind was blowing left to right, I told her to aim mid body and let 'er rip. Finally... A shot found it's mark... Or so I thought.
The buck hunched, ate that round and turned left. I told my wife to wait and put one in his arm pit, she let it rip immediately, but he hadn't turned enough. She hit him exactly where she was aiming, but the shot didn't appear to go into the chest cavity. She broke his shoulder, which motivated him to move further away from us.
The next time the buck stopped and gave us another shot opportunity he was further than what I was comfortable letting my wife shoot, but I gave her the right wind and elevation and she sent another round. The bullet hit the buck in the hind quarters, but he barely even flinched.
We sat and watched for a few minutes hoping he'd tip over, but he didn't. Eventually, he started slowly walking back downhill closer to us. He stopped again near the same place he was hit the first 2 times, so my wife shot at him again but missed twice. I'm pretty sure she was just cold and pumped with adrenaline at this point. She had spent almost 20 minutes laying behind the rifle and was dressed for hiking... Not laying on wet and cold snow.
At this point we only had one round left, and I asked if she thought she could make the shot or not. After rewarming her hands, gaining her composure again, and waiting for the buck to turn broadside, she sent the last round. It hit him just in front of the shoulder and the buck slowly stumbled down into the drainage below us. He stopped and stood on the edge for a few minutes before slowly walking out of sight.
I could not believe the buck took 4 rounds and didn't fall over. To say I was confused and baffled would be an understatement. I looked at my wife and didn't know what to say. It didn't look good.
I had my wife take the kids back up to the truck to warm up while I went down to see if I could find the buck.
Well I found the buck, but he was still alive. He looked really rough, but he was still alive.
I watched him for over an hour and 4 or 5 times I thought for sure he was going to stiffen up and die, but he never did. As light was almost entirely gone, he stood up! He stood for around 5 minutes before he began stumbling, falling and eventually regaining enough footing to walk off into the darkness.
He was one tough animal. I couldn't believe it. I regretted not bringing all of my ammo with us. All we needed was one more round.
I'm sure all of the hot does being chased by young bucks helped motivate the deer to stay alive.
It was a rough drive home, and a fitful night of sleep. I hated it, but I had to go to work in the morning, and couldn't get back out there until the afternoon. I was hopeful that he just walked to the next drainage and laid down again, and hopefully died.
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sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Monday was one of the least productive with days I've ever had. I could not focus on anything. I felt terrible. Everything worked out so well and it was going almost perfectly, but the buck just wouldn't die.
I wasn't able to get out of work as early as I would've liked, so by the time we got to the area, we only had an hour of light to search for him, and we had over a mile walk to get to where I had last seen the buck. I put my daughter in my pack and had my wife carry our son. I told my wife I was going to cover as much ground as possible, and for her to do her best to keep up. I didn't have enough time to wait for her, but she did a good job of keeping up.
We walked past over 40 deer on the way, and I spent a few seconds glassing each herd to check for the wounded buck. I never saw him, so I beelined to the spot I figured the buck would most likely be. Halfway there I was pretty exhausted and had stopped looking hard. I was just walking... and walking fast.
There wasn't much light left and I was starting to lose hope of finding anything when I got to the coulee I thought the buck would be in. I stopped and glassed up the drainage for half a minute, but didn't see anything. I took a few more steps to see below me to the bottom of the cut....
THERE HE WAS! Bedded down, looking right at me.... 30yds away. I walked straight to him!
I took a few steps back and told my wife, "he's right there! Still alive. Give me the kid, and shoot him."
By the time she was ready for the shot, the bucks head slowly drooped back to the ground. He was in rough shape, and my wife quickly put him out of his misery.
As you can tell... My son was done with being outside. My daughter was excited, but she quickly got cold outside of the warmth of my pack.
My wife carried my son and helped my daughter walk back, while I carried what was left of the deer back to the truck.
I definitely got my money's worth out of my new Kifaru this year.
