Just thought I'd do a very short recap or what turned out to be a very short whitetail season here for me in Manitoba. My brother and I would host be hosting a friend this year a bowsiter to do some hunting, so I really didn't do any hunting prior to the rut we just amped the scouting up a notch. So my year ended up being very weird being in a holding patter essentially all of September for caribou that never showed up, and then my brother and I went moose hunting (which will most likely end up being a thread on it’s own) which took up the first half of October, which gave me about a week to recover from cleaning up etc and then the rut is on. I got a couple non-eventful sits in before having Nov 7-11 off for deer. I'd actually never taken successive days off like this before to bowhunt at home so I was excited, even though scouting hadn't really turned up many big bucks even though I knew they are out there.
Nov 7am- I went out and hunted some big timber. Now for whatever reason the last couple years my "kill count" if you want to call it that with my bow hasn't been excessively high and I am a firm believe in practise honing a guy's skills. I decided that finally our deer population has recovered in areas enough for me to fill an antlerless tag, and I would do so with the first fawn that gives me an opportunity. The does I want to keep around during the rut, and my freezers are full of meat, so the meat would be given to my youngest brother. Approx 8:30am I see a doe and fawn moving through a clearing headed my way. The fawn works its way ahead of the doe and looks like it will come by around 10 yards. I draw when it is roughly 18 out and lick my lips in anticipation. All of a sudden the doe scampers to catch up, and now I don't want to shoot with the doe right there, as it will essentially kill this stand for that doe. Thankfully she outpaces the young button, and moves on ahead as he stops to eat some buds off some branches. I patiently wait until she has moved off about 30 yards and am just about to release when the button starts walking. I quickly scan ahead to my next opening at 13 yards, hold my pin on the front of his shoulder and touch it off just as he clears a poplar. Well just at that moment the little guy decided to stop and so instead of hitting him behind the shoulder I smash through onside shoulder, spine and break his offside leg. Everyone's favourite sound - a fawn bawl breaks the silence as he hits the ground hard. The doe blows and takes off. I lower my bow, get off the stand and finish what I started.
What turns out to be most likely only a half our later I see a big body ghost through the poplars and I realize it is a mature buck! WOW, I haven't seen one of those in 2 years! He breaks into the edge of a clearing I am watching and starts my direction. I recognize the buck with a black rack as a mature deer, though not overly large in rack. Even so, when I saw him I instantly went into shoot mode. Turn around and grab my wha---- where the heck is my bow?!?! Frantically spinning around in the tree I can't find my bow!! I look under the stand and see it arrached to the rope!! Can I get any dumber?!?! Even though I hadn't reallyl decided if I wanted to shoot I sure wanted be ABLE to make that decision and frantically try and pull my bow up as the buck is 60 yards and closing. Of course my bow is hung up in some hazel brush and takes a bit to shake loose. I manage to get the bow up without the buck seeing the movement, but he heard the brush. He freezes at about 50 yards for nearly 5 minutes before turning 90 degrees and walking north out of my life. Wow, good going Pauls.
I continue to sit and roughly 11:o'clock in the morning see a big bodied black racked deer coming from the NE. Ahh, must be the same buck again. I know he's decent so I'll get ready. Well the buck is headed SW, but when he is about 50 yards out, he turns and heads straight south directly at me, even taking the trail to my stand. Also, as he turns I realize that he is MUCH larger than the previous buck and is a beautiful 5x5 with a split G2. I'd guess at about 155". You gotta be kidding me!!!! I haven't had a buck this size in bow range in a few years! As the big boys usually do, he moves slower than the average deer, and I draw when he's about 28 yards out, directly upwind in a stiff wind, and walking directly to me. At about 20 yards he stops and smells the branches that I touched coming in. $hit! and he is behind some brush otherwise I'd slam him with a frontal. He starts working his head all over the branches all the while I am at full draw. At this point I realize he is making a scrap and as he does so, his eyes are looking directly at me up in the poplars. He doesn't alarm in the slightest, but takes FOREVER on these branches. Minutes go by and my arm stutters, already I have hooked the cams on my knees to extend my draw. The buck keeps working the scrape. One paw, then the other as my shoulders screeeam in protest. I decide I have to let down. I'll never be able to shoot accurately when the moment comes. I let down as he works the ground. He never notices. Oh ya baby. Wind is perfect. After what seems like an eternity the buck finishes with his scrape, turns, and takes a step quartering to me. He stops again. My bow is waiting to be drawn. He continues on his slow path and I take my chance and draw thinking there is no way on God's white earth that I will get my bow back without him bolting at 19 yards. Well it seems the Lord is smiling down on me this morning and I feel the caress of my release on my neckwarmer and the buck doesn't even have a clue.
