Oct 11 , 2017
New bow that year, a 64" TD being developed , 47 @ 28 , GT blem 500s , 200 grain VPA 3 blade on front.
Got off work and broke the speed limit on the way to the stand, a couple miles away from it , I went by a house and the flag was attention, from the wrong direction!!! The wind had changed on my way over to the hunting area.
Went to a different stand I thought might work, not a lot of hope, marginal wind direction...
Almost sunset, a couple does come out sorta headed my way, then a buck popped out of the brush along the levee. Glassed him and thought , yep!
He started along the levee brush toward me and I'm thinkin , this is gonna be a slam dunk 12 yard shot. Even had a 36" cottonwood to draw when he passed behind on the trail. :goldtooth:
He works a scrape really well and here he comes...
At about 40 ish yards he decides to cut the corner of the field and I'm in the very corner. Crap, he goes by at 30+ yards and I just watch him go. He works another scrape on the edge . I grunt at him and he looks but no dice.
Then he turns away and I'm thinkin" He's gonna just walk on out of here."
For whatever reason , I remembered reading Don Thomas' story in TBM where he raked his bow on a little tree to simulate a deer rubbing, so I raked my bow up and down the tree(had a small pin oak between us) .
Holy crap, he's turning around!!
:jumper: :jumper: :jumper:
He comes down the edge a little , but seems to smell a rat in this deal and cuts the field corner again, but closer this time.
I have an opening in the limbs and when he's there, I draw . He stops like this is intended to be and I shoot.
Let me tell you, never dye real turkey feathers orange with Koolaid , they matched his color so well I couldn't see the arrow at all . (I'm back to yellow after that) :o
No idea where the arrow went, he just ran back to where he came out in the first place and went in.
You probably know the self doubt that sets in when you're not sure of the shot. :banghead:
I got down before it gets dark and go see about finding my arrow. Hmmm, don't see it. Wait, there's blood, dang, I did hit him !
Text bro and he brings his UTV , it's been 20-25 minutes and getting dark so we go in, pretty good blood after a few yards. :pray:
Now he's in soybeans 4 ' tall , pretty much just follow the wallowed down beans , and there he is! About a hundred yards worth of decent blood trail, thank you Lord !!!
Gotta get my fone to post the pic, back in a few...
He ended up having 13 points and a couple broken off. I never scored him but know he made my book .
So there's you all a story to help keep you in the mood !!
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Oh, and look at the neck on him , I thought it was huge for early October!!
Great buck Kenny! He was a big old boy for sure.
OH BOY...here we go...yep...My Neck is starting to swell :bigsmyl:
Sweet!
Cool
GREAT buck!!
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Kenny,
Thanks for sharing.
You Done Good....Really Good!
Fantastic, Season is right around the corner. Thanks for getting me pumped up. And nice shooting...
Missouri bucks definitely have stout bodies. Looking forward to September.
it is amazing how all of a sudden, those camo type colors lose their worth as you struggle to see the arrow at all, especially in low light. But in this case, the arrow flew true and the result was a trophy in anybody's book. We call them a "stud" around here. A memory worth remembering for sure and sharing. Congrats, loved it
Thanks for the tale. Nice buck for sure.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
Actually added the orange to give some color(and that's the Koolaid we had, don't drink much Koolaid here LOL)
Didn't think about it matching a deer color so well. Still have one with a Judo on it in the quiver...
Well done Kenny on a great buck :clapper: :campfire:
Thanks Kenny. What a nice buck!
Very nice deer Kenny! Thanks for taking us along to help us thru the dog days of summer!
Great story, Greater BUCK!!!
Thanks Kenny!
There's another chapter from the same stand a month later. That stand is known as the bobcat stand, because it was newly placed in 2016 and...
This is not the next chapter for this stand, but the previous year. Hence the name of the stand- Bobcat...
This evening a little buck came almost to me and snorted, I was sure he couldn't smell me so I just stood still and waited. In a bit I saw a critter coming thru the brush and thought Yote! As he came, I found out it was a cat. Pretty good sized one compared to others I'd gotten.
He went behind the big cottonwood I mentioned earlier and I drew, when he cleared at 12 yards I squeaked and he froze , and the arrow was gone. He went about 50 yards. He is now mounted in my living room...
