Huckleberry Finn
Senior Member
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Brock goes hunting
- Thread starter brock ratcliff
- Start date
- 25,122
- 261
Like nearly every other morning of November, I got up at 445 today. I have been spending a great deal of time all season in a fencerow, a stand that has proven itself dozens of times, and when deer aren't in range, they are usually in view as it looks over vast amounts of ground. I can see over two miles directly to the north. It helps me keep tabs on the goings on in the deer world. It's a lot easier to stay put when you know deer are moving somewhere, even if they aren't coming under your tree.
I have a stand at the far northeast corner of the property that I have not hunted at all this year. In fact, I haven't even crossed the creek to check the stand's condition. I figured it was OK to hunt, and planned to do so today. I left the truck and made the hike to the stand. Crossing the creek in the freezing conditions, sliding off the slippery bank and nearly going in could have ended my hunt before it ever began. I have the agility of a man with no knees, but somehow did not get wet. I climbed the stand to find the seat a solid chunk of ice due to the rain and snow that had moved through in the night. There was no way to move that didn't make noise. The foot platform is smaller than I remembered, barely big enough for my boots, and there were limbs where I once had shooting lanes. The whole thing just sucked. I was afraid to move, I couldn't shoot, and I just didn't like the set up in spite of the fact I had a small buck come under me just as the sun broke the eastern horizon. Watching that deer cross the icy, belly-deep water while sitting on a chunk of ice just made the cold north winds that much colder.
By 745 I decided I wasn't sitting in that frozen stand any longer, and determined I would move 1/2 mile west to the fencerow stand. I eased along, watching carefully for any moving deer, and saw nothing along the way to my surprise. After climbing up and settling in, I really started to appreciate just how nasty a 15mph nw wind can be when there is not a tree for 2 miles to slow it. That wind was beating me in the face and I had opted to leave my Heater Body Suit at home...and have no idea why I thought that was a good idea. I had not seen any movement in the open country I was watching, so I decided I would go to a thicket on the far southwest corner of the property, another 1/2 mile away. Just as I started gathering myself to descend, I noticed a small buck coming my way. I let him pass at 30 yards or so. He continued into the edge of a crp field. When he entered the tall grass a doe popped up and watched him intently. He turned, took a big sniff, and went on his way. It made me think the doe may not be alone in the crp. I figured she may have the company of a bigger buck, so I crawled out of the tree to put the sneak on her. It worked perfectly. Unfortunately once I was in range of her, I saw the deer she was bedded with was another doe instead of the big buck I'd hoped for!
I jumped in my truck and drove around to the other end of the property. The only stand I have in operating order in that woodlot is a double stand I'd placed there for Mason 3 years ago. It is the stand from which he shot his very first deer at the age of 7. I purposely do not go into any of the woodlots on the property much anymore. If you stay out of the timber and wait for the deer on the edges, you stand a much greater chance of never letting them know they are being hunted. At least that's how it works in my mind. However, with the NW winds, and this particular stand, I thought I could slide in unnoticed by going across 350 yards of cut corn. I like to enter that stand walking right up the middle of the cornfield. It is about 250 yards wide, that puts me 125 yards or so from edges of surrounding woodlots where deer are likely bedded. It would be a rare occasion any would see me as they woods are thick with Japanese Honeysuckle, a wall of vegetation that prevents bedded deer from seeing any distance into the cut field. It worked like a charm. I was settled into the stand shortly before 10 having bumped no deer as far as I could tell.
I had taken my rattling antlers along with me when I left the truck, and with good reason. The stand is located in the corner of a woodlot, where it adjoins another. Its a natural pinch point between two of the thickest bedding areas in the area...big thickets that are rarely disturbed. I knew there would be deer in them. I also felt like there would be a good one in one of the two just because there always is. They weren't moving much across the open areas I'd been watching, so I figured they were hunkered down in those wind-breaking thickets. I figured I'd use the horns to bring them to me. With the way the pinch point narrows in front of the stand, and the direction of the wind, I figured any deer that would come out of the thickets would follow the existing trail in front of the stand to circle down wind of the fight... The set-up is key to rattling, IMO.