At this point one of the four roughly 10" diameter poplars I am in the middle of is 4" in front of my bow and between the buck and myself. I take my eyes off the buck for only a moment to make sure the Iron Will sticking out of my bow siesn't clash with the poplar and I swing to the right side of the poplar, and re-focus beneath me just as the monarch whips his head up to look at me. "Too late" I mutter in my mind as years of having deer catch a look at me tells me I will have at least a half a second to let this arrow go. I can't simply punch it, as there is still some brush between us (I only do hang and hunts so clearning lanes doesn't happen ahead of time) but before I can pick a spot the buck bolts. Wha--- my heart which had nearly been choking me in my throat crashes into my pelvis and the empty feeling of having such a sure thing LOST envelops me. The buck trots out to 50,60 yards in a bunch of brush seemingly unaware of exactly where the danger came from, and slowly slinks away in the snow and poplars. I let down unsure of exactly what to do with myself. The buck literally whipped his head up and bolted. Not even 1/8" of a second between the two acts. I COULD NOT believe it. I can't remember ever having such a sure thing go south. He was down. He was in the truck, on the wall, phone calls were being made. Oh man did it hurt!!! I sat for another hour then headed home.
On the way out of the bush I am driving down a small two track when I see movement walk off the track. A big Canade! What the?!?! I large good in the middle of miles of timber lol. I park the truck and jump out grabbing my bow as snow falling down filters into the truck. No matter, I've got a score to settle. I load up the bloody arrow from this morning's fawn that I had a real hard time removing as the goose walks down into a nearly dried up pond. Perfect! I don't need to risk losing my valuable arrow and head. I'll shoot as he walks up the far bank. As the big canade starts walking up the far bank I guess for 20 and smash through the center of his body stapling him to the far bank. The thing literally tips over and dies instantly attached to the arrow. While I was excited to make a good shot, it was in no way redemption for my buck that got away! It's funny as I think about it, but this goose is almost one of the main reasons I felt like sharing my hunt. I knew I had to share this with Paul@thefort!
That afternoon I head out again as the wind is right for the same area and see these two bucks cruise by. Of course the wind swirls and give me away, though not before it could have been game over for the little fellas.
The next day I really don't see too much of anything, but had some coyotes light up at dark beside me. I know I seem to complain about the cold a lot, but it is cold, very cold. And seems to be getting colder daily. These first couple days highs were about low 20's and windchill on top of that, though there wasn't too much wind. Since I got two kills in on day one, day 2 I can take a break ;)
Day 3 is more of the same, although temps are now single digits with wind chills below zero. The morning produces two small bucks cruising nose down, one of which, a 1.5 year old comes by within range.
I sat until noon, and feeling like I am missing things, decide to scout the evening and see if I can't get a better idea of deer movements in the area. Before scouting the evening however I decide to check on a camera I have in the area. Driving through the hay field - this happens:
Day 4 is time for a hail mary. I decide to head into a piec of public land I have never sat in, and in fact only walked through once. I've started to branch out my hunting this last year not hunting in places over an hour from home. While it takes me out of the bow zone, it's refreshing to see new landscapes. Anyways, I get to this piece late in the morning and have to crash through a ton of standing dead willows going in. I knew this would be the case, but even so am astonished at the copious amounts of noise I have to make getting in. It would have been quieter to take a bulldozer in and park it. I finally get in, having seen some tracks in the snow on the way in. I hang my stand, and begin the freeze. The temps are now 2F with windchills exceeding -22F. Oh Canada. 9:30 I get a text from my brother that says something to the effect of "Try and sit until 10:30 then waffles and sausage at my place?" Oh heck ya, I'm in. Since I froze my fingers to reply, I decide to rattle and try and get some heat back. I rattle so hard I snap the tip of a tine off. Or maybe it happens easier when it's that cold. I don't know. Either way, good to get the fingers moving.