After looking at the wounds, I was even more baffled that the deer didn't die Sunday night. The first shot into the body hit high liver and one lung, and somehow the other shots didn't hit anything important enough to kill him. He was the toughest deer I've ever seen.
I'm not really happy with how it all turned out, and we could have done a lot of things differently. This hunt may not be one of those hunts people like to read about, or watch in TV but it's what happened. At the end of the day we learned a lot and were able to see it through and get it done.
Helping my wife kill her first buck would have been an awesome time by itself, but having the kids with us the entire time made for a uniquely challenging and fun experience. Even though it didn't go the way I would have preferred, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
I wasn't able to get out of work as early as I would've liked, so by the time we got to the area, we only had an hour of light to search for him, and we had over a mile walk to get to where I had last seen the buck. I put my daughter in my pack and had my wife carry our son. I told my wife I was going to cover as much ground as possible, and for her to do her best to keep up. I didn't have enough time to wait for her, but she did a good job of keeping up.
We walked past over 40 deer on the way, and I spent a few seconds glassing each herd to check for the wounded buck. I never saw him, so I beelined to the spot I figured the buck would most likely be. Halfway there I was pretty exhausted and had stopped looking hard. I was just walking... and walking fast.
There wasn't much light left and I was starting to lose hope of finding anything when I got to the coulee I thought the buck would be in. I stopped and glassed up the drainage for half a minute, but didn't see anything. I took a few more steps to see below me to the bottom of the cut....
THERE HE WAS! Bedded down, looking right at me.... 30yds away. I walked straight to him!
I took a few steps back and told my wife, "he's right there! Still alive. Give me the kid, and shoot him."
By the time she was ready for the shot, the bucks head slowly drooped back to the ground. He was in rough shape, and my wife quickly put him out of his misery.
As you can tell... My son was done with being outside. My daughter was excited, but she quickly got cold outside of the warmth of my pack.
My wife carried my son and helped my daughter walk back, while I carried what was left of the deer back to the truck.
I definitely got my money's worth out of my new Kifaru this year.
After looking at the wounds, I was even more baffled that the deer didn't die Sunday night. The first shot into the body hit high liver and one lung, and somehow the other shots didn't hit anything important enough to kill him. He was the toughest deer I've ever seen.
I'm not really happy with how it all turned out, and we could have done a lot of things differently. This hunt may not be one of those hunts people like to read about, or watch in TV but it's what happened. At the end of the day we learned a lot and were able to see it through and get it done.
Helping my wife kill her first buck would have been an awesome time by itself, but having the kids with us the entire time made for a uniquely challenging and fun experience. Even though it didn't go the way I would have preferred, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
bobbydean
Well-known member
Congratulations to the huntress.
Admire so much about this hunt. Just to attempt a 5 mile stalk with young kiddos is remarkable.
Really admire the persistence to finish to hunt and not leave a wounded animal.
Not a pretty hunt, but a hard one. Will be one of your most memorable.
Admire the hunting team (hunting family).
Admire so much about this hunt. Just to attempt a 5 mile stalk with young kiddos is remarkable.
Really admire the persistence to finish to hunt and not leave a wounded animal.
Not a pretty hunt, but a hard one. Will be one of your most memorable.
Admire the hunting team (hunting family).
duckhunt
Well-known member
Congrats. Sounds like one bad ass buck.
Crossbowguy
Well-known member
Congrats on the successful family muley hunt!
Lostinthewoods
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I hit the road at midnight on the 7th and made my way towards Kentucky!
I got in and wanted to go directly to my creek crossing. I knew that would be a hot spot for the rut and wanted to hit it hard.
Well apparently Mother Nature had a different plan.
My normal coupe in creek had turned into the Mississippi River.
It was still a beautiful sit for the night though.
I didn't see any deer that evening, but it was amazing to be back in crisp weather and experience an actual Fall season.
I got in and wanted to go directly to my creek crossing. I knew that would be a hot spot for the rut and wanted to hit it hard.
Well apparently Mother Nature had a different plan.
