cwilks15

Well I had posted yesterday about my morning hunt Subject reading " Almost Busted" . The morning excitement carried itself into the evening hunt. I got in my stand around 2 pm and got settled in just having a feeling something was going to happen. It was that dreary type of weather, a light fog rolling through the woods around 42 degrees with a south southwest wind, perfect for this stand location. I had put out two scent wicks (wifes tampons) with tinks 69 on them one at 12 yards and one at 17. Around 3:45 a doe came in from the north west and 5 minutes later a three point came in too at this point hearing him come in I thought it could be the buck I had in that morning so I was up and ready with my bow without getting picked off by the doe. At around 4:15 another doe came in from the south west. The three point started grunting at her and she was very jumpy. As the three pointer went towards her I heard one of those gutteral grunts coming from the west and then I saw him coming. A deffinate shooter by the looks of his spread and mass. He grunted quite a few times on his way in and the little doe took off heading north and the buck circled to where she headed not giving me a good look at him. Well he mosied his way into my opening behind some balsams thankfully not following the doe when I drew. I held my pin an opening where he needed to take one more step for me to get a broadside shot. I was probably at full draw for 20 or 30 seconds when he finally took the step. I settled my pin in and triggerd the release and watched the arrow glance off a balsam limb and pass through his guts. I couldn' t believe it!!!! Below my breath I was saying @#@$%@@@%@@&$%^$. I knew it was trouble for me. I waited a while then got down as quietly as I could, walked to my arrow checking it out and noting it was covered in gut mud with a little blood on the feathers. I left as quiet as I could and headed home. I called for a babysitter (my mother-in-law) and some help for today knowing I had to let him lay all night. I had a tough time sleeping getting only a few hours because 8:00am could not come quick enough. My mother and father-in-law came and I called my buddy and said lets go. We met up around 9:00 and headed to my stand. We could not find anything but tracks so we picked trails and started looking. Not one bit of sign and some pretty thick stuff to look in. Two days ago the ground was covered in snow, I was wishing I had that then. Well after about 25 minutes my buddy yelled " I' ve got blood" so we headed over there. I got there and was looking but could not see any so I asked where is it. He then grabbed one arm and my other buddy grabbed the other and spun me in the direction where the buck was laying. We walked up to find he was still alive but not going anywhere so my buddy stuck him in the lung with his knive. It was over shortly after that. Ted, my buddy is a taxidermist so when we walked up he said you better mount this but if you don' t I want the cape. He was a short deer but had a thick neck and a nice 7 point rack with a 15 1/2 inch spread 142# dressed. It is the biggest deer I have taken yet rack wise.

I am so glad I decided to come back today instead of pushing him. He was only 150 yards or so from my stand. My buddies kept telling me it was a good call to wait until this morning to go after him. I also learned something in the process, take a little more time and make sure of what is in front of you. I could not see the branch there just the opening and the bucks sweet spot. I mentally practice on most deer that come in so I can be prepared for the moment, guess I need a little more mental practice and patients for when the moment arrives.

Now I just need to decide whether or not to mount him. I always said the deer needed a 16" spread or more for me to do it. He is close but lacking in tine length. I will post a pic when I figure out how to shrink the photos, help would be appreciated.

still waitin

if you can afford to, go for it ....... any deer can make a nice mount for your den ...

Five Minute Willie

they' re all trophies (mounted or not)...you' ll always have a good story to tell. way to go!

GR8atta2d

mount him, your only looking at $250-$350 for a good shoulder mount and you only get one chance. The regrets for not doing it last a lifetime.

cwilks15

Can anyone help me post a pic? I cant get it small enough to do so.

Greg / MO

First, save your pictures to your hard drive in a personal folder like My Documents or something like that. Then go set up an account at www.imagestation.com. Just follow the directions, and when it asks you to upload your photos, it gives you an option to " browse" and go to your folder where you' ve already saved your pics.

After your photos are uploaded, just click on one (after opening it to full-size, not as a thumbnail version), save the properties, and then come back to your thread and type . When you hit preview, the pic should be there.

I did this just yesterday in posting pics of my buck on " Got a fairly nice one w/ thanks to my wife." If you want to see how the image hosting came out, I think the thread is on page 2 now.

Hope that helps.

(Typed " past" instead of " paste" . Not sure if that would have made sense!

badshotbob

Nice job CW on the waiting part. Glad you found him. Congrats! Get him mounted.

Huntm Up

a mount should not be only becuase it is a big buck the mount should remind you of the hunt, if it was a magical hunt than go for if not than just put the deer in your memories

jerry606

congrats on the buck...go for it, get him mounted