A few minutes later I swear I hear some snaps. Agin - yes!! Something is out there. I bleat using a can call. Crash, crash crash, here it comes! Bow is off the hook I turn excited - anticipating…nothing. All is quiet. I wait a minute. I grunt. I can call again. A snap. The bush is thich here, much thicker than previous spot. SO thick he must be 40 yards away or less and I can't see a thing in the snow. AH- THERE! a brown patch must be his body -WHOA suddenly the broan patch turns and I realize it is a wall of thick tines. I'm talking 14" tines. I quickly scan ahead, the clearest area is not very clear, and soon he will be downwind. As he walks into this "clear" area I know I can not shoot. The buck is roughly 20" wide and a booner if I ever saw one. 170+ just a mega giant. As he stands there he suddenly freezes while looking at me. He stays that way for nearly 30 seconds, then continues to smell the branches around him. 10 more yards and he'll catch my wind for sure. He takes a couple steps and I grunt him trying to make him attack to the sound. No dice, I snort-wheeze and he whips his head around to look at me. Now or Never. Well the answer turns out to be never as he bounds away. AGH! I knew I had to try something as he was going to wind me. Or maybe he already had. No regrets but wow what an encounter.
LOL Ambush, when you take 8 encounters over 4 days and boil it down to 10 minutes of reading it seems non-stop for sure. All though I can't complain. It was better than average for sure.
Roughly 40 minutes go by as I rack my brain trying to think of what I can do about this buck. I'm so depressed because all I can think, is that at this stage of the rut, the only place I know he WON'T be, is near this stand where he busted me. He might be a mile away by dinner, but he sure as heck ins't going to be here. so I decide to rattle again. Maybe he has been doing a large loop and forgot exactly where the danger was. Worth a try right? So I rattle. And I wait. I rattle many many times a year, but only seem to have a few responses. When all of a sudden I see a deer moving much more quickly coming exactly the same way the big buck came. Nose to the ground, I see a good, dark tine come through an opening and I decide I will shoot. It's a gamble having only seen one tine, but in a normal year good chances are not always abundant. Well the buck walks into the exact same spot the giant did. 30 yards. Frustration grips me as this is now the 3rd good buck I've had in 4 days with brush obstructing him. Frustration gets the better of me as I decide what the heck and loose the arrow.
The arrow flies like a dart and when it reaches the brush it it it sails right through! Not a wiggle not a boing nothing just darts into the bucks chest as he mule kicks and busts outta there. I wait and listen, but never hear a crash. Since I've got some explanation on tape, I'll save some typing
Long story short I had a hard time finding blood, my arrow blew right through the buck and was lodged in the ground. It looked good. The little bit of blood I found some looked a tough dark to me, so I decided to guess on worst case being liver and give him 6ish hours. I wanted to come back still in light and had shot at 10:09. That gets me to 4:00pm. I know the buck is dead I know I hit him below the spine. The question is when will he die and can I find him. I followed the trail for about 75 yards to where I needed to leave anyways. Marked the spot and left.
Long story short I come back at 4 with a two great friends who are tagged out and nothing better to do. We follow tracks for about 25 yards and find a bed with a little blood in it. This is really close to where I walked out so I imagine I bumped him about 15 minutes after the shot. Hmm, prob not good. Follow tracks for another 30 or so and find an area where it looks like he stumbled, but then the tracks keep going. Good sign that he is weakening. Follow for another 20 or so and see some scuff marks on the ground off to the right, but the tracks don't exit there, and I look to the left and there he is 5 yards away in a depression in the ground in the willows. I get to have my first real look at him and he's a decent buck. I saw the best part of his rack in that split second, and figured he could be anything from 120-140ish I really had no clue. Well turns out he's closer to the bottom end of that scale, but he's a good buck and I had a great hunt on public land. Do I wish I was hunting right now? Absolutely, but I am content and very happy with him. Now plans turn to how to find that gagger for next year…
And ya, after reading NjBuck’s story I just wanna keep hunting. THAT is an amazing story so happy for him that it all worked out. I didn’t get as lucky!
