I knew that dog would find it lol. Congrats on a great buck. Thanks for helping out Taylor. Gunner is awesome until he tracks to the witches line lol.
Tracking dog needed in Meigs Co
- Thread starter Jay/NC
- Start date
huntn2
Senior Member
Dang guys I'm humbled by all the kind words. I really appreciate everyone of them. Now for the back story.
My buddy Clay has a family farm in Meigs Co and we've been hunting it for several years now. He & his sons came up during the summer & put in a couple of small food plots. I wasn't able to tag along due to a funeral if I remember correctly. Clay & I came back up a couple of weeks before the season opened to bait some areas with corn. I told him we needed to plan on coming back up to hunt when the first cold front was forecasted.
My buddy Clay has a family farm in Meigs Co and we've been hunting it for several years now. He & his sons came up during the summer & put in a couple of small food plots. I wasn't able to tag along due to a funeral if I remember correctly. Clay & I came back up a couple of weeks before the season opened to bait some areas with corn. I told him we needed to plan on coming back up to hunt when the first cold front was forecasted.
We both watched the weather & our anticipation began building when we saw the slight drop in temps for the past weekend.
We loaded up my truck & hit the road last Friday evening. We arrived around 2:30am after the 5-6 hr drive. He dropped me off & I quickly got my Lonewolf, sticks & pack together & slipped on my boots & disappeared into the darkness. I hung my stand in one of my favorite places for a NW wind on the farm as quietly as possible. Clay was popping up a ground blind next to one of his plots & checking his trail cams.
I got back to the house around 4am & after looking at the pics I decided to stay up, jump in the shower & head back to the stand versus taking a nap.
I was in the tree before 7am & & started seeing deer around 8. I ended up seeing 3 bucks (1.5yo 4pt, 2.5yo 6pt & 2.5yo 8pt), a small flock of hens/poults & a yote. I wanted to shoot the yote but he was more interested in chasing the 4pt than coming to my "squeeks".
Ok this is getting long so I'll speed up LOL.
We loaded up my truck & hit the road last Friday evening. We arrived around 2:30am after the 5-6 hr drive. He dropped me off & I quickly got my Lonewolf, sticks & pack together & slipped on my boots & disappeared into the darkness. I hung my stand in one of my favorite places for a NW wind on the farm as quietly as possible. Clay was popping up a ground blind next to one of his plots & checking his trail cams.
I got back to the house around 4am & after looking at the pics I decided to stay up, jump in the shower & head back to the stand versus taking a nap.
I was in the tree before 7am & & started seeing deer around 8. I ended up seeing 3 bucks (1.5yo 4pt, 2.5yo 6pt & 2.5yo 8pt), a small flock of hens/poults & a yote. I wanted to shoot the yote but he was more interested in chasing the 4pt than coming to my "squeeks".
Ok this is getting long so I'll speed up LOL.
After putting out corn we both took a short power nap & climbed back in the saddle. I only saw 1 doe Sat PM. The spot I was hunting has consistently been a better AM stand.
Clay saw deer from his ground blind from my memory but I can't remember what exactly. He moved to his "Hilton" box blind for his evening hunt & saw lots of deer including one NICE shooter out of range from him his Xbow.
Clay saw deer from his ground blind from my memory but I can't remember what exactly. He moved to his "Hilton" box blind for his evening hunt & saw lots of deer including one NICE shooter out of range from him his Xbow.
Sunday AM I hunted my LW for the 3rd time & saw turkeys & 1 doe. My mom called me while I was on stand so reluctantly bailed out to walk back toward the road to see what was going on.
Clay & I both live in central NC but I was born & raised on a farm in eastern NC. You may have heard of the lil storm [emoji12]named Matthew that heading up the eastern seaboard this past weekend. According to all the weather "experts" the storm was supposed to make a U-turn & head back south. Needless to say they were wrong.
Mom told me her basement had taken on water on both ends & she had a monster pine tree fall directly on her out building. After some "discussion" I told her I'd see her Monday AM. I climbed back up & hunted until noon without seeing anything besides more [emoji884].
I decided to pull my stand & move close to Clay's box blind for our last evening hunt.
Clay & I both live in central NC but I was born & raised on a farm in eastern NC. You may have heard of the lil storm [emoji12]named Matthew that heading up the eastern seaboard this past weekend. According to all the weather "experts" the storm was supposed to make a U-turn & head back south. Needless to say they were wrong.
Mom told me her basement had taken on water on both ends & she had a monster pine tree fall directly on her out building. After some "discussion" I told her I'd see her Monday AM. I climbed back up & hunted until noon without seeing anything besides more [emoji884].
I decided to pull my stand & move close to Clay's box blind for our last evening hunt.
After grabbing some lunch & shooting my bow I hung my stand in a tree off the box blind plot that I had hunted in previous years. It was the right decision. [emoji1]
Clay had said he didn't see deer until after 6 out of the box blind so we went out a lil later that evening. (More nap time [emoji23])
We got settled just before 6. (Clay in the Hilton & me in my LW). It was only minutes before a flock of turkeys made their way across the field headed to roost. Then around 6:30 some does, fawns & a spike came out to feed. Shortly before dark 4 bucks entered the plot on a trail roughly 20 yards from me.
For further clarification the Hilton was only 78 yds from where I was hunting according to my rangefinder. The 4th buck dwarfed the others in body size even though he rack wasn't huge. I quickly decided to try to take him before I ran out of shooting light.
When he got in an opening thru the limbs I ranged him at 23 yards perfectly broadside. Unfortunately by the time I got to full draw he had turned slightly toward the box blind & taken a few steps.
Clay had said he didn't see deer until after 6 out of the box blind so we went out a lil later that evening. (More nap time [emoji23])
We got settled just before 6. (Clay in the Hilton & me in my LW). It was only minutes before a flock of turkeys made their way across the field headed to roost. Then around 6:30 some does, fawns & a spike came out to feed. Shortly before dark 4 bucks entered the plot on a trail roughly 20 yards from me.
For further clarification the Hilton was only 78 yds from where I was hunting according to my rangefinder. The 4th buck dwarfed the others in body size even though he rack wasn't huge. I quickly decided to try to take him before I ran out of shooting light.
When he got in an opening thru the limbs I ranged him at 23 yards perfectly broadside. Unfortunately by the time I got to full draw he had turned slightly toward the box blind & taken a few steps.
Sorry guys work got in the way. Will finish it during lunch. Y'all kill me with the memes. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
I centered my 20 & 30 yd pins on his opposite front shoulder & squeezed. In an instant my arrow was gone. I saw the green nock light up for a split second, heard the all to familiar whack & the light disappeared.
He wheeled to his left & took off like a bat outa hell. I noticed he was running low for all he was worth with his tail down & twitchin like crazy. What I didn't see was the green lighted nock. Not in him or on the ground.
He was outa sight in a matter of a couple of seconds. I was jacked up at this point to say the least. I felt really good about the shot based on the location the arrow entered him as well as the sound of it.
He wheeled to his left & took off like a bat outa hell. I noticed he was running low for all he was worth with his tail down & twitchin like crazy. What I didn't see was the green lighted nock. Not in him or on the ground.
He was outa sight in a matter of a couple of seconds. I was jacked up at this point to say the least. I felt really good about the shot based on the location the arrow entered him as well as the sound of it.