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Well I guess this is the place to post my hunt a few years back. Here goes.
I had been making a couple oos hunts with some close buddies in Missouri. These hunts were in September when bow season opened. A big learning curve was to be had as this type of hunting I’d never done before. As most of y’all know yalls type of terrain, my has been different then the Midwest. We googled and picked a spot off the internet and drove up, scouted and hunted. We were pretty successful with our hunts with only one decent buck to show for it and I killed a few does.
This year I went and killed my biggest doe and lost one. The doe was huge, didn’t weigh it but estimated it to be 180+. It was a great hunt as I had arrowed a doe earlier and she ran off. Had my either sex tag left and right before dark they were pouring out of some swamp area filtering out of two stands of beans and corn. I set up where they met and had a turn row between them. It was the last ten minutes of light and the last day, I was determined to fill both of my tags as we were going home the next day. I had about 20 deer pass me when this big deer came out. Shot was 42 yards quartering away. This deer was a bigger than the rest as the body was almost taller than the rest. To make the story shorter, I put a purge to shot on her and she busted through the standing corn. It was cool listening to the deer run through the corn on the death run. When I texted my buddies I needed help and to bring the cart, it was45-60 minutes later they arrived. First deer was shot at 31 yards and no pass through, I was using a rage. We never found a drop of blood nor my arrow or the deer. The big doe I used a slick trick and we found her 70 yards away. We tracked in the corn finding blood on the stalks and not much on the ground. She had made a 25 yard circle and returned to the blood trail which made the track job a little tough but figured it out and found her. She was big, real big and one buddy went to grab the cart and meet us at the turn that was closer. The other buddy said you need help I said no. Drug her about ten yards then said to him hold up the bitch is heavy and had to stop. I had a drag strap but it was drag and stop after I told him to stomp me a trail through the corn.
Fast forward another month and a couple other buddies was going up for a rut hunt to another CA. Told them I’m in and we left giving us about 13 days before the rifle season to hunt. We arrived to the CA and primitive camped in the parking area.
One buddy had hunted it the year before so we struck out to hunt the evening. This place was a 640 block, mostly rolling grass hills with trees in the ditches until you got to the back where the crops and hills met along w a small creek between them. Went into the thick brush until it met the creek and hills. Trails everywhere. Told my buddy I’m hunting here as the deer should be coming down from the ridge and I was at a pinch point where two hills made a gulley draining the two. An hour or two I haven’t seen anything when I see a buck standing about 100 yards away. I softly grunted to him and he’s staring down towards the fields. I roll my bleat van and he’s headed down slowly, stopping and looking. This took about 30 minutes as he came straight down skirting me about 60 yards away. He was a typical 9 with a split g2. He gets to the creek and the cat and mouse game starts. He’s in range but behind my tree and to my back right where my hunting bag is hanging. No shot and I’d just barely roll my can quietly and he starts heading my way. I was looking to kill a monster and he wasn’t it. The whole time I’m asking myself shoot or not as he’s approaching the hill side of my stand. I draw back and he passes 15 yards to my left and stops. Decisions are killing me and I’m thinking there is tons more as this is my first sit. He stops and I can hear turkeys scratching on the other hill as he’s looking over towards the hill. I let down and he runs towards the turkeys. Here is a short video of the buck when he got down towards me staring down towards the field. He would look my way when I called to him but turn and stare towards the ag field that you couldn’t see from where we was.
So he ran across the gully to the next hill. I passed because I thought he looked small. I was wrong. The next morning I hunted the same tree and watched a few bucks going to bed up on top of the ridge where it was thick. After the hunt I grabbed my stand to look for a spot to set up. The further I went up the gully turned into a ditch where the two hills met. There was two heavy trails and both met at the top of the ditch. I found a tree between both trails and set up for the next hunt. I seen several bucks on the next hunt and a couple does that stayed 80 yards from me and fed the other way. Had a couple bucks cross where I was but were smaller. The hills were bare with hardly no undergrowth except for the ridge and down by the bottom where it meets the creek. After watching deer I decided to put a Montana doe decoy on the trail above me. One evening as I was hunting facing a trail downhill of me with the other above me, I turn around to see what looked like a horse standing 5 yards in the thick stuff on the ridge about 70 yards up from me. Again this deer was directly behind me. I damn near shit as he was a giant 8pt and giant mass and all. Probably go 160’s but not sure. For some strange reason animals look smaller than they are when I’m in the tree. I never get shrinkage after killing something. No shot on the big buck as he stayed on the ridge, sob was supposed to head down to the ag field of standing corn right?
