My official kill thread
I have been busy and have not taken the time to post this.
Long and pic heavy. I didn’t proofread either so kisseth of thine ass…
Around 10-11 months ago I told my wife I wanted to really take a long vacation and hunt Missouri. I told her I didn’t want to leave the kids that long though and she said “we have the camper, let’s go with you”. So for the last 10-11 months I planned it out.
I joined a lease, studied maps, flew out for turkey season, studied maps, flew back in September and hung some cell cams, and studied maps. Within a few days a few of the cell cams on the farm I liked sent some pictures of a few incredible bucks.
Like a lot of bucks they really disappeared off of camera in late September and the cameras were not in the right spots for fall patterns.
We rolled into town on November 1, we left eastern NC on the 29th, and slowly made our 1300 mile trek across the country with the 4 kids and my wife following behind my truck and camper in our van. I knew I would lose days hunting if they came and it would take me 2-3 days longer to drive but I wanted them here.
The evening of the first I setup the camper and then drove to scout another farm I had looked at on the map for months and planned on hunting the 3rd. With my bow in hand I scouted all over the farm and found lots of deer sign. The farm did not layout well for south winds and that was what I had coming for as far as the forecast could be trusted. As I walked back towards the truck I came up on a walnut grove with crp under it and to my surprise there was a large buck making a scrape about 75 yds from me. I was walking across cut beans and the wind was in my face so I caught him by surprise.
As I made my way to the CRP edge I knelt down and found my grunt call, my binos had fallen into a creek and were caked in mud about 15 minutes before that so I couldn’t really judge what I was looking at. I hit the grunt tube and he bowed up and snort wheezed. He whirled around and started making his way to the field edge about 50 yds from where I was. All I could think is “ho Lee hell” this might be over before it starts. But like any smart deer he didn’t commit to something he couldn’t see. He went back into the CRP grunting. If I grunted at him, he would snort wheeze and grunt back, it was wild. I couldn’t range him because of the grass and crap between us so I ranged a tree at 30 and guessed he was 40. I stood, shot, and watched my arrow sail under him, he was so big he looked closer than he was. He walked 8 steps, snort wheezed and started rubbing a tree.
Hot damn, welcome to the Midwest.
The next morning I walked into a spot on the farm with cameras and it took about 20 min longer than I thought it would. This was my only day for north winds and as I climbed up I looked over my shoulder to see a doe and a fawn at 40 yards watching me climb. “Crack,” a limb broke and through an Osage orange tree I could see another doe at 18 yds and face high on a trail I could see from imagery. “Shit” I thought. As I continued to slowly climb I heard a grunt, turning, I could see another buck aggravating a doe but he was small. “Ok, thank Goodness”. Grunt! Damn if there wasn’t a grown deer back there and I am switching between my lineman rope and my tether, my tether by the way was tangled in my climbing stick and I didn’t know it.…
Shit show
After I get settled all of the deer were gone except one lone doe who watched me setup and then walked 15 yds from me, looking at me like the dumbass I was.
What I learned though is how those deer were funneling up that draw in the mornings and I thought I could get away with it on a south wind. The wind was swirling bad that afternoon so I retreated down to a ditch and watched as three nice bucks sprinted by me throughout the day doing “deer things”. The first one that came by I would have shot but he was going so fast he was at me before I knew he was coming.
The next morning I went to the tree where I embarrassed myself the morning prior and waited. A few does, a small buck, and then behind me up the draw was the buck this thread is about. His doe was bringing him down but the south wind made it impossible. She turned and off they went. 20 min later I rappelled down, headed west, climbed the ridges, and circled the draw, setting up 300 yds north of where I saw the buck.
Around 1:35 he sprinted off the hill in front of me alone and came within 35 yds but behind a bunch of shrubs, I have never shook from the stand and never had a shot but that deer shook me up. He was like a horse with at least 150” of antler and wow…“bucks like this do exist”.
I waited all afternoon and about 40 min before sunset he comes out with his doe. They stayed at 60 yards and I never had a shot. I saw another 140” deer that was gorgeous that evening and didn’t have a shot. Two mornings later and I am at the top of the draw, way down the draw around 10 am here comes three does and he is behind them, they again filter up to the same patch of trees and never get closer than 55 yds. I’m in the game but I am not in the game. A small buck turns her, he postures, little buck decides he ain’t about that life and comes towards me but the doe went back down the draw and so did the big boy.
After an hour or so I followed that trail and found a spot to cut them off. It pinched harder and this 60 yard crap had to stop. The next morning I sat there and watched as every buck on the property chased a hot doe 450 yards south of me in the beans, he was down there.
I climbed down at 10 am and took the family to the zoo.
11/9 the wind changed to NE and it was blowing consistent enough I wanted to go back to the tree at the bottom of the draw. Feets told me on the drive “today is the day”.
Right after I get setup a small doe filters down the draw and passes at 10 yds, an hour later I call in a 2.5 year old deer from across the beans.
About 8:35 I see the big boy up the draw and he is alone, the wind had just swirled a few times and my milkweed floating towards him made me want to cry. He was going in and out of the bedding area and I could just catch glimpses with the binos but I could hear him grunting. 60 yds…again and thick. He disappears and for 15 minutes I try to wish him back. A limb breaks on the ridge above me and I catch a flash of the buck. I was already holding my bow but I wasn’t sure if it was him or not. At 45 yds he goes behind a large cedar and I draw. He pops out and it’s him, he is coming down to me and if he hits the trail every other deer takes it is going to be a 8-10 yard shot but slightly quartering to me. If he goes right it is going to be a perfect 20 yd chip shot. Every step he took- he grunted. He turns right, I wait for him to clear a small sappling, I make the softest grunt, he stops, I release, and the arrow buries in his heart. It wasn’t the loud twack though and it was just a soft thud. He absorbed the arrow like a target. As he runs off I can see the arrow sticking out both sides, he is bleeding hard and going strait away from me up the draw, almost in slow motion it seemed. The farther he got from me the lower he got to the ground but I never saw him fall.
I took my time, climbed down, dropped my stuff, grabbed an arrow, my rangefinder, and headed to look at the blood trail. It was good blood and confirmed what I saw from the very first patch I found.
50 yds later there was no doubt he wouldn’t be far and another 30-40 yds I found him. I took the first pic and then just sat and took in the week that I had.
I didn’t have a good signal down there and couldn’t send any pics. I called my bride, told her to bring the kids, and I took some more pics.
I made the girls blood trail and having them there was truly special.
What ended up being an 18 yd chip shot doesn’t tell the story. I don’t know what he is gonna score, he is over 150” and dressed at 230 pounds. It was a great trip. I will never spend a November east of the Mississippi again as long as I am able and hunt whitetails with a bow.
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Originally Posted by 2thDoc
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