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Fun and interesting hunt

So last Tuesday I had a pretty cool hunt (both literally and figuratively). I was hunting property that I own with a buddy that has some CRP and some river break country with oaks and cedars. The morning started out at 2 degrees with a minus 8 windchill. All though the rut was pretty much in full swing I had not seen anywhere near the number of deer that I would normally see in my previous hunts, which I attributed to several large unharvested corn fields located nearby. I had decided to hunt a stand that I had not hunted all year. This particular stand is right on the edge of a major bedding area. There is a steep ridge just on the other side of the bedding area which causes inconsistent and swirling winds. I decided that I would wait until about 45 minutes after legal shooting time to sneak into the stand as the temperature was suppose to slowly rise which I hoped would result in rising thermals. As I approached my stand I bumped a couple of does which caused me to second guess my late entry. The good news is that they left without a bunch of hoof stomping and blowing so it really did not cause much commotion. As I settled into the stand I could see that there were several well used trails near my tree and a major scrape about 15 yards away. It was a beautiful, crisp morning with a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. As I quietly waited I marveled at the beauty of the frost covered branches shimmering in the early morning sunlight. The sounds of large flocks of geese loudly honking as they flew over just added to the experience. I took a moment to be thankful for the morning and the opportunity to be there. Quite honestly, if nothing else had happened that morning it would have still been a memorable morning. About a half hour into my sit, I saw a mature doe slowly browsing her way in my general direction. I picked up my recurve from the bow hanger and awaited further developements. I had both a doe tag and a buck tag in my pocket and was more than happy to notch the doe tag if she gave me the opportunity. Eventually she ended up on a trail that paralleled my stand. If she continued on the trail she would come to an opening which would give me a 15 yard shot. Unaware of my presence, she slowly continued to browse within my shooting range but with no clear shooting lane. Just as it appeared that she was going to step into a shooting lane she turned to directly face me and promptly bedded! This was not great news, as I had to contort myself a bit so that I could be in the right position to shoot once she hit the opening. Now I was slightly unbalanced but did not dare move as I would risk blowing her out. On the plus side, I had a live decoy bedded less than 20 yards away. It was a long wait. After an hour and 15 minutes the does ears perked up and she started to stare intently back in the direction she had originally come from. At this point, I was hoping that it was a buck that had drawn her attention. Whatever it was, it caused her to stand and of all the things she could have done, she started to walk right towards me. My fingers slowly tightened on my bow string as she came increasingly closer. As she was walking by my tree at 5 yards, I came to full draw and concentrated on the spot that I wanted to hit and released. The arrow buried perfectly in the spot that I had aimed! As she ran off I could see that the arrow did not exit, so I knew there would not be much of a blood trail. On the other hand, there was snow on the ground and the hit looked perfect so I was very comfortable about finding her nearby. I sat down for a couple minutes and just enjoyed what had just occurred. Still in possession of a buck tag, I promptly nocked another arrow and waited. Almost immediately, I saw another mature doe slowly working her way towards me from the same direction the first doe had come. I am thinking, that is a good sign as she could attract a buck at anytime this time of the year. That thought had no more than entered my head when a buck magically appeared. He was a big bodied, mature buck. His rack was not wide or tall but it had good mass. As I watched him raking trees and amorously chasing the doe, I knew that I would shoot him if he gave me the opportunity. The doe was steadfastly refusing his romantic advances. As the doe continued in my direction she started to follow the same trail that the 1st doe had used with the buck hot on her trail. My fingers started tightening on my bow string again as it appeared she was going to lead him right into a shooting lane 15 yards away. Just as he was about to enter that lane, she squirted away from him again. This time he appeared to give up and started walking straight away from both me and the doe. As he got close to 50 yards away I considered grunting but decided that since the doe was so close it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Then he stopped and looked back at the doe one more time. I felt like I could see what he was thinking. I remember thinking about the line from Dumb and Dumber. I swear I heard that buck say “ so your saying there’s a chance” as he abruptly turned and headed right back at the doe. As he got closer to her she broke and trotted off. As luck would have it she followed the exact same trail as the original doe. As if scripted the buck passed by my tree at 6 yards slightly quartering away. I focused on a spot right behind his shoulder about mid body and released. I could see the arrow hit and blood was pouring out of the spot where I had aimed. Wow, all of this action took place within 15 minutes! I really couldn’t believe that this had happened. I sat down to collect my thoughts and savor the moment. Even though I was very confident in both shots, I intended to wait a half hour before checking on the deer. All of the sudden, I heard rustling from behind me. I turned my head and saw a coyote coming in hot. I quickly knocked another arrow and whistled to stop him. Unfortunately, he stopped behind some brush and I could not get a shot off at him. I heard more rustling and I look back and there are 3 more coyotes coming in hard. Crap! They must have heard one or both of those deer dying and thought they were going to have a free buffet. I twisted around and tried to get a shot at one of the other 3 but they saw me moving and took off. After those events, I decided I better get down right away and make sure to check on the deer. Both deer had run up over a little rise and had headed in the same direction. As I topped that rise I saw the buck dead and as I got a little closer I saw the doe. The had died within 10 yards of each other and had not gone any further than 40 to 45 yards from where they were shot. The buck was a heavy bodied brute. Even after gutting it was not easy for my buddy and I to lift him up on the rear rack of my four wheeler. When I took him to the processor, he commented on the body size. He didn’t weigh him but did measure the chest girth right behind the front legs. It was 46 inches. I am not sure how accurate that method is but using the chart that he had it would translate to a live weight of just under 300 pounds. I have shot several deer with bigger racks but none of those had the body size of this buck. Anyway, it was a great hunt and experience, resulting in lots of meat for the freezer. I will try to post a couple pictures.

good shooting! Thats a morning you will remember for a long time!

I know the bucks body may not look that big in the pictures. To give a little perspective, I am 6' 5" and weigh around 285 lbs ( No elk hunt this year so living a little larger than average …. : > ) )

Thanks Buckeye, I appreciate it! Not the worlds toughest shots but I have managed to miss a couple "slam dunks" in years past due to mental lapses.

Congrats Dan! That's a great morning to remember!

Thanks Justin! It sure was.

Wow, what a hunt. With your size and the angle of the picture not lending itself to scale. It sure looks like a big deer to me.

Cool story. Grats.

taking a deer with a recurve is on my bucket list. i wish i had the time to become proficient enough to have the confidence . congrats again !

Nicely done bohuntr...great story! Congrats on the double. Kevin

Great buck, story and pics, thanks for sharing them and congrats! That is a big bodied deer for sure!

Wow! What an awesome hunt!! Congrats!!!

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations and kind words. Hope that everyone is having a fun and successful fall!

Awesome morning, Congrats! Definitely a hunt to remember!

Boy, that’s really cool! Thanks for sharing

Top Notch! Great morning. Nice shooting sir.

Congrats! Neat story.

Congrats thanks for sharing your story.

That was a morning worth the time. Looks like a big ass buck to me too. Congrats on your success !

Well done.

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