I was busy texting a couple of people. Lonewolfnopack was one of them. I beat the horns, hung them and read a text from him. Bad mistake. As I was responding, a young half-rack buck came running into my shooting lanes, slobbering all over the dang place. I grabbed my video camera just in time to get him bounding on by. I started paying more attention, but the way the deer came in I thought maybe he'd been run to me by a dog or something. Another half hour or so later, I rattled like I meant it. Did a little grunting while banging the horns too, and for those of you that call turkeys or deer, or whatever, you know that feeling when you say to yourself "I got that right, that'll work"! I hung the horns and within minutes, the tall buck I watched and videoed last week was in front of me. He just appeared from the snow covered underbrush, right there at 35 yards. I didn't hear him, didn't see him coming, he was just there! It is so thick in there, with the snow on every limb, you just can't see them until they are in the open! Well, there he was, so I looked at him through the scope of the Excalibur. Sure enough, there was the split G2. Safety off. A couple of steps, he stopped, and I squeezed the trigger. The bolt was through him before he or I could believe it. Instantly, it seemed. He jumped, trotted 30 yards or so, flicked his tail and dropped behind that thick wall of brush. I couldn't see him even though he was on 40 yards or so from my perch!
I waited a half hour or so before easing over to survey the situation. It was anticlimactic. He was just laying there, dead. I will never get over how that makes me feel. These animals are so regal in life. They move with a grace that has held my interest since I was a little boy. When we kill them, they are just meat and bone. Though I appreciate their antlers, athletic physique, etc, the mystique is gone...lifeless. I've always felt some quilt about that. We as hunters turn an incredible animal into just plain old meat and bone... It's how it should be, I guess. With no remorse, there would be no conscious to control our actions.
So, there he laid, in the snow at about 1130 in the morning. I had a Dr. Apt. at 1:30, so I got busy. I walked out following his incoming tracks back to his bed, which was under a stand I hunted for years. Lots of nice deer seen and shot from that stand. I didn't have a lot of time to waste, but I had to know where it was he came from. I went on to the truck, drove back to the deer, field dressed him and loaded him in the truck. In the truck I carry a "celebration Pepsi" . Its a tradition that started a long time ago with me. My lifelong buddy Lathe and I used to hunt in Vinton Co around my grandpa's farm with our dads. We used to joke about the best part of those hunts were the trips to the little country store for a mid-day Pepsi. Somewhere along the way I quit hunting the hill country, but there is nothing better than a Pepsi after field dressing a deer. Mason has joined in on the Pepsi tradition, so I just replaced my one "celebration Pepsi" after his kill on Saturday. I enjoyed the Pepsi as I drove home, thankful for the morning I'd had.
I hate to see my season end. It's been a good one. But I sure am looking forward to sleeping a little later tomorrow! Thanks for reading, good luck to you all!
I'll post some better pics when I get some taken!
I have a stand at the far northeast corner of the property that I have not hunted at all this year. In fact, I haven't even crossed the creek to check the stand's condition. I figured it was OK to hunt, and planned to do so today. I left the truck and made the hike to the stand. Crossing the creek in the freezing conditions, sliding off the slippery bank and nearly going in could have ended my hunt before it ever began. I have the agility of a man with no knees, but somehow did not get wet. I climbed the stand to find the seat a solid chunk of ice due to the rain and snow that had moved through in the night. There was no way to move that didn't make noise. The foot platform is smaller than I remembered, barely big enough for my boots, and there were limbs where I once had shooting lanes. The whole thing just sucked. I was afraid to move, I couldn't shoot, and I just didn't like the set up in spite of the fact I had a small buck come under me just as the sun broke the eastern horizon. Watching that deer cross the icy, belly-deep water while sitting on a chunk of ice just made the cold north winds that much colder.
By 745 I decided I wasn't sitting in that frozen stand any longer, and determined I would move 1/2 mile west to the fencerow stand. I eased along, watching carefully for any moving deer, and saw nothing along the way to my surprise. After climbing up and settling in, I really started to appreciate just how nasty a 15mph nw wind can be when there is not a tree for 2 miles to slow it. That wind was beating me in the face and I had opted to leave my Heater Body Suit at home...and have no idea why I thought that was a good idea. I had not seen any movement in the open country I was watching, so I decided I would go to a thicket on the far southwest corner of the property, another 1/2 mile away. Just as I started gathering myself to descend, I noticed a small buck coming my way. I let him pass at 30 yards or so. He continued into the edge of a crp field. When he entered the tall grass a doe popped up and watched him intently. He turned, took a big sniff, and went on his way. It made me think the doe may not be alone in the crp. I figured she may have the company of a bigger buck, so I crawled out of the tree to put the sneak on her. It worked perfectly. Unfortunately once I was in range of her, I saw the deer she was bedded with was another doe instead of the big buck I'd hoped for!
