Well here he is! I took this buck with an arrow tonight on a hostility
hunt. I started the season spending a lot of time in one particular woods.
There were a couple of deer in this woods which I had patterned pretty well.
It looked like an early season tag would be filled. Unfortunately, there
suddenly became a lot of people in and out of the woods and as the rut
approached and the bucks got more cautious, they were either pushed onto
other properties with less human traffic or simply became nocturnal. Trail
camera pictures of the bucks all but dried up with just a few here and
there. Last week I started nailing down the routine of another nice buck on
my buddy's new property. I had seen the deer last Wednesday and hung a
stand to kill him out of on Thursday. I saw him again Thursday evening and
Friday morning. I couldn't hunt until Saturday. Saturday came and I was
sure that would be the day. There were several smaller bucks chasing does
on the land I considered "his turf" but he was nowhere to be found. I can
only guess he was bedded up with a doe. I had intended on hunting him hard
in the morning this week prior to Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I got a
phone call this afternoon. The truck I saw parked at my buddy's place this morning
(without permission) had a hunter on the property. The guy had the nerve to
ask my buddy for permission to track it. Needless to say, the description
of the buck and the area it supposedly went after he shot it (obviously the
area he shot it while trespassing) all told me it would be pointless to hunt
that buck now.
So I called this a hostility hunt tonight. I haven't hunted my neighbor's
property across the street from me all season. The place is littered with
human traffic. Neighbor kids, and other hunters (also without permission)
have always made it tough to hunt. There are a lot of does there though,
and I needed to fill a doe tag prior to November 28 when it expires. I am a
little disappointed because it is not one of the bucks I had been patterning
and hoping for this season. I have no history of it other than a partial
picture of him on trail camera from last year (I think). As you can see,
this is a pretty nice buck, and I didn't think I should pass. I would have
loved one of the older bucks I had seen throughout the fall which were
bigger bodied and some of them had bigger racks, but I didn't think I should
pass on this guy. He is a pretty good deer. Now I just need to decide if
the argument with Erin over hanging him in the living room is worth it or
not. She swears she will not stand for two dead deer heads in the living
room. She also swore we would never have one dead deer head in the living
room! ahaha Phil
I should point out this is not Hank in the picture. We were unsure about shot placement based on what the arrow showed me. He was quartering slightly towards me and was close. The arrow went in high and came out low in the belly hair. Arrow showed no blood, just white hair and poop. My buddy came over with his dog along with a couple other friends that wanted to see the dogs work and help us search. I found my buddy's deer with Hank, but it was actually Tucker that found my deer tonight. Guess he returned the favor for me.:smiley_blink:
hunt. I started the season spending a lot of time in one particular woods.
There were a couple of deer in this woods which I had patterned pretty well.
It looked like an early season tag would be filled. Unfortunately, there
suddenly became a lot of people in and out of the woods and as the rut
approached and the bucks got more cautious, they were either pushed onto
other properties with less human traffic or simply became nocturnal. Trail
camera pictures of the bucks all but dried up with just a few here and
there. Last week I started nailing down the routine of another nice buck on
my buddy's new property. I had seen the deer last Wednesday and hung a
stand to kill him out of on Thursday. I saw him again Thursday evening and
Friday morning. I couldn't hunt until Saturday. Saturday came and I was
sure that would be the day. There were several smaller bucks chasing does
on the land I considered "his turf" but he was nowhere to be found. I can
only guess he was bedded up with a doe. I had intended on hunting him hard
in the morning this week prior to Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I got a
phone call this afternoon. The truck I saw parked at my buddy's place this morning
(without permission) had a hunter on the property. The guy had the nerve to
ask my buddy for permission to track it. Needless to say, the description
of the buck and the area it supposedly went after he shot it (obviously the
area he shot it while trespassing) all told me it would be pointless to hunt
that buck now.
So I called this a hostility hunt tonight. I haven't hunted my neighbor's
property across the street from me all season. The place is littered with
human traffic. Neighbor kids, and other hunters (also without permission)
have always made it tough to hunt. There are a lot of does there though,
and I needed to fill a doe tag prior to November 28 when it expires. I am a
little disappointed because it is not one of the bucks I had been patterning
and hoping for this season. I have no history of it other than a partial
picture of him on trail camera from last year (I think). As you can see,
this is a pretty nice buck, and I didn't think I should pass. I would have
loved one of the older bucks I had seen throughout the fall which were
bigger bodied and some of them had bigger racks, but I didn't think I should
pass on this guy. He is a pretty good deer. Now I just need to decide if
the argument with Erin over hanging him in the living room is worth it or
not. She swears she will not stand for two dead deer heads in the living
room. She also swore we would never have one dead deer head in the living
room! ahaha Phil
I should point out this is not Hank in the picture. We were unsure about shot placement based on what the arrow showed me. He was quartering slightly towards me and was close. The arrow went in high and came out low in the belly hair. Arrow showed no blood, just white hair and poop. My buddy came over with his dog along with a couple other friends that wanted to see the dogs work and help us search. I found my buddy's deer with Hank, but it was actually Tucker that found my deer tonight. Guess he returned the favor for me.:smiley_blink:
Attachments
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DSCN1845 arrow thru antler pic.jpg -
DSCN1841 Nov 21 buck.jpg -
DSCN1843 buck,Me, Daven and Tucker.jpg
