tynimiller
5 year old buck +
For those that follow my land thread (which I am TERRIBLE about updating and grossly behind)....I finally typed out the story of the buck I harvested...LONG read just warning you...
The Hunt For Cicero
To start the discussion of the October 5th, 2018 hunt we have to rewind for a just a quick minute to March of 2016. I had just closed on my very own slice of God’s creation in Indiana. This was something I NEVER thought would have occurred when it did, and truly had given up on having my own piece of ground till well into my 40s or 50s.
There I was however with the deed to a little over 22 acres to call my own. It wasn’t what many would consider prime ground (if it was I wouldn’t own it), however I was ready to make it my own. Now two and a half years later with a long list of habitat items to do yet I’ve been blessed with two bucks, one of which I doubt I’ll ever top again.
Cicero was a buck that was barely on our radar in 2016 and 2017. He swung by a few times on camera during the season…but only in the darkest cover of the night. It was this factor I never gave him much thought or wasted time naming him as Pops and I wouldn’t be talking about him.
Well this year he showed up on velvet in mid-July, and as far as antler growth was concerned he was well ahead of every single other buck. I can remember even texting a friend of mine much more experienced in massive bucks if I was kidding myself to imagine I have an actual booner or close to it using the place. We both figured he was an early and quick grower, but definitely could have that potential.
Once velvet started dropping I assumed like all the other years he’d disappear and only appear every now and then, however his appearances on camera became more regular and his use of the property more often. By mid-September it became very clear he not only was utilizing the property regularly, he was using the bedding on the property and/or the ones immediately beside it nearly 3-6 times a week.
The plan was to not move in on Cicero unless EVERYTHING pointed towards extremely high chance of success…the biggest thing needed would be an Easterly wind. The stand I knew I had the greatest chance hung along an overgrown fence row near the western edge of the property. It was actually the same stand I shot the first buck off my property back in 2016, and overlooks a clover/chicory plot speckled with pockets of wild raspberry thickets and sapling islands. This winding and mess of a plot is actually called the Fruit Plot, as it has quite a few apple and pear trees planted both of the last couple seasons.
The plot itself was just one reason the stand is arguably the best on the property. The biggest reason is that it is situated on the west side of a portion of this plot, and on all the other 3 sides are bedding no farther than 40-65 yards from the stand. To the North, East and West all had viable and regularly used bedding cover…the spot with an East wind was and is KILLER (pun intended).
However, as any fellow Hoosier from the Michiana (Michigan/Indiana area) knows we simply don’t get easterly type winds often…so when the forecast came out for the weather shift hitting us October 4th I started paying attention to everything, despite it being so early in the season.
The evening of the 4th was when I wanted to be up a tree….the storm front would have just moved through which included not only rain, but a pretty substantial temperature swing in the downward direction. Mixed with this was a predominate wind shift, but it didn’t swing until the 5th and it was that day the magical “E” showed up in the wind prediction and called for a steady ESE wind all day.
However, those were not the only factors I was paying attention to. Barometric pressure due to front was swinging, the moon in the dark phase just days from a new one with underfoot being approximately 5:44PM on October 5th…these and many other factors all were lining up and pointing towards ambushing Cicero (or one of the other mature bucks) earlier in the season than I normally would go in.
It would have been impossible to live with myself had I not hunted that night with everything aligning for movement, so the plan was set, I was hunting for Cicero the 5th.
(too many characters for one post...will add in following comments rest of story)
The Hunt For Cicero
To start the discussion of the October 5th, 2018 hunt we have to rewind for a just a quick minute to March of 2016. I had just closed on my very own slice of God’s creation in Indiana. This was something I NEVER thought would have occurred when it did, and truly had given up on having my own piece of ground till well into my 40s or 50s.
There I was however with the deed to a little over 22 acres to call my own. It wasn’t what many would consider prime ground (if it was I wouldn’t own it), however I was ready to make it my own. Now two and a half years later with a long list of habitat items to do yet I’ve been blessed with two bucks, one of which I doubt I’ll ever top again.
Cicero was a buck that was barely on our radar in 2016 and 2017. He swung by a few times on camera during the season…but only in the darkest cover of the night. It was this factor I never gave him much thought or wasted time naming him as Pops and I wouldn’t be talking about him.
Well this year he showed up on velvet in mid-July, and as far as antler growth was concerned he was well ahead of every single other buck. I can remember even texting a friend of mine much more experienced in massive bucks if I was kidding myself to imagine I have an actual booner or close to it using the place. We both figured he was an early and quick grower, but definitely could have that potential.
Once velvet started dropping I assumed like all the other years he’d disappear and only appear every now and then, however his appearances on camera became more regular and his use of the property more often. By mid-September it became very clear he not only was utilizing the property regularly, he was using the bedding on the property and/or the ones immediately beside it nearly 3-6 times a week.
The plan was to not move in on Cicero unless EVERYTHING pointed towards extremely high chance of success…the biggest thing needed would be an Easterly wind. The stand I knew I had the greatest chance hung along an overgrown fence row near the western edge of the property. It was actually the same stand I shot the first buck off my property back in 2016, and overlooks a clover/chicory plot speckled with pockets of wild raspberry thickets and sapling islands. This winding and mess of a plot is actually called the Fruit Plot, as it has quite a few apple and pear trees planted both of the last couple seasons.
The plot itself was just one reason the stand is arguably the best on the property. The biggest reason is that it is situated on the west side of a portion of this plot, and on all the other 3 sides are bedding no farther than 40-65 yards from the stand. To the North, East and West all had viable and regularly used bedding cover…the spot with an East wind was and is KILLER (pun intended).
However, as any fellow Hoosier from the Michiana (Michigan/Indiana area) knows we simply don’t get easterly type winds often…so when the forecast came out for the weather shift hitting us October 4th I started paying attention to everything, despite it being so early in the season.
The evening of the 4th was when I wanted to be up a tree….the storm front would have just moved through which included not only rain, but a pretty substantial temperature swing in the downward direction. Mixed with this was a predominate wind shift, but it didn’t swing until the 5th and it was that day the magical “E” showed up in the wind prediction and called for a steady ESE wind all day.
However, those were not the only factors I was paying attention to. Barometric pressure due to front was swinging, the moon in the dark phase just days from a new one with underfoot being approximately 5:44PM on October 5th…these and many other factors all were lining up and pointing towards ambushing Cicero (or one of the other mature bucks) earlier in the season than I normally would go in.
It would have been impossible to live with myself had I not hunted that night with everything aligning for movement, so the plan was set, I was hunting for Cicero the 5th.
(too many characters for one post...will add in following comments rest of story)
