12-1
6:30AM I left the house in a light misting rain. Hunted all day.
8:00 it started to rain harder.
8:30 it was pouring rain. A rained hard off and on all day until 3:30.
Between daylight and 4:30 when I left a small doe walk past me at 25 yds. I seen nothing except 5 long beard Tom turkeys. The doe walked non stop through the adjoin hay field then 75 yds. of my food plot to my corn pile. She ate corn for a bit the went back into the brush after seeing another doe feeding in my clover plot.
5:15 a doe came out of the neighbors brush and walked straight to the corn pile and then went into my woods.
5:20 I decided to change out the memory card in my Plotwatcher Pro camera I have mounted in my tower. Before doing so I looked over both fields to make sure there was no deer in sight.
It took me about 2 minutes to change the card and I set back down and there are 2 deer 65 yds. away in the hay field looking at me. I picked up my binocs and checked the bigger bodied one and seen bright white horns.
This just goes to show what can happen in the deer woods in a short 2 minutes of not looking around.
In the split second I looked I was sure it was the 10 pt. I've been seeing on cam pictures.
So I picked up my Marlin 1895 in 45-70 and dropped the hammer on him. He went down on his front legs and fell. I turned to my right to lean my rifle down and picked up my binocs for a look. The damn deer was gone.
I checked the whole 3 ac. hay field an only seen the smaller deer running South.
I waited a few minutes and packed my stuff up and climbed down. Damn near fell as the steps was solid ice. I'm going to install outdoor carpet on those steps.
I climbed down and when I entered the hay field 6-7 deer started running from my left. Thought great now which was the buck I just shot. But I really didn't give it a second thought as all the deer ran to my right when the buck I shot was headed left.
I went to where I thought the deer fell to look for a blood trail. Nothing anywhere. I did a search grid 50X100 of where the deer was standing at the shot. There is the well traveled trail only 25 yrs. away into the brush. I check the trail for about 50 ft. and nothing. So I went back to the location of the shot and searched again and nothing.
Now I know damn well I seen the buck drop. So I go back to the trail again and go across the creek about 100 ft. and nothing. Thinking the buck didn't go this way as surely he would have left blood when jumping the small 6 ft. creek.
I go back to the field and did a search pattern along the field edge leading into the brush. The brush is about 50 yds. from where he was standing at the shot. No sign of blood. I went about 75 yds. along the field edge and there he laid about 15 yds. from my property.
I hit him high in the shoulder and took out the top of the lungs. The lungs were a mushy mess. He had a little blood coming out of his mouth. I called my son to have someone bring my golf cart down to drag him out. My grandson and his friend showed up and dragged him to the gold cart and we took him home up the hill.
While I was waiting for the golf cart I search the area from where he dropped to where I shot him and never did find a drop of blood.
It turned out the 6-7 deer I seen running was standing exactly where I found the buck lying. That area of the field is blind to me from my tower due to the brush.
The buck I shot was not the 10 pt. buck I was hoping for. It's been a rough year for me. Since there appears to be more than enough deer here I may take a doe for my brother who is house bond with a severe infection in his foot. He's doing better and is home now but must do bag of antibotics each day for 2 weeks in his vein. He almost lost the foot due to the infection.
My thoughts are that I planted my food plot next to my pinch point woods I have changed the buck travel routes. In years past I would see 3-7 bucks per day going through my woods. But in 2014 during the 19 days of the peak rut I have pictures of only 2 bucks. One was a small forkhorn and a nice 10 pt. that I also had pictures on the corn pile. Oh well maybe he's still out there and the grandson can take him this week.
6:30AM I left the house in a light misting rain. Hunted all day.
8:00 it started to rain harder.
8:30 it was pouring rain. A rained hard off and on all day until 3:30.
Between daylight and 4:30 when I left a small doe walk past me at 25 yds. I seen nothing except 5 long beard Tom turkeys. The doe walked non stop through the adjoin hay field then 75 yds. of my food plot to my corn pile. She ate corn for a bit the went back into the brush after seeing another doe feeding in my clover plot.
5:15 a doe came out of the neighbors brush and walked straight to the corn pile and then went into my woods.
5:20 I decided to change out the memory card in my Plotwatcher Pro camera I have mounted in my tower. Before doing so I looked over both fields to make sure there was no deer in sight.
It took me about 2 minutes to change the card and I set back down and there are 2 deer 65 yds. away in the hay field looking at me. I picked up my binocs and checked the bigger bodied one and seen bright white horns.
This just goes to show what can happen in the deer woods in a short 2 minutes of not looking around.
In the split second I looked I was sure it was the 10 pt. I've been seeing on cam pictures.
So I picked up my Marlin 1895 in 45-70 and dropped the hammer on him. He went down on his front legs and fell. I turned to my right to lean my rifle down and picked up my binocs for a look. The damn deer was gone.
I checked the whole 3 ac. hay field an only seen the smaller deer running South.
I waited a few minutes and packed my stuff up and climbed down. Damn near fell as the steps was solid ice. I'm going to install outdoor carpet on those steps.
I climbed down and when I entered the hay field 6-7 deer started running from my left. Thought great now which was the buck I just shot. But I really didn't give it a second thought as all the deer ran to my right when the buck I shot was headed left.
I went to where I thought the deer fell to look for a blood trail. Nothing anywhere. I did a search grid 50X100 of where the deer was standing at the shot. There is the well traveled trail only 25 yrs. away into the brush. I check the trail for about 50 ft. and nothing. So I went back to the location of the shot and searched again and nothing.
Now I know damn well I seen the buck drop. So I go back to the trail again and go across the creek about 100 ft. and nothing. Thinking the buck didn't go this way as surely he would have left blood when jumping the small 6 ft. creek.
I go back to the field and did a search pattern along the field edge leading into the brush. The brush is about 50 yds. from where he was standing at the shot. No sign of blood. I went about 75 yds. along the field edge and there he laid about 15 yds. from my property.
I hit him high in the shoulder and took out the top of the lungs. The lungs were a mushy mess. He had a little blood coming out of his mouth. I called my son to have someone bring my golf cart down to drag him out. My grandson and his friend showed up and dragged him to the gold cart and we took him home up the hill.
While I was waiting for the golf cart I search the area from where he dropped to where I shot him and never did find a drop of blood.
It turned out the 6-7 deer I seen running was standing exactly where I found the buck lying. That area of the field is blind to me from my tower due to the brush.
The buck I shot was not the 10 pt. buck I was hoping for. It's been a rough year for me. Since there appears to be more than enough deer here I may take a doe for my brother who is house bond with a severe infection in his foot. He's doing better and is home now but must do bag of antibotics each day for 2 weeks in his vein. He almost lost the foot due to the infection.
My thoughts are that I planted my food plot next to my pinch point woods I have changed the buck travel routes. In years past I would see 3-7 bucks per day going through my woods. But in 2014 during the 19 days of the peak rut I have pictures of only 2 bucks. One was a small forkhorn and a nice 10 pt. that I also had pictures on the corn pile. Oh well maybe he's still out there and the grandson can take him this week.
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