TerynItUp
Active Member
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- 631
I got a text from my Dad first thing on Tuesday that he had just shot a buck and was going to wait a half hour and go find him. About 32 minutes later, he sent a picture of his buck that hadn’t ran 40 yards. He shot a hell of a lot of arrows this summer and at 68 years old, I’m extremely proud of him.
As he was field dressing his buck, he called me to tell me that he saw 4 more bucks come out and one was a real nice one that he thought would go 170” or so. I was happy about that because I had the same tag and was going to be heading up on Friday after work for a short three days of hunting. With 4 other tags this Fall and welcoming our 4th baby in March, my time is limited so I’d have to make it count.
Friday evening found me sitting in an area with a good vantage point watching where my pops saw those bucks. I waited until just before dark and decided to go make a little hike down to the river bottom. As I was slowly moving through the cottonwoods, I saw a deer in front of me and pulled up my binos to see a great framed buck staring at me 50 yards away. It was very low light so all I could see was he was a good one and I decided I would go home with him or with nothing at all.
Saturday morning found me waiting for it to get light enough to see before moving down into the river bottom where I saw him the night before. I wanted to make sure I could see so I could move slow and hopefully find him before he found me. We only turned up a couple of does and small forked horn and after hearing how loud moving through the river bottom was I decided that a blind or tree stand was my best bet. We set up both within 40 yards of each other with the idea that my Dad would sit in the tree with a good vantage and signal to me in the blind with what he was seeing. I have an extremely hard time sitting for a long period of time without a big view to pick apart so I decided to switch it up and sit in the stand with my Dad in the blind to watch.
That evening I had a small forked horn and a couple of does come right under me and I was optimistic that we picked a good spot for the stand. This morning I made my way in the dark and was in the tree about half hour before shooting light. The morning started slow but I saw a couple of does moving up the river bank a couple hundred yards away from me from time to time. Around 7:30 I saw that same forked horn cross the river towards me and made his way to the South of me passing by around 55 yards and moving away. He hit an opening and was looking intently up a small hill in front of him and I could tell he saw something. I caught movement and pulled up my binos to see that buck from the first evening making his way towards me with a doe in front of him. The doe came to me on a string and fed under me for about 5-10 minutes and wandered on past. I had lost the buck in the olive’s but knew he was nearby somewhere. With the die and him out of view I stood up in the stand to get in a better position and no sooner did that forked horn reappear and start his way down the trail to me. About 30 seconds later the big buck was headed my way, too, and I could tell he was going to come well within range of my setup. When he was at 20 yards or so I drew back and found my anchor and leaned into the tree behind me for stability. I settled my pin and waited for him to clear some brush he was behind and as soon as he did I watched my arrow slip through perfectly.
The buck mule kicked, ran 10 yards and paused, then ran right at my pops who was filming everything from the blind. He went another 40 yards past my Dad and piled up 50 yards from where I stood, all in clear view for me to watch. He’s my best archery buck to date and dang close to my best muley regardless of weapon. I’m dang pleased with him.
Thought this paused shot from the video was pretty rad with the blood coming out of the exit. If I can figure out how to post video I will add the clip.
As he was field dressing his buck, he called me to tell me that he saw 4 more bucks come out and one was a real nice one that he thought would go 170” or so. I was happy about that because I had the same tag and was going to be heading up on Friday after work for a short three days of hunting. With 4 other tags this Fall and welcoming our 4th baby in March, my time is limited so I’d have to make it count.
Friday evening found me sitting in an area with a good vantage point watching where my pops saw those bucks. I waited until just before dark and decided to go make a little hike down to the river bottom. As I was slowly moving through the cottonwoods, I saw a deer in front of me and pulled up my binos to see a great framed buck staring at me 50 yards away. It was very low light so all I could see was he was a good one and I decided I would go home with him or with nothing at all.
Saturday morning found me waiting for it to get light enough to see before moving down into the river bottom where I saw him the night before. I wanted to make sure I could see so I could move slow and hopefully find him before he found me. We only turned up a couple of does and small forked horn and after hearing how loud moving through the river bottom was I decided that a blind or tree stand was my best bet. We set up both within 40 yards of each other with the idea that my Dad would sit in the tree with a good vantage and signal to me in the blind with what he was seeing. I have an extremely hard time sitting for a long period of time without a big view to pick apart so I decided to switch it up and sit in the stand with my Dad in the blind to watch.
That evening I had a small forked horn and a couple of does come right under me and I was optimistic that we picked a good spot for the stand. This morning I made my way in the dark and was in the tree about half hour before shooting light. The morning started slow but I saw a couple of does moving up the river bank a couple hundred yards away from me from time to time. Around 7:30 I saw that same forked horn cross the river towards me and made his way to the South of me passing by around 55 yards and moving away. He hit an opening and was looking intently up a small hill in front of him and I could tell he saw something. I caught movement and pulled up my binos to see that buck from the first evening making his way towards me with a doe in front of him. The doe came to me on a string and fed under me for about 5-10 minutes and wandered on past. I had lost the buck in the olive’s but knew he was nearby somewhere. With the die and him out of view I stood up in the stand to get in a better position and no sooner did that forked horn reappear and start his way down the trail to me. About 30 seconds later the big buck was headed my way, too, and I could tell he was going to come well within range of my setup. When he was at 20 yards or so I drew back and found my anchor and leaned into the tree behind me for stability. I settled my pin and waited for him to clear some brush he was behind and as soon as he did I watched my arrow slip through perfectly.
The buck mule kicked, ran 10 yards and paused, then ran right at my pops who was filming everything from the blind. He went another 40 yards past my Dad and piled up 50 yards from where I stood, all in clear view for me to watch. He’s my best archery buck to date and dang close to my best muley regardless of weapon. I’m dang pleased with him.
Thought this paused shot from the video was pretty rad with the blood coming out of the exit. If I can figure out how to post video I will add the clip.