I hunt a few more days and see deer but nothing I want to shoot. Another group of hunters are now hunting the CA and got to make this happen as most are trying to hunt the ridge. We talk to communicate where everyone is so we not messing up each other. They are locals and are cool. The evening before the last hunt next morning I told myself I’m killing a buck. That evening I have two eight points 60 yards on the other side of the ditch working there way down from the ridge. I call to them and they hit the trail towards me and each split on the trail above and and below me. It’s decision time. The 8 that’s a little bigger is following and has a broken g3, so I let them get in range. The other 8 is now directly under me downhill and stops. I’m 22’ up and at a 30 degree slope above him. He stops and looking downhill. At the point I’m sitting in my millennium w bow between my legs turned slightly so I could draw back. Wind is in my face so I know I’m good. The buck looks up hill and is eye balling me. Looks away towards downhill. Does this a couple times and I tell myself if he looks down I’m gonna anchor this bitch. He looks downhill and I awkwardly draw and he looks back up at me at the end of my draw. I bring my face down to anchor on the string and release the arrow. Spines him and he falls right there flipping breaking my arrow. I nock another arrow as he is dragging himself downhill into the giant gully and pinwheeled him. At this moment I’m thinking I shot a dink and a little disappointed cause the first hunt I passed on a bigger one. I’m thinking this buck is 170# deer. I get down to find a 220# 8 pt. Nothing giant but my biggest w a bow. It’s dark now as I drag my buck down hill into the creek. Walk to the edge of corn field to meet my buddy. Pull my phone out cause a full moon is rising through the corn to take a pic. By the time I get ready a cloud starts to cover the moon.
My buddy meets me there and I said I killed and he says me too. Fuck we are a mile from camp w two down. Buddy said he’s not sure of the shot. I tell him we can wait to track his as mine is 100 yards away in the creek. We drag it out to the corn and head for his. We track his slowly but eventually find his buck. It’s a 14 pt, not giant but had a bunch of kickers. Told him drag his deer to the creek and I will help after carding his gear down. His buck is every bit of 250 and I tell him to gut it. We get the deer out and it’s 1am and it’s cold so they laid in the truck overnight. The other buddy hunting w us wasn’t on deer. I had scouted and found a good spot right off the road, not far from me bust you had to drive an unimproved road all the way around to get to. He had killed a doe and we all hunted the last morning. I told him at 8:15 I was getting down and would push my way to him. He’s a big guy and was gonna help him pack out. I texted him and gathered stand and gear and walked to him. While I was packing up he had a nice 10 come from my direction and he shot it. Here is some pics.
I had been making a couple oos hunts with some close buddies in Missouri. These hunts were in September when bow season opened. A big learning curve was to be had as this type of hunting I’d never done before. As most of y’all know yalls type of terrain, my has been different then the Midwest. We googled and picked a spot off the internet and drove up, scouted and hunted. We were pretty successful with our hunts with only one decent buck to show for it and I killed a few does.
This year I went and killed my biggest doe and lost one. The doe was huge, didn’t weigh it but estimated it to be 180+. It was a great hunt as I had arrowed a doe earlier and she ran off. Had my either sex tag left and right before dark they were pouring out of some swamp area filtering out of two stands of beans and corn. I set up where they met and had a turn row between them. It was the last ten minutes of light and the last day, I was determined to fill both of my tags as we were going home the next day. I had about 20 deer pass me when this big deer came out. Shot was 42 yards quartering away. This deer was a bigger than the rest as the body was almost taller than the rest. To make the story shorter, I put a purge to shot on her and she busted through the standing corn. It was cool listening to the deer run through the corn on the death run. When I texted my buddies I needed help and to bring the cart, it was45-60 minutes later they arrived. First deer was shot at 31 yards and no pass through, I was using a rage. We never found a drop of blood nor my arrow or the deer. The big doe I used a slick trick and we found her 70 yards away. We tracked in the corn finding blood on the stalks and not much on the ground. She had made a 25 yard circle and returned to the blood trail which made the track job a little tough but figured it out and found her. She was big, real big and one buddy went to grab the cart and meet us at the turn that was closer. The other buddy said you need help I said no. Drug her about ten yards then said to him hold up the bitch is heavy and had to stop. I had a drag strap but it was drag and stop after I told him to stomp me a trail through the corn.
Fast forward another month and a couple other buddies was going up for a rut hunt to another CA. Told them I’m in and we left giving us about 13 days before the rifle season to hunt. We arrived to the CA and primitive camped in the parking area.