I jumped in my truck and drove around to the other end of the property. The only stand I have in operating order in that woodlot is a double stand I'd placed there for Mason 3 years ago. It is the stand from which he shot his very first deer at the age of 7. I purposely do not go into any of the woodlots on the property much anymore. If you stay out of the timber and wait for the deer on the edges, you stand a much greater chance of never letting them know they are being hunted. At least that's how it works in my mind. However, with the NW winds, and this particular stand, I thought I could slide in unnoticed by going across 350 yards of cut corn. I like to enter that stand walking right up the middle of the cornfield. It is about 250 yards wide, that puts me 125 yards or so from edges of surrounding woodlots where deer are likely bedded. It would be a rare occasion any would see me as they woods are thick with Japanese Honeysuckle, a wall of vegetation that prevents bedded deer from seeing any distance into the cut field. It worked like a charm. I was settled into the stand shortly before 10 having bumped no deer as far as I could tell.
I had taken my rattling antlers along with me when I left the truck, and with good reason. The stand is located in the corner of a woodlot, where it adjoins another. Its a natural pinch point between two of the thickest bedding areas in the area...big thickets that are rarely disturbed. I knew there would be deer in them. I also felt like there would be a good one in one of the two just because there always is. They weren't moving much across the open areas I'd been watching, so I figured they were hunkered down in those wind-breaking thickets. I figured I'd use the horns to bring them to me. With the way the pinch point narrows in front of the stand, and the direction of the wind, I figured any deer that would come out of the thickets would follow the existing trail in front of the stand to circle down wind of the fight... The set-up is key to rattling, IMO.
I was busy texting a couple of people. Lonewolfnopack was one of them. I beat the horns, hung them and read a text from him. Bad mistake. As I was responding, a young half-rack buck came running into my shooting lanes, slobbering all over the dang place. I grabbed my video camera just in time to get him bounding on by. I started paying more attention, but the way the deer came in I thought maybe he'd been run to me by a dog or something. Another half hour or so later, I rattled like I meant it. Did a little grunting while banging the horns too, and for those of you that call turkeys or deer, or whatever, you know that feeling when you say to yourself "I got that right, that'll work"! I hung the horns and within minutes, the tall buck I watched and videoed last week was in front of me. He just appeared from the snow covered underbrush, right there at 35 yards. I didn't hear him, didn't see him coming, he was just there! It is so thick in there, with the snow on every limb, you just can't see them until they are in the open! Well, there he was, so I looked at him through the scope of the Excalibur. Sure enough, there was the split G2. Safety off. A couple of steps, he stopped, and I squeezed the trigger. The bolt was through him before he or I could believe it. Instantly, it seemed. He jumped, trotted 30 yards or so, flicked his tail and dropped behind that thick wall of brush. I couldn't see him even though he was on 40 yards or so from my perch!
I waited a half hour or so before easing over to survey the situation. It was anticlimactic. He was just laying there, dead. I will never get over how that makes me feel. These animals are so regal in life. They move with a grace that has held my interest since I was a little boy. When we kill them, they are just meat and bone. Though I appreciate their antlers, athletic physique, etc, the mystique is gone...lifeless. I've always felt some quilt about that. We as hunters turn an incredible animal into just plain old meat and bone... It's how it should be, I guess. With no remorse, there would be no conscious to control our actions.
So, there he laid, in the snow at about 1130 in the morning. I had a Dr. Apt. at 1:30, so I got busy. I walked out following his incoming tracks back to his bed, which was under a stand I hunted for years. Lots of nice deer seen and shot from that stand. I didn't have a lot of time to waste, but I had to know where it was he came from. I went on to the truck, drove back to the deer, field dressed him and loaded him in the truck. In the truck I carry a "celebration Pepsi" . Its a tradition that started a long time ago with me. My lifelong buddy Lathe and I used to hunt in Vinton Co around my grandpa's farm with our dads. We used to joke about the best part of those hunts were the trips to the little country store for a mid-day Pepsi. Somewhere along the way I quit hunting the hill country, but there is nothing better than a Pepsi after field dressing a deer. Mason has joined in on the Pepsi tradition, so I just replaced my one "celebration Pepsi" after his kill on Saturday. I enjoyed the Pepsi as I drove home, thankful for the morning I'd had.
I hate to see my season end. It's been a good one. But I sure am looking forward to sleeping a little later tomorrow! Thanks for reading, good luck to you all!
I'll post some better pics when I get some taken!
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What an awesome read and hunt Brock!:smiley_clap:
I like how you hopped around this morning taking the hunt to the hunted. Sometimes that what you have to do. It helps when it's cold and nothing is moving and you have other places to go! Pretty neat he walked under a stand you've hunted many times before proving it was strategically placed with past and present proof.
Traditions are awesome! Love the Pepsi thing! The Ratliff family had a great season this year! I've really enjoyed following you and Masons season. Congratulations on getting it done together buddy! Quite the accomplishment! Enjoy crawling out of bed a tad later buddy! Now you and Mason go kill some squirrels!
