Originally Posted by Iowanian:
I sat dark-dark yesterday. I was sitting the same stand where the buck above was killed. I had some does bed at 15-20 yards and heard quite a bit of small buck activity, grunts and whatnot in the area. Around 6pm, I heard a grunt in some brush at 60 yards...I grunted at it...it grunted...and it was a deep, mean, aggressive "MAN" grunt like I've never heard in the wild. Then, around 40-50 yards straight in front of me in the woods a big doe comes up and stops. I see horns behind her....the buck to my right blows a snort-wheeze. I see him step out down towards them and the 2nd buck steps from the brush and timber shadows. He's a big 8....a big....8. The 2nd buck comes into view and he's a big 10....a big big 10. The kind of buck I've sat in a tree since 1998 waiting to come into view. They meet with the doe between them and I and circle each other...prepping for a brawl. The doe is facing me so I have to be careful. The bucks aren't fighting, but they're sizing each other up. My heart is pounding out of my chest and I get a shot of adrenaline and endorphins like I've never felt...I was almost...high or something.
The 8 point steps in the open in a 3' window about 40 yards......I am shaky and I draw my bow, anchor to my cheek and and let an arrow fly. I hear a thump...a whack, and am saddened to see that my arrow passed 2-3" under the deer and stuck into a tree.
he doesn't run....he looks around and starts coming closer...He's taking the same path where I smoked the buck. The doe and the 10 are looking my direction...I can't get an arrow knocked in time. My nerves are breaking....I'm shivering....but I can't draw as the buck goes behind me to my left and stops 30 yards behind me, not quite in a shooting lane.
What do I do? Do I turn and wait for him to take a couple of more steps and thread a needle?....he's turned looking at the big 10. OMG....the big 10 is walking closer...in the direction of the other buck...he's big....really, really big.....this is the moment I've been dreaming about since a few years before I started this thread....THIS is why men sit in trees for endless hours. My mind is racing, my heart is pounding......He's coming into my shooting lane and I draw........a few more steps, he's at 28 yards, quartering to me...
I close my eyes, I remind myself to breath. "Gather yourself, you're acting like a pussy" Focus on a patch of hair.....breath.....aim, focus....feel the kisser on your cheek where it belongs and let it go. I focus on a patch of hair behind the front leg...I usually shoot a little back, so I purposely aim a little forward....I feel myself relax, I exhale....I release the arrow.
The buck jumps....I see the arrow buried behind his front left leg, but it's further forward than I like...If the arrow went in less than 6"....he might not doe....8" and I have a lung and liver shot.
He runs, tail down crashing through the brush and disappears into a deep ravine.
Euphoria....I'm beside myself with excitement. This is why I hunt. This is why I've hunted for as many hours for as many years as I have. This is the deer that I want to show my friends and put photos of on Chiefsplanet......I want to tear off my sleeves, grow a beard and be a punter for Gunther Cunningham. My erection tears through 3 layers of pants and wool camo.....not really, but it might have.
Nothing to do now but wait....go home, shower, try to relax. Form posse for 9am search.
I had 2 of the biggest deer I've seen from my tree in 10 years come out last night at 40 yards. I freaking missed one of them.....the other, I was 2" from the spot I wanted to hit, but the broadhead didn't pass through for whatever reason.
This morning, there was no blood at the shot spot....I knew where he'd ran. Found blood at 50 yards, a lot of blood in a ditch at 60 yards...up a steep ravine a few drops....then the trail was gone. It has been raining this morning.....blood trail is gone.
My brother thinks he jumped the buck out of a draw 500 yards away....running like the wind. I think I single lunged him and he's probably not going to die.
I'm pretty damn deflated about that right now. Group consensus is this deer is alive and not going to die. What a douche. So many hours...so many years to shit the bed at the moment of truth.
I hate bow hunting right now......but I think I'm going to go sit this evening to get back on the horse.
If you're an archery hunter, shit like this is going to happen. IT totally deflates you til you want to quit, but you'll get back in the game. We've all been there. [Reply]
Honestly, it's why I don't bowhunt. I don't have the patience for it. I suck at rifle as it is, I can't imagine bow hunting right now. Maybe when I'm older... [Reply]
The wind was right to finally hunt a stand I've been excited to sit on my farm. I had washed my hunting cloths, put everything back together, and was on site, changing a couple of broadheads to new arrows so I wouldn't have the problem from the story above....as I twisted the broadhead, something slipped and the razors cut into 2 of my fingers and my thumb. I was bleeding enough to be tracked, but nothing a little super glue wouldn't fix.
