Photo by Olivier Piquer
You can’t kill them from the couch
The evening of October 22 is a hunt I will remember for a long time. One of my friends, Grant Youmans, and myself talked throughout the day about hunting, but couldn’t decide whether to hunt or not, due to it being 86 degrees and real windy. Knowing it was nearing the rut and deer were starting to chase the old saying you can’t kill them from the couch came to mind. At around 5:15 p.m. we met and headed out to the stands for the evening hunt.
Not Seeing any Deer?
At 5:30 p.m. I got in the stand looking over a grass field that had a turnip and clover plot growing in it. The sun was setting in my face and I could feel every bit of the 86 it was out. Thankfully around 6:15 p.m. the sunset below the pine trees which led to a noticeable drop in the temperature. After the drop in temperature I felt much better about the rest of the evening hunt. Neither Grant nor I had seen any deer at this point so I was considering using my grunt call a few times soon just to see what happens. Shortly after that thought is when the hunt began to get interesting.
The Magic of Pre Rut
I was about to get my grunt call out of my pack when I heard something that sounded like a grunt across the field. Quickly looking in the direction of the grunt I saw a doe step out into the field with a nice mature eight point following right behind her grunting almost every step. The sight of a no doubt shooter stepping into the field was one that quickly got the heart beating and rifle up. I had my Nikon camera in the stand filming and was able to get it on the buck moving across the field. The buck stopped for a short second, grunted, and then quickly began trailing the doe again. At this point I knew the next time I could get a broadside shot on him I needed to take it because he was going to go wherever the doe went. Shortly after he came to a stop in the middle of the field and I prepared to take a shot.
Preparing for the Proper Shot
After making sure the camera was still on the buck, and having a steady scope picture I squeezed off on the trigger. Once the shot went off the buck just stood in his tracks and I was in disbelief on how the shot missed its mark. I quickly got ready for a follow up shot, but the doe bolted which led to the buck running straight to me. Following the buck in the scope I bleated making an attempt to stop him, but all it did was make him slowdown from a run to a steady trot. At this time I knew it was now or never put the crosshairs in front of his shoulder and got a second shot off. Confirming what I suspected Grant shot me a text saying he thought the first shot was a miss, but a definite hit on the second. The buck ran into the woods not far to the right of my stand so I made sure to give it a little time before getting down.
Making the best of that second chance
After waiting about thirty minutes I climbed down to look for blood in the field. It had only been a few minutes, but seemed like eternity scanning the turnips for blood and finding nothing. I was beginning to lose hope that the deer was hit not finding any blood in the field. Taking my flashlight I began to work my way to where the buck entered the woods and I lost sight of him. It wasn’t long until I caught a white belly in the light and knew my second shot hit the mark. It was a great feeling getting my hands on a good buck after not killing one last season. Memories hunting with friends are ones that will never be forgotten.
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