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Did I mention I really like this stand? :goldtooth:
I'd like to get a bobcat!
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
Love hearing people hunting stories! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post.
Kenny, that there's a HOSS!!!! Awesome story and what an animal! :thumbsup:
Next chapter...
Fast forward to gun season, I'm in same stand in the afternoon of mid gun week, about an hour before dark a good buck slips up on me from same direction as the Oct 11 buck (my youngest sons birthday btw) and gets thru my lane , gonna cross into the line of timber I'm in , so I ease to my feet and turn to shoot on the left side of tree .
He comes in and stops perfectly---- behind a 3" sapling. I lean hard against my safety strap as far as I can , and carefully shoot an inch over him. :banghead:
He takes off on across the little ditch and trots outta my life . The agony of defeat! :readit:
I turn back when he is out of sight in a hundred yards or so and sit. Mentally cursing myself, fortunately not crying out loud...
I hear something and look to the south and there is a twin to him working a scrape. Then here he comes, almost straight to me, I'm at full draw and he is quartering to me too hard to shoot.
I'm thinkin I gotta turn around to the wrong side of the dang tree again. About to let down and see if I can, he's only 7 yards. This will be tough at the clip he's moving and so close to me without spooking him.
Unlike my good bud Charles Lamb, I'm gonna finish this story this month ... :laughing:
OK, I'm about to let down and play ballerina in slow motion, and something catches his attention, and he turns away -- broadside at 7 yards!
The arrow is gone and I clearly see this hit and it's a good one. He goes across the little field on other side of the strip of timber I'm in and goes into the next patch of brush. There's no doubting this shot... much anyway! He looks to be slowing and maybe faltering a bit when he gets to the brush.
I call bro and tell him I shot as decent one, he says I'm on the way! (We field dress each other's bucks) , and I get down and go to site of shot. Hmmm no arrow, thought it blew thru him? Blood starts almost instantly and is a steady stream, arrow is about 10 ' down trail.
I go across the 140 yards of next field, and he is laying just inside brush. Thank you, Lord!!
I admire him and silently apologize and thank him.
Bro shows up and dresses him after a hearty backslappin session! I thank bro John for letting me hunt there (and the field dressing!).
And run an antler tine thru top of my new Muck boot. LOL
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I have other stories if ya want em and aren't too bored with me...
LOL
This buck looked exactly like the first except he had a broken tine.
Moral of story- never give up!! :thumbsup:
Nice deer but damn that hunter needs some makeup or something:)
LMAO Hi brother...
:wavey: :laughing:
I wear a mask while hunting, I tried without but it tore em up too bad... :laughing: :wavey:
Good story Kenny.
Great stories and bucks Kenny! You're getting me fired up for the coming season! :thumbsup:
Another great one, you're on a roll :goldtooth: :campfire:
Great story...keep em coming :campfire: :coffee:
Awesome story, and great buck Kenny!!!
Bisch
Thanks folks, it was a great year!!
Thanks folks, it was a great year!
Keep the stories coming Kenny! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Quote from: Roy from Pa on July 27, 2022, 12:17:34 PM
Nice deer but damn that hunter needs some makeup or something:)
No sir,..... to many 'men' wearing make up these days. :readit:
Keep the stories coming Kenny!
HA - T , no worries there, I'm about as redneck as ya can get! :laughing:
Great story with terrific ending!
On the subject of fletching color. Way back in 1974 I was on a January bow hunt in Alabama with my college room mate. Deep in the Cahaba State Forest. Waded the river every morning in the dark (waist deep) to get to where I wanted to hunt. IN those early days I thought the harder I worked the more "luck" I would have. (It took me more than a decade to learn that smarter trumps harder.)
I had a hip quiver and was carrying a Bear B-Mag, 60" recurve at 50#. My arrows had mostly white feathers. As I was walking to my stand one afternoon I spied a couple of hounds 50-60 yards away. I shook the quiver of arrows at the dogs. They started towards me. Uh, oh. I figured they might have thought I was a deer twitching its flag (tail). I didn't let them get too close before running them off. I wasn't afraid of the dogs, but I didn't want them coming nearer, especially if someone was with them.
Never bored of your stories Kenny!
David
Mornin David! Gonna be time to try to make some more soon!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Good stuff Keny!