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Hedgelj 24-25

Hedgelj

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Checked some stands yesterday and hung a hang on with sticks. It'll be a sneak in under perfect wind in the evening as the thermals will keep the scent from going anywhere. It's near where I know bucks like to bed down at.

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I confirmed the zero on my crossbow tonight. It's inside an inch from point of aim at 30 yards so that oughta do.
 

Hedgelj

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Murphy strikes again!

No 💩 there i was......

So I went to check some camera cards near where I've seen some nice bucks. I figured that if I didn't take my crossbow one would stand broadside at feet from me and blow me a raspberry. So i take my crossbow and I do see a handful of does eating cut corn. Pull the cards, go back to my car and switch out my bolt for the discharge bolt (https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/1...KGQ20DDdsak1xnavv0PDdpmzEvGy_BEUaAr8fEALw_wcB) I aim and squeezethe trigger and the bolt barely flies andit sounds weird. I look down and my string is broke.

F me......
And I have my time off starting Monday
 

Fletch

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That's why it always pays to have a backup.... When I go on a trip you would swear I was going off to war... After the season watch your local Walmart for clearance sales... I picked up a Centerpoint Dagger 390 for $180.00... Thing shoots darts... Now when out in Illinois ... If anyone has an issue there's a backup around...
 

Hedgelj

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First sit of the season. Some of the fun, no mess.


My daughter was in the middle school/Jr high version of the Frozen kids musical. They all did a great job but I'm partial to Olaf

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Once her final show was done i didn't have much time so I decided a building rather than a treestand or my climber. The wind was almost 180° from the normal prevailing so none of my stands are great for that one.

Got settled, and didn't see anything. What I dislike about the buildings is your inability to hear anything.

About 5pm i saw a nice doe across the field moving skittishly. No boyfriend followed.

Then these 3 trash pandas made a ruckus and crossed in front of me. I'll deal with them later this winter.
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Then I saw a doe working her way up the edge of the woods i was in towards me, and she got nervous and bounded away at about 90 yards. Then I thought I saw her and another running through the woods over 100 yardsfrom me but unsure. Next I saw movement (had the windows up so my movement should havebeen invisible) and when I put my binos to it, could have worn i saw theflash of a long white antler tine but never saw anything else in that area of the woods. About that time, I look to my left towards the scrape and there was a little one at about 40 yards almost walking the same path i did (evidently ever calm was enough, that was the only scent thing I did). He neverhad a care following the exact trail I'm hoping to see action on but in reverse. He did look towardsthat spot i saw the movement from for a bit but his body language never changed.
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That was all my fun.
Put some of the conquest vs-1 and rutting buck near the one scrape and the vs-1 near the other. Probably scare the deer away to richland county but I'm trying.
 

Hedgelj

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So i didn't get moving quite as smoothly as I had hoped. I get situated and pull up my bag and secure it to my stand, then I pull up my crossbow and go to put a bolt in and the damnthing falls to the ground. Thankfully I have another in the quiver.

The morning was cooler than I anticipated and with the wind I was swaying and chilly.

Got some cool rut action that I posted about in the live from the stand thread. 6 point came trotting out of the thicket below me and kept looking down hill. I then saw a doe break cover and come running up the hill with a spike dogging her every step of the way. She got tiredof him sniffing her butt and ran around my stand and then stopped next to the 6pt. He sniffed her for a bit and then tried to mount her but the spike snort wheezed and they ran off.

I dozed a bit. Squirrels returned with a vengeance and the wind continued but at least it was sunny.

Then a few minutes after 5 I see movement through the brush about 100 yards away. First one, then two and then a third doe come out into the cut corn and start feeding. They are acting very relaxed. I put my binos down and look around and then I see (comparatively) a HUGE bodied deer trotting into the corn. I see antler from 100+ yards and the heart starts hammering. I pull up, long tines,, great body, looks mature, then he turns his head and he's missing 1/2....doh!

I continue too watch him but without as much interest. I'm mentally wondering how my target buck (he resembles him) lost a whole beam in the last week.

One of the other guys who only bowhunts the farm is here this week and tonight as we're comparing notes and plans for tomorrow he shares these photos with me.

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This is the buck I saw unless we somehow have 2 left side half racks running around.

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Earlier photos of what's probably him, looks at the right side, two beans? and the main one is skinny which would break easily
 

Hedgelj

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He followed playbook perfectly except 2-3 years too early
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On the plus side he came from almost completely down wind so smoke and evercalm are helping. He stared me down once or twice but no real nervousness.

I got out about 1pm, too windy and too hot. Saw a friend post this about deer hunting in this weather.
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@Dustinb80 can I borrow yours? 😁
Aside from these posts in the from the stand thread. I had two smaller does bed down inside 100 yards and saw 5 othersat greater than 100 yards, one group with a small 6 point chasing.
 

Hedgelj

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Woke up to rain this morning and with the warm temperatures I visited with cousin from Colorado instead of hunting.

Made it upand into my stand by 10, bounced two does that were bedded within 30 yards of my stand climbing up. Oh well, they weren't scared just relocating. I had my friends the Squirrels scampering around as I was getting situated so I couldn't have made THAT much noise.

Here goes nothing
 

Hedgelj

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Today's sit was quite nice. I only saw 1 buck, but 6ish does until the end. 3 of the deer followed the script perfectly for a bow and most of the others would have presented a shot if it was gun season.

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I had to leave a little early to get my kid from practice but 15 turkeys wandered in and roosted as I was leaving including a few Jake's.
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Then as I was walking it there was a much nicer buck at 150-200 yards feeding onthe one field. Hope to see him closer so i can figure out my intentions but he's probably on the list for my daughter.
 

