Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
Hey guys...had probably the best hunt I have ever had this morning for a lot of reasons. I'm a high school teacher so I had the day off. I'm also a veteran of Desert Storm so the Veteran's Day weekend is always special for me. My first deer in 5 years. Made a perfect shot. My kids got to be a part of the morning. All was right with the world.
I hung a stand up on a small ridge this past summer over a trail that always has a scrape or two on it. I was looking for a nice place to hunt in the timber in the morning. This was my first sit on this stand in the AM. A quiet and still morning...about 19 degrees F....blue sky...wicked loud walking in. Didn't see a thing all morning and then about 8:25 or so I clearly heard something crunching through the woods. I knew it wasn't a doe. It was kind of behind me and then I caught it about 80 yards away heading away from me...saw the antlers. I hit my grunt tube 3 times. It stopped. And then he began walking back towards me right on the run. I had 3 shooting lanes. Because it was so quiet I picked the lane that had the most stuff between me and the deer. I drew back perfectly and as I drew down on him I gave him a little "baaghpp." He stopped broadside at 20 yards. I let her fly and I knew I made a good shot. Right through the center of his chest. Clean pass through. He ran up the hill and then to my left and then down the hill and then all was quiet. I gave it 15 minutes and got down and recovered my arrow....bright pink frothy blood. I was so pumped. I knew it was just a matter of tracking him. There was a great blood trail in the snow and leaves all the way to him...he ran about 150 yards or so. Little 8 pointer. Not too big. I'm terrible at this, but I'm guessing a 2.5 YO 130 pounder maybe? My camera caught him a few seconds before I shot, and immediately after as he headed up the hill. Pretty cool! I then went home and told my wife and kids, but I didn't tell my kids that I had already found him. I took them out to my stand and let my kids track him all over again. We had a blast and they did a good job! Found him with almost no help from me.
In a few other current threads there are some discussions about age, genetics, nutrition...about letting young deer pass...about setting realistic goals and priorities. This is the kind of buck that I'm guessing many of the guys on the forum would pass on. Here in NW Mass, he's a shooter all day long. Couldn't be happier today. Thanks for letting me share.
I hung a stand up on a small ridge this past summer over a trail that always has a scrape or two on it. I was looking for a nice place to hunt in the timber in the morning. This was my first sit on this stand in the AM. A quiet and still morning...about 19 degrees F....blue sky...wicked loud walking in. Didn't see a thing all morning and then about 8:25 or so I clearly heard something crunching through the woods. I knew it wasn't a doe. It was kind of behind me and then I caught it about 80 yards away heading away from me...saw the antlers. I hit my grunt tube 3 times. It stopped. And then he began walking back towards me right on the run. I had 3 shooting lanes. Because it was so quiet I picked the lane that had the most stuff between me and the deer. I drew back perfectly and as I drew down on him I gave him a little "baaghpp." He stopped broadside at 20 yards. I let her fly and I knew I made a good shot. Right through the center of his chest. Clean pass through. He ran up the hill and then to my left and then down the hill and then all was quiet. I gave it 15 minutes and got down and recovered my arrow....bright pink frothy blood. I was so pumped. I knew it was just a matter of tracking him. There was a great blood trail in the snow and leaves all the way to him...he ran about 150 yards or so. Little 8 pointer. Not too big. I'm terrible at this, but I'm guessing a 2.5 YO 130 pounder maybe? My camera caught him a few seconds before I shot, and immediately after as he headed up the hill. Pretty cool! I then went home and told my wife and kids, but I didn't tell my kids that I had already found him. I took them out to my stand and let my kids track him all over again. We had a blast and they did a good job! Found him with almost no help from me.
In a few other current threads there are some discussions about age, genetics, nutrition...about letting young deer pass...about setting realistic goals and priorities. This is the kind of buck that I'm guessing many of the guys on the forum would pass on. Here in NW Mass, he's a shooter all day long. Couldn't be happier today. Thanks for letting me share.