I like how you hopped around this morning taking the hunt to the hunted. Sometimes that what you have to do. It helps when it's cold and nothing is moving and you have other places to go! Pretty neat he walked under a stand you've hunted many times before proving it was strategically placed with past and present proof.
Traditions are awesome! Love the Pepsi thing! The Ratliff family had a great season this year! I've really enjoyed following you and Masons season. Congratulations on getting it done together buddy! Quite the accomplishment! Enjoy crawling out of bed a tad later buddy! Now you and Mason go kill some squirrels!
You have a way with words buddy. Fortunately, you have a way with deer as well. After reading the joking between you and Milo about wake up texts, it was tough not to join in and shoot you a text around 425am this morning. I held off. Very happy for you. Not sure what makes me happier? Mason tagging, you tagging, or knowing you are going to enjoy a lot of squirrel hunting time with Mason. Something tells me you just won. Not due to the buck, but due to the fact you get to enjoy some extra hunts with the youngster chasing bushy tales. Darn fine buck though. Congrats doesn't cover it.
lung buster
Senior Member
Great recap of the days hunt Brock. Like the tall tines buddy. Great looking buck. Congrats again Brock.
Now when you get up at the crack of 9 or 10 you can just smile and lay there just a bit lol.
Sad to see this thread will be done with the deer but hope it continues with the other hunts this season.
Now when you get up at the crack of 9 or 10 you can just smile and lay there just a bit lol.
Sad to see this thread will be done with the deer but hope it continues with the other hunts this season.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
The whole story was outstanding, the deer is outstanding, the hunt was great!
The paragraph above - should be required reading in schools.
Well done bro, well done.
Hortontoter
Senior Member
A great read as always. I'll miss reading this thread TOO. Conrgats to you and Mason on two very nice bucks.
Huckleberry Finn
Senior Member
- 15,973
- 135
Great read!
Loved the part about the Pepsi, it's the small thing that matters. Two weeks ago I had dad help me hang up a stand and when we got back to the house to make lunch, he cracked one. I haven't drank soda in months but thought, hey, a pepsi sounds dang good!
Loved the part about the Pepsi, it's the small thing that matters. Two weeks ago I had dad help me hang up a stand and when we got back to the house to make lunch, he cracked one. I haven't drank soda in months but thought, hey, a pepsi sounds dang good!
- 25,122
- 261
Haha. Pepsi is King in deer season! I drink about 3 a year. My bride buys Diet Coke (though I don't know why, it taste like crap and is probably as close to poison as a human can consume). Pepsi is saved for the really good days. When we returned to the truck after finding Mason's deer, he cracked the can open and said "'Bout time"! We bought another on the way home, but fortunately it didn't have to ride in the console nearly as long as the first had. It's funny the things life-long traditions bring back to mind. I think of nutter-butters every time we rabbit hunt. It was always the beagle's treat after a long day in the field. Smashed bologna sammiches and frozen apples make me think of gun season...and I hate both. 
I still roll up my wool socks and put them in the top of my boots every night before a hunt, just like dad always did. Hehe. Deer hunting ain't all about getting deer.
Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone!
I still roll up my wool socks and put them in the top of my boots every night before a hunt, just like dad always did. Hehe. Deer hunting ain't all about getting deer.Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone!
Flatlander
Junior Member
Brock, you are a class act. Congratulations to you and Mason for a successful season! Fantastic story, thank you for sharing your season with us.
Gordo
Senior Member
Great read man. Congrats again.
Short, sweet, and to the point. You and Mason Took Care of Business this year. Awesome
Short, sweet, and to the point. You and Mason Took Care of Business this year. Awesome
Spot on Dan.
What a great read Brock! Loved every bit of it man. Congrats on a great buck TOO!! Look forward to read in more of you & Mason's adventures for the rest of the hunting season. You boys having it going on, that's for sure.
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My daughter took a bunch of pics today for me and Mason. This is the only one I've had time to re-size, but it's a pretty good pic of our deer. I never dreamed we would be lucky enough to both be in a "hero-shot", but I'm sure glad we were! We had a great year, might be hard to duplicate, especially since Mason has since proclaimed he is going to start shooting deer bigger than Mrex...
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I saw that pic on FB. That is an instant classic! That's an awesome memory right there.
You know, I wish I would've put the SS in front of Klay's pic because I believe it played a role in the harvest since the group of doe and the buck he shot all came in downwind. My bad! I should've done it and blew it. It hit me after we dropped it off at the butcher.
You know, I wish I would've put the SS in front of Klay's pic because I believe it played a role in the harvest since the group of doe and the buck he shot all came in downwind. My bad! I should've done it and blew it. It hit me after we dropped it off at the butcher.