Hedgelj

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Thursday morning I woke up and was slow moving. Due to that I became even slower moving because I was enjoying helping get my kids up and ready for school which isn't something I routinely get to do. I didn't start walking towards the woods until about 7 am.

My plan for the day was to start out in one stand till early afternoon and then move to an evening only and only certain wind stand for the evening hunt because the thermals aren't suitable for anything but and evening hunt and its right near prime bedding where I've seen many does and bucks utilize including some of the biggest on the farm.

I had an almost 900 yard walk through fields to get to my first stand location. I didn't see any deer leaving or moving as I was walking in and I noted a very heavy dew had fallen the night before. This allowed me to be VERY quiet as I entered the woods. I actually had a squirrel playing in the leaves nearby not pay any attention to me (this is my standard barometer for how silently and smoothly I'm moving through a woods when I'm in stalking mode). I actually was thinking how much I love to stalk through the woods for deer but how its not ideal for bowhunting as I made the 70 yards to my stand.

I had just finished walking around a briar patch and under a few wild grape vines and saw the route I was going to take for the remaining few steps to my stand (less than 15 feet) when I looked ahead of me and there he was standing, relaxed but alert (not on edge) sniffing and trying to figure out what I was almost directly facing me. I remember noticing how large he was, how thick his neck was, a crab claw on the right main beam and a really tall tine and multiple tall tines on the left. This was enough for me to judge "shooter" and make my mind go into shoot mode.

I have never fired a bow or crossbow at an animal before that day. 30 years of only gun hunting habits are hard to break. So I shouldered the crossbow (Ravin R10), flipped off the safety, centered the crosshair for 40 yards on his chest and squeezed. I heard the twang of the string and then a "thunk" similar to when I shoot a target bag. He wheeled and disappeared over the edge of the hill and I heard him running down and off to my right. I now think I did hear him crash but am not positive. I then had a momentary clarity of thought where I know a head on facing shot is not a high percentage shot with a bow (like it is with my standard weapon a gun) but I was hopeful the high powered crossbow was enough to make a difference. I took my mental camera out to his location, dropped my bag at my stand and walked to where I had pinpointed he was standing at.

I could see leaves tore up in the general direction I had heard him run but no hair, or blood like I am used to tracking with. I followed the trail for about 50-70 yards with no blood and the only sign being leaves torn up. I then knew it was going to be a long day and I sat down on a fallen log and called @xbowguy and he didn't pick up because Maxx was working, I left a text and called @giles . He talked me off the ledge and we discussed that since I didn't have a great trail to point out to a dog that maybe a drone would be a good option. So I called @brock ratcliff because I didn't know any drone guys in my area. Brock knew that @RedCloud was in my area so I called him. Redcloud said he could be there after work.

I then walked out and walked back to my vehicle and house and thought it would be the longest day ever waiting on Redcloud to get there.

About 1030 the other guy hunting the farm (but in a different section) texted me that he had just dropped a big one. I went and helped get his out of the woods and then helped him skin it out and everything. He had had the most amazing 20-30 minutes of deer hunting of his entire career with 10-12 bucks all running around a small couple acre section of woods over one hot doe. It was actually another buck that caused the deer he shot to come back and give him an opportunity as they squared off ready to fight, stiff legged walking and everything. Anyway, that helped kill a few hours and keep my mind off the buck.

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Mid afternoon as I started doing other stuff I got two calls. First my son had forgotten some of his football stuff and I needed to run it to the hs to get it to him and also there were a metric crap ton (20-30+) vultures flying around the woods I had hunted that morning. I got back from the hs and slowly drove the one edge of the woods to see if I could spot him but I didn't see him.

Redcloud gets there and on his second flight of the woods we spot him. He does a third flight to confirm his location and that's the video he posted previously. He was able to give me the exact GPS coordinates so I drove/walked right to him and sure enough there he was.
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My first bow kill and my first buck that I've taken in 25 years. The other guys hunting the farm had him on a trail cam from 3/4 of a mile away but he had disappeared a few days earlier from that camera. I skinned him out and quartered him. His quarters weighed over 85# when I took them to Bellevue meats to get made into sticks (minus a portion of his backstrap and his fish tenders). His skin and rack is with @Mallory’s Wildlife Studio and she's going to do a pack mount styled mount out of him. I can't wait. It was truly a TOO team effort and will continue with Mallory doing the taxidermy.

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My shot placement was just above his breastbone, took out the left side of his lungs, and then went through his liver and exited on the right flank with a hole big enough to put a beer can in.
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Thank you to everyone for their help.
 

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Hedgelj

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While skinning him out and quartering him, he was easily the stinkiest deer I've dealt with in a LONG time. It was enough the woman at the processor asked if he had been recovered the same day or not.

Just a musky funk, I assume from being an older rutting buck.
 

RedCloud

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I felt bad for taking as long as I did to get to you. I know it had to be excruciatingly long time so thank you for hanging in there. I only had to talk you off the ledge once so that's pretty good if you ask me lol. Given the shot placement being described I really wanted to error on the
side on caution and not risk him still being up on his feet. It had been a few days since I had my batteries fully charged and didn't realize until I got there they had discharged about 25% so I got short flights until the others got fully charged. Sorry about that. Rookie mistake I guess or just overly excited? At the end of the day we got that big guy located and put in the freezer. I had a great time with you and the guys and didn't know it was your 1st bow killed deer until the guys came back for the sled. It must have been pretty thick down there because I couldn't get any other angle for a better look no matter what side of the tree I was on. Just had that small window but it was just enough to see him. How close did the pin I dropped actually get you to him?

Thanks again for the call and opportunity to work for you Doug. Congrats again on a stud of a buck.