It has been a tough, tough season for me personally....I dont think I have ever had such a rough time even getting to the point where I felt comfortable that I could even see a good deer on stand. If not seeing big ones on trailcam was the only problem I dont think it would be so hard to deal with....but its the outside interference that has had me contemplating taking a vacation from the woods.
One step forward and two steps back could be used to describe my efforts this season. From pre season scouting til a week ago I have been on a roller coaster. I have been plagued on a couple of my properties by some "hunters" that think its ok to just go back in the parks behind my properties where no hunting is permitted or simply trespass where I have permission and they dont. I even had a guy trying to get permission on one of my properties shoot a deer from the driveway while waiting. Thanks for that buddy.....I wasnt going to kill that one yet as he was a dinker and more like a pet as he was on my trail cam daily.....
I am not one to let adversity keep me down. I keep plugging away and trying to get over the obstacles that are thrown my way. No sense crying....but man did I want too....Just couldnt win....
So my daughter Riley was sick on one of my vacation days....I was supposed to be in a tree this morning but Family comes first so I had to stay home....Frustrating but no biggee...at least I got to hang out with my rugrat....She loves to "Hunt " with Daddy so when she started bouncing off the walls...(not real sick.....hmmm) I asked if she wanted to go find deer... We drove to a couple of my spots and checked cams....Action was a little spotty as the rut was winding down....Just when I was feeling another bout of no buck depression coming on I saw him. A big buck that had a reputation in the area I hunted...He was in the front yard of a facility near a property I had recently yanked a stand out of.
I personally had never laid eyes on this guy but had heard stories about the crab claw 10 with a split G2... I pulled into a driveway and started shooting......my T2i.....at the deer getting some great shots of the big ole boy...He was king...His queen was laying against an ornamental bush and apparently close to "ready". other deer including some lesser bucks were mingling around the yard as well...but you could tell who was in charge...it was just a matter of time.
The crazy thing is I knew he almost had to have walked right by my tree that was empty that morning...I quickly retrieved a stand and put it back in the tree. Riley was on her best behavior waiting for the McDonalds reward I promised her for letting me get this done. (Father of the year award is in the mail i'm sure....hehe) I was now ready to hunt this guy and was just hoping that he would be in the area for more girls and this was not the only one.
A couple days later when the wind was right I was back in that tree with Paul. There had been heavy doe traffic on the cam and that seemed good. No good bucks or sightings of the King but I was not worried as I had never captured a pic of him on trailcam yet.
A gang of does were heading our way when we had a problem....The wind shifted....While watching them I felt wind on the back of my neck...It was kinda running down the side of the ridge we were situated on. I figured that if he was to come from that direction that we may never see him before he got a whiff....
Just about the time I thought our hunt was a bust....the whole gang looked up hill in front of us...we did the same and noticed a bunch of deer.
The entire herd on the hill came running down full speed as if they had just been bumped. It was a Saturday and there was a lot of activity in the surrounding neighborhood so this would be normal. At the very end of the pack was a big buck....Paul simply said..."its him" and I went numb!!!
Even though the whole group seemed to be running scared I noticed that my boy was hot on the tail of yet another potential mate...The guy gets around!!! I knew it would only take that doe coming into range to get a shot at him but the whole group continued out of sight and possibly out of my life....
A mere 15 minutes later while Paul and I were going over the chances that they would come back I caught movement in the direction they had gone...It was a doe......Followed by HIM!!!
and a couple young straggler bucks.
After what seemed like an eternity I ran a Rage through my best buck ever. She led the buck right past us and into my trap. The buck took off at the shot and stopped after 20 yards looking at the other bucks. He didnt know what happened and soon fell to the ground.
I was shocked at my own reaction upon watching the video. I dont believe I have ever acted like this after shooting a deer. I think it had a lot to do with the relief and pride of finally "winning" I had put a lot of effort in to this season and finally paid off....BIG TIME!!! Just shy of 147 inches!!!
Paul has yet again captured some ridiculous footage that I cannot wait to put together and now its his turn!!!!
