Great Memories
I love being able to look back and see our hunts from the past. Each one is special and each has great meaning...every picture tells a story and I believe that every deer is a Trophy!
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From 2002 - The Buddy Buck, Continued...Chapter 2
It was early and cold, around 5:45am, with temperatures below freezing and feeling significantly colder due to the gusting winds. After gearing up I began my half-mile trail to the 10-foot strongbuilt tripod stand. Situated behind a thick shinnery oak thicket, this stand provides a prime vantage point over a well-traveled fence line. Although there is a good trail through the rough CRP, it is difficult to see my way with only the moon to illuminate the way. Taking my time and making as little noise as possible I still busted a deer out of the fence line thicket about a quarter of the way in. After about 30 minutes I arrived at my destination and placed scent about the stand area. Shortly thereafter, I climbed in for the morning's hunt.
Before first light I was glassing my surroundings and taking range readings from landmarks to ensure my bearings. Just after first light, 3 does, 1 large & 2 yearlings stepped from behind the cover and continued to travel East down the fence line. The does were 30 yards directly to my South and eventually entered the dense Shinnery Oak thicket 80 yards to the East. As the temperature remained hovered just below freezing, the wind increased and deer movement ground to a halt. Around 10:45am I got down and made my way back up the fence line to the road. Where my long time friend and hunting partner Craig picked me up. After shooting his buck a couple days before, he was staying warm.
Around 2:00pm we arrived back at the staging area of our lease. Geared up and ready to go we set out walking down the road to the South, approximately 3/4-mile. At that point we crossed the fence and made our way to the ridge where Craig had taken his buck. This ridge is approximately 400 yards off the road through thick CRP grass laced with dense plum thickets. Dragging Tink's #69 and Tink's Buck Lure I was concerned that we keep an eye on our back trail after getting set up as the rut was in full swing and when the wind was not at a gale bucks were searching for does.
Making it to the crest of the ridge, we set up just off a well-used trail that winds its way lengthwise down the East Side of the ridge. Set up there we glassed the surrounding cover for approximately an hour. At that time Craig made his way North to a smaller saddle in the ridge. Upon his arrival he radioed and suggested that I may want to make my way to the tripod situated in the Northeast corner of the property. I agreed and set out to carefully make my way to the corner. Crossing the bowl directly east of the ridge I had just topped the secondary ridge boundary when I busted two mature does that were bedded in the thickets about 10 yards to my North, they were beautiful. The largest while making her escape, also got quite a surprise when she came upon Craig hidden up in the smaller saddle.
Crossing the valley floor I made my way quickly and quietly to the tripod. After sitting briefly, Craig mentioned that I might want to go check out the wheat field to the Northeast for activity, by now it was approximately 5pm. Making it to the fence line I could see 3 deer feeding on the wheat about 400 yards away. I believed they were all does, Craig radioed that he thought there were more than 3 deer, moving to my left a bit I could also see another, a six point buck. The buck was quartering the does a bit, but they were not paying him much attention. When his advances got to be an annoyance, the largest doe ran him off. As the does returned to feeding the small buck actually looked disappointed and, after a few moments, wandered off towards the island (a rounded section of timber located in the middle of the wheat.) Another small doe was also making her way from the East towards the wheat; she was cruising at a leisurely trot.
At the time I was on the cell phone and said that I did not think that today was the day that I was going to have a crack at a buck. I had just hung up the phone when I noticed the 6 pointer coming out of the island and moving towards the crossing leading directly down into the valley. Craig also radioed that deer were coming into one of our feeders. This feeder is situated in the valley directly West of the Northeast tripod. Since I had the wind in my favor and was covered by a ridgeline, I began a hurried run back to the tripod, time was running out.
I approached staying as far East as possible, making my way through the thick cover trying to stay on the tips of my toes and on dirt patches here and there to keep sound at a minimum. Making it to the stand site I was reminded that it is littered with dry twigs, trying to step through quickly, the two does at the end of the procession were alerted to my presence. The does scampered off about 40 yards to the North, at the same time the 6 point buck walked right past them towards the feeder. Since the does had spooked and I noted that both bucks were still walking toward the feeder I gritted my teeth and crashed through the noisy cover to the stand. One of the does that had made me was making her way steadily up the hillside in my direction, she would take a couple of steps, then stop, snort and stamp her feet then repeat the process. With her trying to figure out what I was I could not risk climbing into the stand, so leaning against the ladder I began to examine the Bucks.
Although there was still more than enough shooting time left, it was pretty dim down in the valley. I was cursing myself for not spending some money on quality optics; my $30 binoculars were just not doing the job. Putting down the binoculars, I made sure my rifle was on safety and cranked up the power on my scope. The deer to the North was the "shooter," his rack wasn't tall, but man was it wide. I radioed to Craig that the deer was wide as he had been calling asking what was up. I pocketed the radio, shouldered my rifle and took a last look to verify that this buck was the "shooter."
He was! Dropping the cross hairs to just behind the shoulder, I clicked off the safety and squeezed the trigger. I do not even remember hearing the gun fire, however at 117 yards shooting off-hand, I heard the distinct "WHUMP" of the 155 grain bullet as it impacted. The deer jumped and turned completely around in the air, hit the ground running and headed North. Watching I saw him stumble twice then go down approximately 50 yards from where he was standing.
Given the way he jumped I figured the bullet had struck him a little far back, but upon locating the deer, I found that the Winchester Silvertip had hit it's mark, just where I had aimed. Although the shot had passed through the heart and broken the buck's outside shoulder, he still made it 50 yards. The 8 pointer was wide, really wide, although not trophy tall and not bulging with mass, this was a good deer….a great buck, and again for this season we were successful in taking a "buddy buck."
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