Post by strippitman on Oct 15, 2015 10:02:56 GMT -5
Well guys, I put a good buck down on Tuesday evening. It was a typical fall evening. 55 degrees with a slight breeze coming from the west. It had been quite breezy throughout the day but the local forecast was calling for the wind to really calm down before dark. That has always been a good recipe for me for seeing a lot of deer. On my way out to the property I wasn't sure which stand I was going to choose to sit in. I had it narrowed down to 2 stands. The one stand we call "the irrigation stand" sits at the end of an irrigation line on an outside corner of my woods. I can watch this stand from my buddy stand that is across the field from it. The irrigation stand has been having lots of deer come by it each time I sit in the buddy stand. Last Friday evening three bucks (a shooter, a small 8 and a spike) all walked out of the woods right by the irrigation stand. So, with that in mind, I was leaning towards sitting there. The other stand I was contemplating is what we call the "tall stand". It is an 18' high homemade wooden ladder stand that for some reason is freaky as hell to sit in. I'm usually the only one that will sit it and it is one of those stands that I make sure I have my harness for. As I am pulling in the lane to park my truck I decide that I will sit the tall stand. I knew it would be the first time all season that anyone had sat that stand and with the stand being on the far southeast corner of the woods my scent would not be blowing into the woods one bit. I walked into the stand with the wind in my face. So, up to this point I have put the wind in my favor for every aspect of the hunt. I get to the stand and crawl up into it and after my knees quit shaking from the freakiness of the stand I get harnessed in 
. I take a look around me and realize that the longest shot I really have is about 30 yds. I was expecting to have a couple of longer shots out into a cut cornfield to the south of me but the farmer left about 30 rows of corn that I didn't know about and eliminated my field shots that I was hoping to have. After realizing my shots weren't as long as I'd hoped I thought about getting down and heading to the irrigation stand where I know I have longer shot opportunities. After all, I'm carrying a brand new crossbow that was keeping groupings within the size of a baseball every time at 60 yds. I was anticipating being able to take longer shots with xbow. As I was contemplating moving, I kept hearing some rustling in the leaves to the north of me which kept me on stand until I could figure out what it was. About 10-15 minutes later I finally figured out what the rustling was...a family of 4 coons cam strolling right past my stand. I can thank those 4 coons for what is about to happen next because if it weren't for the noise they were making (I thought maybe they were deer so I was waiting to see) I would've moved to the other stand. By this time it was too late to move so I just decided to stay put and enjoy the beauty around me. At about 10 minutes after 6:00 I look to the north and catch just the tail end of a deer slipping into some brush. And then a second or two later I notice a deer just ahead of where that deer was. My first thought was "must be a momma doe with a fawn". At this point they are probably 75 yds up in the woods and appears that they are heading for the picked corn out in front of me. I can't see them right now because my view is blocked by some treetops. I wait and keep watching out in the field to see if they appear out there and...nothing? Then I catch more movement out of the corner of my eye in the spot where I saw the first deer. "Holy cow, that buck may be a shooter! I'll bet that means these other two deer are bucks too", I think to myself. Now I'm getting excited! About the same time one of the other two deer pops up in front of about 25 yds and it's a "big" spike. At this point I realize I better get my crossbow in my hands so I grab it off the hook. I look at the spike for a moment through the scope just waiting for the other two deer to make their grand appearances in the same spot. The next deer that moved into view was the shooter that I had just seen! Here's my dilemma. I still have not seen the headgear on deer #3. Do I go ahead shoot the nice deer in front of me or do I wait and see what the other deer is sporting on his head? I decide to just go ahead a squeeze the trigger on the one in front of me and as soon as I hit the trigger the arrow was already blowing through him with a loud thud. I know that thud well and I was pretty confident that I had just made a good shot. I was right. The buck run about 30 yds, stopped for a couple of seconds, and then turned and started coming right back to me. He is now beginning to do the stagger of death. He crashed into a fallen treetop and thrashed his legs for a few seconds and then one last loud breath and he was done. Although his rack is spindly, I'm pretty happy with his tine length. His G2's and G3's are all between 9" - 9-3/4"...
. I take a look around me and realize that the longest shot I really have is about 30 yds. I was expecting to have a couple of longer shots out into a cut cornfield to the south of me but the farmer left about 30 rows of corn that I didn't know about and eliminated my field shots that I was hoping to have. After realizing my shots weren't as long as I'd hoped I thought about getting down and heading to the irrigation stand where I know I have longer shot opportunities. After all, I'm carrying a brand new crossbow that was keeping groupings within the size of a baseball every time at 60 yds. I was anticipating being able to take longer shots with xbow. As I was contemplating moving, I kept hearing some rustling in the leaves to the north of me which kept me on stand until I could figure out what it was. About 10-15 minutes later I finally figured out what the rustling was...a family of 4 coons cam strolling right past my stand. I can thank those 4 coons for what is about to happen next because if it weren't for the noise they were making (I thought maybe they were deer so I was waiting to see) I would've moved to the other stand. By this time it was too late to move so I just decided to stay put and enjoy the beauty around me. At about 10 minutes after 6:00 I look to the north and catch just the tail end of a deer slipping into some brush. And then a second or two later I notice a deer just ahead of where that deer was. My first thought was "must be a momma doe with a fawn". At this point they are probably 75 yds up in the woods and appears that they are heading for the picked corn out in front of me. I can't see them right now because my view is blocked by some treetops. I wait and keep watching out in the field to see if they appear out there and...nothing? Then I catch more movement out of the corner of my eye in the spot where I saw the first deer. "Holy cow, that buck may be a shooter! I'll bet that means these other two deer are bucks too", I think to myself. Now I'm getting excited! About the same time one of the other two deer pops up in front of about 25 yds and it's a "big" spike. At this point I realize I better get my crossbow in my hands so I grab it off the hook. I look at the spike for a moment through the scope just waiting for the other two deer to make their grand appearances in the same spot. The next deer that moved into view was the shooter that I had just seen! Here's my dilemma. I still have not seen the headgear on deer #3. Do I go ahead shoot the nice deer in front of me or do I wait and see what the other deer is sporting on his head? I decide to just go ahead a squeeze the trigger on the one in front of me and as soon as I hit the trigger the arrow was already blowing through him with a loud thud. I know that thud well and I was pretty confident that I had just made a good shot. I was right. The buck run about 30 yds, stopped for a couple of seconds, and then turned and started coming right back to me. He is now beginning to do the stagger of death. He crashed into a fallen treetop and thrashed his legs for a few seconds and then one last loud breath and he was done. Although his rack is spindly, I'm pretty happy with his tine length. His G2's and G3's are all between 9" - 9-3/4"...
Just another night at work for me and Monty will be back here again bright and early. 