My normal coupe in creek had turned into the Mississippi River.
It was still a beautiful sit for the night though.
I didn't see any deer that evening, but it was amazing to be back in crisp weather and experience an actual Fall season.
Lostinthewoods
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This morning I woke up bright and early and snuck into a spot above the creek crossing in the timber. It was a known travel route and had some acorns, so I figured what the heck.
Around 7:45 I had three does come in at 30 yards and bed down. Of course they teased me for about 15 minutes before they laid down.... they gave my plenty of broadside shots and all I could think about was summer sausage. I resisted though.
Around 8:30 I saw a buck going towards the does. I pulled out my range finder to get a better view and he was a young basket 6 point. He too teased me at 30 yards, but he just wasn't what I was looking for. He ended up pushing the does out, but it was a great encounter and fun to watch.
Around 7:45 I had three does come in at 30 yards and bed down. Of course they teased me for about 15 minutes before they laid down.... they gave my plenty of broadside shots and all I could think about was summer sausage. I resisted though.
Around 8:30 I saw a buck going towards the does. I pulled out my range finder to get a better view and he was a young basket 6 point. He too teased me at 30 yards, but he just wasn't what I was looking for. He ended up pushing the does out, but it was a great encounter and fun to watch.
Lostinthewoods
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Typically at this part of a whitetail season I would do all day sits. However with the creek crossing being so deep I wanted to go check out spots to pull cameras and access possibilities. You have to be flexible and have many options!
These are some of the better bucks around this area and what id be happy shooting.
I also found an extremely fresh scrap that had been hit within the past 8 hours because that's when the downpour stopped.
I also saw a baby die while exploring.
One thing I found on my cameras is that the doe population is extremely healthy and I don't believe EHD hurt my spots. So maybe, just maybe on the last day I'll consider a summer sausage doe. It's just hard to do that when you know a buck could be right in tow.
I'm sitting another travel point that I hunted last year and killed a doe. It's also where this guy frequents.
These are some of the better bucks around this area and what id be happy shooting.
I also found an extremely fresh scrap that had been hit within the past 8 hours because that's when the downpour stopped.
I also saw a baby die while exploring.
One thing I found on my cameras is that the doe population is extremely healthy and I don't believe EHD hurt my spots. So maybe, just maybe on the last day I'll consider a summer sausage doe. It's just hard to do that when you know a buck could be right in tow.
I'm sitting another travel point that I hunted last year and killed a doe. It's also where this guy frequents.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Thank you Bobby Dean. Like you said, it wasn't pretty, and I think that's probably the best way to describe the hunt. Mentally, it was really tough for both of us, but there wasn't anything that would have stopped me from finding that buck again.
He was definitely tough. I've killed a lot of deer, and butchered a TON more. I've pulled arrows, broadheads, and sticks out of deer before, and I've seen some deer come in with massive amounts of damage. I'm regularly humbled by the will to survive and tenacity these wild animals have. The next time I stub my toe on the coffee table, I'll remember how much tougher that buck was, I'll suck it up, and move on with my life.
Thanks! I really look forward to many years and countless hunts together as a family.
Lostinthewoods
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I'm crying on the inside a little.
I just had a beautiful shooter buck come in, but the wind shifted to an unforecasted direction for about 25 minutes.... right when he came in....
He was about 13 yards away over my right shoulder and was suppose to cross under me and head down to his scrape that is 19 yards away. He would have given me a nice quartering away shot.
Beautiful buck too.....ahhhhhh
I just had a beautiful shooter buck come in, but the wind shifted to an unforecasted direction for about 25 minutes.... right when he came in....
He was about 13 yards away over my right shoulder and was suppose to cross under me and head down to his scrape that is 19 yards away. He would have given me a nice quartering away shot.
Beautiful buck too.....ahhhhhh
Lostinthewoods
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Double post
3855WIN
Well-known member
That was one tough buck. Shootouts happen sometimes. Glad you got him.
Lostinthewoods
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I couldn't pass anymore!
