Capt. Al
11-09-2012, 01:03 PM
For the past few years, my buddy and I make our annual Ohio bowhunting trip. Like most, we head down when we feel the bucks will be on their feet the most. Over the last few years we have been pretty successful and we are usually there an entire week. This year however, it was different.
We arrived Friday evening and took our climbers out in the a.m. The morning was slow for me and I wanted to set up a good portable for the remainder of the week to limit the amount of noise during each of the upcoming hunts. After putting up two portables that afternoon, we went hunting that evening. Since I really don't have too many options on different locations to hunt, I decided to try that stand I just set up.
Thinking the evening woudl be a complete wash due to the amount of human scent polluting the area from the days activities. However, I was mistaken. After a slow start and having a few does blow at me on the adjacent ridge, the sun started to set. To my surprise I could here a deer coming over the ridge and into a thicket that I was hunting on the edge of. It was a dandy! It went right to a cedar tree and started racking his horns for about 5 minutes. After his rubbing episode, he started heading right for my tree. His head was tilted back and it looked like he was lip curling the entire way. When he was about 15 yds away, he turned and started heading back up the ridge. I drew my bow, and grunted w/ my voice to stop him. He stopped...I put the pin right behind the front leg, and released the arrow. It was a homerun. The buck ran about 50 yards and expired!
Wow, the first night and I was done....now what, I have the entire week and I don't see many does in the area, so I wasn't too hip on taking one of them. Therefore, I thought I would be in for a long week. However, the next morning after going up town and permanently tagging my buck, I was called by my buddy and he had shot his. We were done!
We couldn't believe it. After a day and a half, both of our tags were filled. I was really excited because I still had a Michigan tag left to fill and the rut was also in full force in my neck of the woods, and I still had the entire week off for hunting. We arrived to Michigan and caped our bucks out for the taxidermist and started hunting on Tuesday.
After a slow morning hunt, I decided to try my luck on some public ground since I was convinced my cousins have more than overhunted the private I typically hunt. I went to a spot I only hunted one other time this year and settled in. After having some does wind me, I wasn't too optimistic I was going to see anything. However I was wrong. I could here a deer walking in some thicket, but didn't seem to want to show himself. So, I grabbed my grunt call to see if I could get a response. You could say, I got a response. The deer immediately started heading directly to my tree. Thinking it was going to be a typical Michigan scrub buck, I reached for my handheld video camera to get some video. However, when I saw what was coming, I immediately put the camera back, and was concentrated on getting a shot. I was able to take a 5 yd shot that hit its mark........An absolute brute for my neck of the woods.
I have shot plenty several bucks over the years...but nothing of this caliber. My best has only been a 120 inch 8 point, and now I shot two within 4 days that are hovering around the 150 range. I'm still in shock and have a very large bill at the taxidermist.
Good luck to all and safe hunting!
(I'm going to the casino)
We arrived Friday evening and took our climbers out in the a.m. The morning was slow for me and I wanted to set up a good portable for the remainder of the week to limit the amount of noise during each of the upcoming hunts. After putting up two portables that afternoon, we went hunting that evening. Since I really don't have too many options on different locations to hunt, I decided to try that stand I just set up.
Thinking the evening woudl be a complete wash due to the amount of human scent polluting the area from the days activities. However, I was mistaken. After a slow start and having a few does blow at me on the adjacent ridge, the sun started to set. To my surprise I could here a deer coming over the ridge and into a thicket that I was hunting on the edge of. It was a dandy! It went right to a cedar tree and started racking his horns for about 5 minutes. After his rubbing episode, he started heading right for my tree. His head was tilted back and it looked like he was lip curling the entire way. When he was about 15 yds away, he turned and started heading back up the ridge. I drew my bow, and grunted w/ my voice to stop him. He stopped...I put the pin right behind the front leg, and released the arrow. It was a homerun. The buck ran about 50 yards and expired!
Wow, the first night and I was done....now what, I have the entire week and I don't see many does in the area, so I wasn't too hip on taking one of them. Therefore, I thought I would be in for a long week. However, the next morning after going up town and permanently tagging my buck, I was called by my buddy and he had shot his. We were done!
We couldn't believe it. After a day and a half, both of our tags were filled. I was really excited because I still had a Michigan tag left to fill and the rut was also in full force in my neck of the woods, and I still had the entire week off for hunting. We arrived to Michigan and caped our bucks out for the taxidermist and started hunting on Tuesday.
After a slow morning hunt, I decided to try my luck on some public ground since I was convinced my cousins have more than overhunted the private I typically hunt. I went to a spot I only hunted one other time this year and settled in. After having some does wind me, I wasn't too optimistic I was going to see anything. However I was wrong. I could here a deer walking in some thicket, but didn't seem to want to show himself. So, I grabbed my grunt call to see if I could get a response. You could say, I got a response. The deer immediately started heading directly to my tree. Thinking it was going to be a typical Michigan scrub buck, I reached for my handheld video camera to get some video. However, when I saw what was coming, I immediately put the camera back, and was concentrated on getting a shot. I was able to take a 5 yd shot that hit its mark........An absolute brute for my neck of the woods.
I have shot plenty several bucks over the years...but nothing of this caliber. My best has only been a 120 inch 8 point, and now I shot two within 4 days that are hovering around the 150 range. I'm still in shock and have a very large bill at the taxidermist.
Good luck to all and safe hunting!
(I'm going to the casino)