Early season hunt for a giant

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October 5th rolled around with a NE wind on the tail end of a cool front. My brother had hit his target buck on a different farm the evening before, so I knew the timing was right. I had one and only one deer on my mind that evening, yes because he was a monster, but mostly because there was nothing else around.

 

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I had pictures all last season of a tall, narrow 6x5, almost exclusively in one small 1/3 food plot to the western border of my property. I believe I had a grand total of ONE daylight picture of this deer, indicating that he was either nocturnal, or was living just off of the property.

 

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He made it through the season and I was very lucky to find both of his sheds! Doing chainsaw work that winter, that deer was always on my mind. I had no idea what he’d turn into....

 

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We bought a house in August which was the ordeal of ordeals, so I didn’t get my cameras out until almost Labor day. They showed very little, until the last week of September when I started getting pictures of a VERY tall deer that looked to have about 11 or 12 points. He was very regular that last week of September, but only once showed up in daylight. I was getting him on this camera only, so I knew my chances were this small field or nothing, at least early season.

 

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Fast forward again to October 5th. I’m setting up in a tree for the first time ever. I figured a buck on a Northeast wind would swing around and scent check the field before entering. I had prepped a tree over winter just for this scenario and had hinged an area downwind to encourage movement on the upwind side.

 

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I get set up fairly early and it’s drizzing/raining off and on, but the rain was supposed to quit about an hour before dark, and thats when I figured the deer would start moving. I saw a doe and a fawn early, and my hinge wall forced them to move just off of my scent trail. The doe seemed to get a whiff, but the wall prevented her from getting to where she wanted and from busting me. They then make their way out to the field, which I have in brassicas with clover in the shady spot under a big red oak. Best brassicas of my life by the way.

 

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In the picture you can see the red star where I’m set up, about 40 yards off the Southwest corner of the field. White line is my hingecut blockade, orange is wind direction. Red line is the anticipated deer travel, blue is the actual line of travel.

 

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So it’s getting to the last 15 minutes and other than those two does, I hadn’t seen anything. I just turned on my sight pin light and looked up to the field edge and saw something with a lot of tines working a scrape. I fumble for my rangefinder and wait. Eventually he moves just off the field to the west in an opening. I grunt to stop him and let it fly. He mule kicks at the shot, and doesn’t run far, I always grunt to get their attention so they stop running. He trots a little ways, but then beds down below me at 20 yards. I nock another arrow and stick him again. He then tears out of there growling like he’s hit hard. I figured the 2nd shot was better than it was. I give it 30 minutes and then pack up, tearing down the stand and sticks as it’s my hang and hunt setup. I thought the 2nd arrow was a good one, so I start looking for blood. Great trail at first, but peters to nothing after a hundred yards. That along with a light rain tells me to back out and regroup. I figured by his reaction the first shot was a gut shot, and the 2nd was underwhelming.

I was almost certain this was the big deer I was in to get, so I start calling around to form a plan. I get info for dog trackers and start calling around. I get no replies. I do not sleep that night.

 

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The next day I have work in the morning out of town, I’m there 30 minutes early because I didn’t sleep. I get ahold of my neighbors and get permission to look for the deer because I’m not sure where he ran exactly. Everyone and their brother is aware of the buck but they all are very encouraging and friendly. Most hunters are good people.

I get ahold of a tracker who doesn’t reeeaaallly want the job, but we agree it’s a gut shot and the deer is dead. He can’t make it until that evening as he has work and lives 90 miles from my farm. We meet at 1900 and begin the track.

 

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The track job is extremely, extremely slow. We had had considerable rainfall, and the blood from the night before is all but gone. We tracked in the light sprinkling off and on rain for FIVE HOURS. We did get a general direction we believe the deer went, but eventually give up. I get home at 0200 and I’m exhausted and more frustrated than ever.

 

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The next day I get a call several times from the hunter that leases the neighboring property and he encourages me to keep looking, and tells me the deer is probably in a small lake. I can’t get out after work that day, but cancel my afternoon and get out the following day. I give it an hour on foot, but then decide to try a small boat and paddle my way around the small lake. No wind at all, so I was very lucky.

 

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I make it about 3/4 of the way around the lake, and find him in a little cut. I save the pin on my phone, tie him to the boat and paddle him outta there.

 

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I call up my cousin to help get him out and snap a few pictures. He smells terrible as expected, but the rack is unbelievable. The mass is better than I’ve ever seen, along with the long tines.

 

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Boil the skull for about 5 hours the next day, powerwash it the following day, and finally the smell is mostly gone. Now just waiting to find a cape so I can take him to a taxidermist later this fall.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Where did you end up hitting him?

 

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I sent the pin to where I found the deer to the tracker, and we had made it within 30 yards that long night. Oh well, I’m happy to finally find him.

Several lessons I learned with this ordeal: gut shot deer go to water. Not just the edge of it, they end up IN IT. So give them 24 hours and search the water sources. They float, at least a few days.

The next is early season hunting. If you have a good food source with a good buck around, give it one shot early season during a cold front. My brother and I hit good bucks on consecutive evenings during a cold front. If nothing moves, wait until late October.

The third is persistence. Not only in finding this deer, but in habitat improvement. When we first got this property, this small field and the surrounding area were written off as “just a doe spot”. I then went on to plant a screen to buffer the nearby road, plant apple trees for soft mast, put in a great food plot every year, and most importantly improve the surrounding bedding cover. I have put more chainsaw work into this surrounding cover than any other spot, and that’s exactly where this giant buck walked out of DURING DAYLIGHT. The kill and trophy were very rewarding as I picked this tree during winter, made it very hard to get busted on a particular wind, all after spending years improving the surrounding cover. Mature trees are NOT the friend of mature bucks.

Thanks for listening to my rambling, and remember to let the sun shine.

 

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Where did you end up hitting him?

You can see my first shot was dead center and just terrible. I believe he took a step forward at the shot. Second shot was forward and high. He was too gross to do an autopsy, but if that second shot was slightly higher it woulda been a spine shot and woulda found him right away.

 

[Tree Spud]

Great buck and story G! he is a beast and great that you found him.

 

[River-X]

Nice write up on your hunt. Beautiful buck you got there. Amazing what we can all learn from each other’s stories. Congratulations on finding him!

 

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One last lesson that this hunt drove home: first time sits and the element of surprise.

This buck and my previous best 2 years ago were both shot during hunts where I had never, ever sat before. Both were picked out while scouting and cutting in March based on what I thought a mature buck would do. Both were hang and hunts that same day. I’m not saying to never hunt the same spot twice, but there is definitely something to be said about the element of surprise. The first time you hunt a stand is your best odds, so wait for the right conditions before you tip off the bucks with your scent. They absolutely will find it after dark and skirt you.

Here’s my 2019 deer.


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