One buddy had hunted it the year before so we struck out to hunt the evening. This place was a 640 block, mostly rolling grass hills with trees in the ditches until you got to the back where the crops and hills met along w a small creek between them. Went into the thick brush until it met the creek and hills. Trails everywhere. Told my buddy I’m hunting here as the deer should be coming down from the ridge and I was at a pinch point where two hills made a gulley draining the two. An hour or two I haven’t seen anything when I see a buck standing about 100 yards away. I softly grunted to him and he’s staring down towards the fields. I roll my bleat van and he’s headed down slowly, stopping and looking. This took about 30 minutes as he came straight down skirting me about 60 yards away. He was a typical 9 with a split g2. He gets to the creek and the cat and mouse game starts. He’s in range but behind my tree and to my back right where my hunting bag is hanging. No shot and I’d just barely roll my can quietly and he starts heading my way. I was looking to kill a monster and he wasn’t it. The whole time I’m asking myself shoot or not as he’s approaching the hill side of my stand. I draw back and he passes 15 yards to my left and stops. Decisions are killing me and I’m thinking there is tons more as this is my first sit. He stops and I can hear turkeys scratching on the other hill as he’s looking over towards the hill. I let down and he runs towards the turkeys. Here is a short video of the buck when he got down towards me staring down towards the field. He would look my way when I called to him but turn and stare towards the ag field that you couldn’t see from where we was.
So he ran across the gully to the next hill. I passed because I thought he looked small. I was wrong. The next morning I hunted the same tree and watched a few bucks going to bed up on top of the ridge where it was thick. After the hunt I grabbed my stand to look for a spot to set up. The further I went up the gully turned into a ditch where the two hills met. There was two heavy trails and both met at the top of the ditch. I found a tree between both trails and set up for the next hunt. I seen several bucks on the next hunt and a couple does that stayed 80 yards from me and fed the other way. Had a couple bucks cross where I was but were smaller. The hills were bare with hardly no undergrowth except for the ridge and down by the bottom where it meets the creek. After watching deer I decided to put a Montana doe decoy on the trail above me. One evening as I was hunting facing a trail downhill of me with the other above me, I turn around to see what looked like a horse standing 5 yards in the thick stuff on the ridge about 70 yards up from me. Again this deer was directly behind me. I damn near shit as he was a giant 8pt and giant mass and all. Probably go 160’s but not sure. For some strange reason animals look smaller than they are when I’m in the tree. I never get shrinkage after killing something. No shot on the big buck as he stayed on the ridge, sob was supposed to head down to the ag field of standing corn right?
I hunt a few more days and see deer but nothing I want to shoot. Another group of hunters are now hunting the CA and got to make this happen as most are trying to hunt the ridge. We talk to communicate where everyone is so we not messing up each other. They are locals and are cool. The evening before the last hunt next morning I told myself I’m killing a buck. That evening I have two eight points 60 yards on the other side of the ditch working there way down from the ridge. I call to them and they hit the trail towards me and each split on the trail above and and below me. It’s decision time. The 8 that’s a little bigger is following and has a broken g3, so I let them get in range. The other 8 is now directly under me downhill and stops. I’m 22’ up and at a 30 degree slope above him. He stops and looking downhill. At the point I’m sitting in my millennium w bow between my legs turned slightly so I could draw back. Wind is in my face so I know I’m good. The buck looks up hill and is eye balling me. Looks away towards downhill. Does this a couple times and I tell myself if he looks down I’m gonna anchor this bitch. He looks downhill and I awkwardly draw and he looks back up at me at the end of my draw. I bring my face down to anchor on the string and release the arrow. Spines him and he falls right there flipping breaking my arrow. I nock another arrow as he is dragging himself downhill into the giant gully and pinwheeled him. At this moment I’m thinking I shot a dink and a little disappointed cause the first hunt I passed on a bigger one. I’m thinking this buck is 170# deer. I get down to find a 220# 8 pt. Nothing giant but my biggest w a bow. It’s dark now as I drag my buck down hill into the creek. Walk to the edge of corn field to meet my buddy. Pull my phone out cause a full moon is rising through the corn to take a pic. By the time I get ready a cloud starts to cover the moon.
My buddy meets me there and I said I killed and he says me too. Fuck we are a mile from camp w two down. Buddy said he’s not sure of the shot. I tell him we can wait to track his as mine is 100 yards away in the creek. We drag it out to the corn and head for his. We track his slowly but eventually find his buck. It’s a 14 pt, not giant but had a bunch of kickers. Told him drag his deer to the creek and I will help after carding his gear down. His buck is every bit of 250 and I tell him to gut it. We get the deer out and it’s 1am and it’s cold so they laid in the truck overnight. The other buddy hunting w us wasn’t on deer. I had scouted and found a good spot right off the road, not far from me bust you had to drive an unimproved road all the way around to get to. He had killed a doe and we all hunted the last morning. I told him at 8:15 I was getting down and would push my way to him. He’s a big guy and was gonna help him pack out. I texted him and gathered stand and gear and walked to him. While I was packing up he had a nice 10 come from my direction and he shot it. Here is some pics.
