4 years in the making

[Crittergetter]

Here's a story of my quest to kill a deer on public land in east Texas....
up until about 4 years ago I always had places to hunt on private ground via friends or relatives. And I had a small lease that was pretty decent. Well as life would have it those opportunities slowly faded away for one reason or another.
So I began to take a serious look at local public land .
Most everyone I talked to was of the same opinion..
very little deer numbers and WAY to much pressure.
But being hard headed like I am I set my mind to it!
On many different scouting trips I always saw sign of both deer and hogs. Well I'm no genius but it seems to me that a deer had to be making the sign I was seeing!  So I began to formulate plans of attack. I studied aerial photos, weather apps for wind direction, ect, ect...
this particular wma is about 3500 acres of river bottom.
Mostly all dense hardwoods and very dense thickets.
Seems like the ideal place to hunt right?
That's what I thought at first too! But I quickly learned that with that many food options and very very little terrain changes it is very difficult to determine where the deer are going to be or where they might be headed. Every thing ( and I mean everything) is the same. The deer can go anywhere or nowhere. The only change in the terrain is the river itself and the old river channel.
Season 1.  The whole first season goes by without even seeing a deer.
Season 2. Not one deer sighting while hunting but did bump several deer on different scouting trips. Shot a couple hogs . Starting to get a better idea of where the deer are traveling .
Season 3. Same as season 2. No deer seen while hunting. Learned not to even consider shooting a hog while several miles from the truck! Lol
Season 4. I've got a pretty good mental picture of what the deer are doing. The pattern seams to be that they are bedding in the vast thickets and only traveling the edges of the property going to and from surrounding private ground.
As season rolls around I pick 2 places to concentrate my effort instead of bouncing around like previous seasons. One for a south wind and one for a north wind. One is a funnel one is a point in a bend of the old river channel.
Opening day I sit the funnel with a swirling wind and didn't see any thing . A week or so later I do the same thing and I see a coyote but he winds me.
Saturday morning I decide to change it up and I sit the point in the old river bend just down wind of where several trails connect at a fence crossing.
It's Just shy of a 2 mile walk and I get in my stand a good 45 min before daylight.
As I'm sitting there in the dark I have 3 coons walk to the base of my tree and a few minutes later a flying squirrel land s in the tree next to me.
Then anbout 15 munites before legal light I hear a deer coming my way and it walks about 15 yrds behind me. I can just barely make out its silhouette in the dark. I think it caught a little scent because it turned and angled away. So I sit there waiting on daylight felling kinda bummed out.
Then right at legal light I hear something coming from the direction the first deer went. It's on a path to walk right by me at about 8 yrds. Then all of a sudden I see a deer step out of some thin brush and I can just barely see thats it's a legal deer.  It waking by as I begin to draw and I'm thinking about letting out a soft bleat to stop it when it pauses to sniff the air. To late. My arrow has already passed through the deer and it lets out a bleat of its own. A few seconds later I hear him crash . So I just sit down and enjoy the next few minutes alone listening to the woods around Me in total peace.

[Crittergetter]

Here's the shot   https://photos.app.goo.gl/cIQoG2lRM94LQS0h1  

Heres how I found him . That's the entrance   https://photos.app.goo.gl/faQectDA2NNgR1zw2  
Exit   https://photos.app.goo.gl/PgiD0Hbavz82Lbnl2  
 https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vnu3OKL2BUMP6YAB3

Then the real work starts !  I had to make a 1.6 mile drag ! Not having to worry about the wind now I stick to the trial on the old river channel because it's quite a bit shorter distance to the truck!  https://photos.app.goo.gl/gUidyShXHWGRVn852

Got my daughter to take a pic for me when I got home  https://photos.app.goo.gl/k8FcOfHTiiMCTPrg1

[Crittergetter]

She even helped with the cleaning. She helped skin, quarter and wash everything up!  https://photos.app.goo.gl/MpVdlq3JRlqxOSGm1

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

Well deserved , Congrats sir....

,,,Sam,,,

[BOHO]

Couldn't open pics but great story!!   Congrats !!

[Cwilder]

Congrats on a fine animal

[Rough Run]

Now that's persistence!  Great job!

[Fattony77]

Too cool, Randy! Congratulations on the well-earned reward!!!

[BDann]

Congrats Randy!  A public land deer in East Texas is an accomplishment for sure!

[Roy from Pa]

Congrats, Randy..

[23feetupandhappy]

Very Cool  

[SlowBowinMO]

Way to stick with it!  Very impressed and congratulations.  THAT is a trophy sir.

 

[KAZ]

Strong work, well done & congrats  

[fnshtr]

You did good!!  

[TIM B]

Attaboy!!
Tim B

[Fletcher]

Outstanding,man!  Congrats!

[Warden609]

Congrats to you! I love hunts that require hard work!

[Tater]

Well done!

[Kopper1013]

Congratulations sir!! Way to hang in there

[Rick Richard]

Nice!