I keep getting so excited when they come in. This doe came in solo and was looking good.
She will make excellent summer sausage. Yum!
I keep getting so excited when they come in. This doe came in solo and was looking good.
She will make excellent summer sausage. Yum!
Lostinthewoods
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Today was the final morning of my Kentucky adventure. It was a BEAUTIFUL crisp and cool morning. It was rifle opener and I couldn't resist....
I set my ground blind up down up against the corn to get a full field view.
First minute of legal light I had an 8" spike come in to about 25 yards. He of course got the pass.
Then around 8:15 I let out some grunts and a big ol buck came in. At first I thought he was going to come into a shooting lane, but he ended up going into the corn behind me. I'm sure he winded me, but he never came out or presented any type of shot.
At around 10 a doe hit the field. I watched her for a few seconds and then a small buck popped out. I wanted a buck bad this trip, but he was a small fork and I couldn't do it. This was him
I watched them for about 10 minutes to see if another buck would step out. Nothing did so I shot the doe because she was a healthy looking one and I'm dreaming of some whitetail chili!
I can still possibly sneak back and try to fill my last two tags on a buck. We will see though. I had an absolute ball in KY. It's such a beautiful place.
Now I'm heading home to spend 36 hours with my beautiful wife and daughter. Then it's on to Texas for a work trip and then Oklahoma for another whitetail/mule deer bow hunt!
Life is good!
I set my ground blind up down up against the corn to get a full field view.
First minute of legal light I had an 8" spike come in to about 25 yards. He of course got the pass.
Then around 8:15 I let out some grunts and a big ol buck came in. At first I thought he was going to come into a shooting lane, but he ended up going into the corn behind me. I'm sure he winded me, but he never came out or presented any type of shot.
At around 10 a doe hit the field. I watched her for a few seconds and then a small buck popped out. I wanted a buck bad this trip, but he was a small fork and I couldn't do it. This was him
I watched them for about 10 minutes to see if another buck would step out. Nothing did so I shot the doe because she was a healthy looking one and I'm dreaming of some whitetail chili!
I can still possibly sneak back and try to fill my last two tags on a buck. We will see though. I had an absolute ball in KY. It's such a beautiful place.
Now I'm heading home to spend 36 hours with my beautiful wife and daughter. Then it's on to Texas for a work trip and then Oklahoma for another whitetail/mule deer bow hunt!
Life is good!
duckhunt
Well-known member
Another great hunt.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Looks like I'll be heading back to AZ for a little fun with the tradbow and good friends.
My buddy is buying a deer tag too, so I'm sure it's going to be a great trip. I can't wait.
My buddy is buying a deer tag too, so I'm sure it's going to be a great trip. I can't wait.
Lostinthewoods
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2016
- Messages
- 804
I made it home at 1am last night.
I'm doing tons of laundry, cleaning gear, and repacking! I'm back on the road in about 18 hours. My work conference starts Wednesday, so I may be able to sneak out to Oklahoma Tuesday, get some blinds built, hang some cameras, and hunt. Then I'll be back out there Friday night through Wednesday!
I'm not going to sleep until this trip starts, I'm VERY EXCITED. This is whitetail hunting like no other. The terrain is weird, it's all ground hunting, and I've done pretty well out there in the past. 4 deer in three years. Three of which were bucks. So I'd like to keep the streak going!
I'm doing tons of laundry, cleaning gear, and repacking! I'm back on the road in about 18 hours. My work conference starts Wednesday, so I may be able to sneak out to Oklahoma Tuesday, get some blinds built, hang some cameras, and hunt. Then I'll be back out there Friday night through Wednesday!
I'm not going to sleep until this trip starts, I'm VERY EXCITED. This is whitetail hunting like no other. The terrain is weird, it's all ground hunting, and I've done pretty well out there in the past. 4 deer in three years. Three of which were bucks. So I'd like to keep the streak going!
Lostinthewoods
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2016
- Messages
- 804
It was a great time!