Congrats bro! That’s a beautiful Manitoba buck. Many in this province have hunted many years and still dream of killing one like that! You’re a killer!
Thanks fellas. Upon analysis shot was a beautiful double lung. Went through both sides. What amazes me more than the lack of blood with that hit, is that I know I waited 10 minutes to get down, and then it took me a while to get to the spot where I left. So it had to have been roughly 15 minutes before I pushed that buck out of his first bed. And he continued on after that...all on a double lung hit.
Adam, to hell with the buck. You are now an official goose hunter and you will NEVER see a goose the same way as before. Targets of interest. Good luck with that. Oh, by the way, nice buck.
Actually with my system I haven’t even been uncomfortably cold yet this year. Shivering yes but not at the point where I want to get down. Kuiu heavy base layers, heavy merino socks. Saskatchewan Pack Boots (by cabelas I think disco’d) Sitka Fanatic with blizzard beanie and necky. When it gets real cold I throw in the Kuiu Kenai puffy under the fanatic but you can’t walk in like that. For gloves I’ve just ran the Sitka traverse and kept my hands in the kangaroo pouch. This seems to work well as anything thicker and I can’t seem to generate the heat in that kangaroo pouch. I’ve done all dayers in -20 with this setup
As always you're getting it done! That was a real nice buck. You think the broadhead was the reason for lack of blood? I saw on the iron will thread there were some concerns on that. Looking forward to your moose thread too. Congrats on some dandy animals!
Way to go, Adam! Great buck and story! Better make sure you guys stay hydrated. You probably lose at least 2 pints of fluids through your nose doing an all dayer! ;-)
Are you all tagged out now, or can you get any more antlerless tags? Did you ever get a chance to hunt your own place this year?
Thanks so much guys. In my personal opinion once it gets Crazy cold you will get cold regardless of what you wear without a heat source. I’ve worn a HBS, but honestly find most of the time I’d just rather wear more convenient hunting layers. Putting a HBS on in stand is scary every time. Maybe because my boots don’t fit in. The Cabelas Saskatchewan PAC boots are too tall and size 12’s just take up too much space because the boot is like 6” tall on the toe lol.
I wear heavy base layers mine are a thick Cabelas layer sometimes a layer of pant and then Sitka Fanatic bibs. On top I have the same thick base layer. A sweater, maybe a thin hoodie like Kuiu peloton and then a jacket like Sitka Fanatic. This year when it was stupid I wore the Sanctuary jacket from First lite it had a lot more room underneath allowing me to get my Kuiu super ultra down underneath without compressing it. THAT layer underneath is insane. Total game changer. I’ve never been able to stave off the cold like I have with that super ultra down under the Sanctuary jacket.
Paul I’ve actually killed a number of geese every year with my bow, but this year I had the proverbial goose egg until mid November...haven’t seen a goose since. On land or sky. Got lucky and beat a coyote to the last one ;)
Ya t-roy bino eye cups are a must because snot dripping into your lenses and freezing doesn’t come off until you’re at home. At least that’s what I read on the internet....
One other thing I should mention that I think is absolutely key is always having at least one layer of clothing overlapping the seams. ie: bibs not pants one layer with the snowboarding type ends of your sleeve so that it fits into your mitt, and a neck warmer tucked into your jacket. This way you don’t lose heat at the seems. Also windproof neckwarmer and hat is a must. Hope that helps someone :)
I'm pondering picking up the Kuiu Ultra Down. Is it fairly forgiving as far as movement ,ie. does it move with you rather than fight you? I typically just buy quality yuppie down clothing at year end sales. I'm a bit behind in my fashion sense, so last years colours work fine for me. Is the "waterproof" down worth the extra money?