I walked a half mile, climbed into my tree and felt me phone buzz....8 missed calls, 8 text messages from brideowanian, who was now 45 minutes away on the interstate with a blowout............so I got down and did what husbands do.
Guess I wasn't supposed to hunt yesterday afterall.
Then last night, I get an email from a brother with new trailcam pics of my #1 target deer. He's in the area where I tried to hunt last night, and moving at 5pm now.......
Bow hunting can be so rewarding, and so frustrating....and so high and so low............. [Reply]
For the farmers in East Johnson County KS... I took out 2 coyotes for you. When Nov 28th comes around I'll probably take a few more and some deer. [Reply]
Originally Posted by demonhero:
For the farmers in East Johnson County KS... I took out 2 coyotes for you. When Nov 28th comes around I'll probably take a few more and some deer.
Originally Posted by KC Fish:
Pheasant hunt completely exceeded expectations. Got 17 roosters today. Was expecting about a 1/3 of that with the drought this year.
Colby, KS
Very very very nice. You must be proud of your dogs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC Fish:
Pheasant hunt completely exceeded expectations. Got 17 roosters today. Was expecting about a 1/3 of that with the drought this year.
Colby, KS
Good lord, I haven't seen that many wild pheasants in years, let alone killed that many in a day!
Originally Posted by LiveSteam:
Very very very nice. You must be proud of your dogs.
Thanks. Havin a dog makes all the difference in the world. Wasn't my dog though... Don't have one myself but my buddy has a great dog. Wish I lived in the country again so I could own a dog.
Bad part was that the wind was blowing about 40mph all day with wind gusts reported at 60mph. Crazy for hunting. My eyeballs hurt from the wind and dirt. Could only walk north to south. When a bird got up, it would either fly in place against the wind or turn with the wind and reach Mach 2... Worst wind ive ever experienced.
Originally Posted by KC Fish:
Thanks. Havin a dog makes all the difference in the world. Wasn't my dog though... Don't have one myself but my buddy has a great dog. Wish I lived in the country again so I could own a dog.
Bad part was that the wind was blowing about 40mph all day with wind gusts reported at 60mph. Crazy for hunting. My eyeballs hurt from the wind and dirt. Could only walk north to south. When a bird got up, it would either fly in place against the wind or turn with the wind and reach Mach 2... Worst wind ive ever experienced.
Never thought we'd see that many.
Dam 1 dog. I figured 3 minimum
Ya they sit tight on days like today. Did you have to kick any to get them to fly. Or blowup under your legs? That will always scare the shit out of ya.
Edit . It was really humid up here in NE today If this kind of humidity was down there while you were hunting. The odds go way up for a good dog with a great snout. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC Fish:
Thanks. Havin a dog makes all the difference in the world. Wasn't my dog though... Don't have one myself but my buddy has a great dog. Wish I lived in the country again so I could own a dog.
Bad part was that the wind was blowing about 40mph all day with wind gusts reported at 60mph. Crazy for hunting. My eyeballs hurt from the wind and dirt. Could only walk north to south. When a bird got up, it would either fly in place against the wind or turn with the wind and reach Mach 2... Worst wind ive ever experienced.
Never thought we'd see that many.
Irrigation does wonders for them. Besides, they didnt have the drought last year. Weve been here for 2.5-3. I don't think we have that many here.
I'm going to blame the wind on you, dick. We've had supe nice days until Fish shows up. GTFO :-) [Reply]
Sat in my blind from 0630-1800 today. The weather went from foggy and still to a little breezy and sunny... Then a fucking thunderstorm moved in and brought 40 mph winds and then it got cold and we has flurries by 5 pm.
I didn't see a fucking thing. I have the worst damn luck with rifle season. I've let we'll over 100 shooters go over the last 5-6 years while bow hunting or muzzle-loaders. You'd think I'd get a little karma working for me, shit no. [Reply]
I hate rifle season with the niwits in the orange army. Another opener running all over chasing nitwits off my ground. Hope it rains to beat hell tomorrow and next weekend is worse so i can get back to bow hunting. City dumbasses [Reply]
Originally Posted by HonestChieffan:
I hate rifle season with the niwits in the orange army. Another opener running all over chasing nitwits off my ground. Hope it rains to beat hell tomorrow and next weekend is worse so i can get back to bow hunting. City dumbasses
Missouri's rifle season is the Special Olympics of the Whitetail hunting world. I'll have at least a dozen sets of ruts to fix after the idiots get done trespassing in their mobile deer stands, but at least the rain will keep half of them in their hotel rooms and campers. [Reply]
