Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
Had some success on Monday morning. It was the Mass. shotgun opener. It snowed and rained all day Sunday so we had a decent coat of lite snow Monday morning. The wind was also blowing heavily....a great day for tracking. Got on what I was pretty sure was a small buck track early and followed him for a good 2 hours VERY SLOWLY. He left a thick spruce/fir swamp and began heading up a wooded knob...but I lost 90% of the snow. The leaves were so wet from the Sunday mix that I could see where he was walking in the leaves. I did lose his track a few times and had to search around...I'd eventually pick it back up...moving slowly...peering ahead through the trees looking for the tip of an ear or antler. After another painstaking hour of tracking him, I finally saw a glance of movement above me on the knob about 80 yards away. Not sure what it was, but I hit my grunt call 3 times. Waited about 8 minutes and didn't see anything. I was just about to take 6 or 7 more steps and I saw slight movement again from the same spot up on the knob. I knew something was moving, just couldn't make it out. Hit the grunt 3 more times...waited 5 more minutes...and finally I saw a deer moving on the knob working his way towards me. I knew the deer from pics...a young 1.5 YO 4 pointer. He worked his way down to 60, 50, 40 yards...I decided i would shoot him if he gave me a chance. I haven't gotten a deer in a few years. Haven't seen a buck all season yet. He got to 25 yards and stepped out behind a tree quartering slightly towards me...I gave him one right in the shoulder. He ran 35 yards, stopped, and dropped dead. Got him right through the heart.
I don't like leaving a gut pile on the land, so I had one hell of a drag home. Took me 2 hours to the nearest ATV trail. Then I got him on a Jet sled with my ATV. He weighed in at 140 lbs. dressed at the check station. Feeling very blessed today and thought I'd share.
I don't like leaving a gut pile on the land, so I had one hell of a drag home. Took me 2 hours to the nearest ATV trail. Then I got him on a Jet sled with my ATV. He weighed in at 140 lbs. dressed at the check station. Feeling very blessed today and thought I'd share.