The Whitetail Success Thread

mcseal2

Veteran member
Mar 1, 2011
1,172
195
midwest
Thanks. He was a really pretty buck. Very symmetrical and tall. I scored him roughly at 161 4/8" gross. Score isn't to big a deal for me, age is much more important. I don't like to take bucks that are under 5 years old. I like to try to outsmart the old ones if I'm going to take a buck.
 

Joseph

Active Member
Jan 25, 2014
221
109
Creston BC Canada
That is the buck of a life time, maybe two. Big western deer. And with a bow as well. Congratulations. Anymore you care to share about the hunt coonhound.
 

coonhound40

New Member
Dec 17, 2018
2
3
That is the buck of a life time, maybe two. Big western deer. And with a bow as well. Congratulations. Anymore you care to share about the hunt coonhound.
Here's a story I posted on Archery Talk...

The story isn't all that exciting, to start it out I was hunting my easiest stands to get into since I am still recovering from a major brain surgery. Last year I didn't get to hunt at all due to my surgery. I spent most of that period just learning how to walk and regain my balance and vision. It was a pretty tough go for a guy that loves nothing more than backcountry elk hunts. The cool thing is this season comes along and I get drawn for a once in a lifetime bighorn sheep tag and now a great buck, I couldn't be happier.

I had been sitting in my stand 11 hours a day for the 1st 5 days of the season and was feeling a little discouraged. All I saw were a couple small bucks and a handful of does. The weather had been clear and most of their activity was happening at night. Finally the weather report said we were going to have an overcast day with a few flurries, I was pumped for some change. I hit the stand 1hr before daylight just like the prior 5 days but this day I had a feeling things were going to start happening. On my way into my stand I noticed 4 fresh scrapes, one of them was giant. I sat patiently until about 7:00am when the 1st doe walked by. She hung around for awhile and like a dummy I decided to go a head and sit down. Almost immediately after I sat down, something caught her attention behind me, at about the same time I hear a buck grunt and he's unfortunately right below my stand. He's a great 4 point (10 pointer for you Easterners) and I know there is no way I'll get away with standing up or even grabbing my bow. I watched him for a while until he finally moved into a patch of small firs where he started raking his horns. This was my chance, I slowly stood up and grabbed my bow. He started moving toward my shooting lane and stopped with just his head clear, we stood there for 30 minutes. My arms were beginning to shake like crazy from just trying to be still. At this point I figured I would never be able to draw my bow and pull off a good shot even if he did step out. Well he finally got bored and instead of taking that next step to clear for a shot he slowly turned and walked back the way he came. I was bummed but also excited to finally see a mature buck and some good rut activity.

At 10:30 I was brought to full attention when I heard a buck ripping up a tree, it was right where that 1st buck had walked a few hours earlier. I got myself ready and soon I could see a deer coming through the thick stuff. Immediately I could tell it was a buck, I assumed it was the same one I had just watched. He was coming my way slow and steady and grunting at almost every step. When he got to about 30 yards I could tell this was not the same buck, he had way longer main beams, he took a few more steps and I gasped, he had trash, I haven't killed a buck with extras. Now I'm really excited, I have to give myself that "calming talk", as my hunting partner commonly tells me. The route he was on would only give me a small window 15 yards right behind my stand, not ideal. He was about 5 feet from my shooting window when I came to full draw, he must have caught my movement and he stopped. I thought it was over, I held steady and fortunately after about 30 seconds (felt like 10 minutes) he started walking my way. He came to the opening and stopped, allowing me to quickly find the spot and send one his way. I clearly saw the impact, it wasn't perfect, about 5 inches back from where I wanted it, definitely the result of getting excited and rushing the shot. He ran out about 75 yards and then slowly walked into a thick patch of trees. My heart sank, I thought to myself this could be a long day, I knew it wasn't a gut shot but was afraid it could be just a liver hit? Seconds later I heard a loud crash, I was instantly feeling much better but still wasn't completely convinced it was a death crash. After taking some time to gain my composure, I was clearly a little rattled, I climbed down and found my arrow. It had great blood and no signs of a gut or liver hit. I sent a picture of the arrow to my hunting partner and gave him a call at work to talk it through. I was ready to pull out and give him several hours but the more we talked and looked at the sign we were both convinced I would find him right were I last heard him. By now it's been a little over an hour so I went down to the point of impact and starting the tracking job. When I got to where I last saw him he was laying just 10 feet inside the thick stuff. I walked up to him and was pleasantly surprised, he was bigger than I realized. I spent a while soaking in the moment and shooting a few selfies, and of course sending them off to my son and hunting partner. After a really tough year this was an amazing gift that really took the edge off and gets me pumped up for next year when I should have all this crazy stuff behind me.

Jeff


PS, thanks for all the great comments...
I unfortunately am back on my journey, i'm just starting up a couple months of chemo and radiation, hopefully this will get me over the hump for good and I can get back to the good stuff. These great memories from this year will certainly help take the edge off as I head down this path.
 

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