Illinois Hunters Sighting /Hunting Journal
12-17-2003, 11:38 PM
#51
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rantoul IL USA
Posts: 193
RE: Illinois Hunters Sighting /Hunting Journal
Harvested my last deer for the year Friday.
Got up Friday and looked at the temp for East Central IL and it was in the teens, wind chill in the single digits. Bundled up and headed out... beautiful day, wind from the northwest. Popped off a fouling shot for my muzzleloader before arriving at my hunting site, a farm west of Paxton, IL.
I was in the stand a little before 6 am and was it cold!! Sat for the next 5 hours… didn’t see a thing except a coyote way off in the distance. Decided after getting the shakes I needed to move around some. Still hunted to another stand location that I wanted to pull out, took it down and put where I could get to it by truck. I then decided to head back toward my truck and hunt the corner of a cornfield.
As I was crossing a field bridge towards my truck and that corner I looked both directions… saw nothing on the big ditch banks towards the northwest, looked southeast just as one of the old boards kicked up and landed with a clump. Two deer stopped as they were slipping into the cornfield at the far end of the field, northeastern end, I am on the northwestern end. I freeze on this old bridge and wait them out… they finally slip into the field out of sight.
I negotiate the rest of the bridge, it is old and you have to be careful where you step, I drop all my gear and head to the corner with my ML, shooting stick, and binocs. I see some deer at the far northern end of the corn field, the edge of the field parallels a very large ditch/large creek/small river, we drive the top and between that and the field is a lot of scrub trees. They are working towards me, I see a nice buck in the group and get set to fire when he gets closer. They disappear into the scrub trees, they don’t come back out. I move 15 yards north onto the top of the ditch bank, they are now working the northern edge of the scrub trees on the ditch bank, can’t see the big buck. I know that I will get busted before long because the wind is still from the northwest and the field edge is inline with the wind. The deer disappear through the scrub into the field again, I move cautiously back to the field edge, still can’t see the buck, but I know when I am busted I need to be ready if he breaks into the field.
I am set and committed to stay at the field edge. Then it happens… I am winded and deer break everywhere, I didn’t realize there was that many!! There was a small buck with them also, not the one I want! There he is! I see a big bodied deer with tines, I track, he pauses, I line up just over his back, and fire… smoke billows out front and is slow to clear because it is moving toward the deer!! Finally it dissipates and he is down!!! I see his head drop for the last time. It was so quick!! The group stops and looks back at their fallen fellow and break again when I get up. I am puzzled at how many deer there were and the smaller buck, no big deal I got the big guy! I step it off, I estimated about 180 yards, it was 150 or so steps. When I arrive, I realize… I shot the wrong buck this isn’t big boy!! It’s his kid brother! There was more than one big bodied buck in there!! I am sick and humbled, he got me! He broke away from the group and gave me the slip.
I hit kid brother high, got both lungs, entered just below the spine on the near side and exited a couple inches lower on the opposite, he didn’t move, anchored him to that spot. He was an 8-point, big body and will be great table fare for the family. Respects to older brother for giving me the slip. It was exciting and I don’t think I would change the outcome even now.
Last tag, last dance for the year!
Robbie
Got up Friday and looked at the temp for East Central IL and it was in the teens, wind chill in the single digits. Bundled up and headed out... beautiful day, wind from the northwest. Popped off a fouling shot for my muzzleloader before arriving at my hunting site, a farm west of Paxton, IL.
I was in the stand a little before 6 am and was it cold!! Sat for the next 5 hours… didn’t see a thing except a coyote way off in the distance. Decided after getting the shakes I needed to move around some. Still hunted to another stand location that I wanted to pull out, took it down and put where I could get to it by truck. I then decided to head back toward my truck and hunt the corner of a cornfield.
As I was crossing a field bridge towards my truck and that corner I looked both directions… saw nothing on the big ditch banks towards the northwest, looked southeast just as one of the old boards kicked up and landed with a clump. Two deer stopped as they were slipping into the cornfield at the far end of the field, northeastern end, I am on the northwestern end. I freeze on this old bridge and wait them out… they finally slip into the field out of sight.
I negotiate the rest of the bridge, it is old and you have to be careful where you step, I drop all my gear and head to the corner with my ML, shooting stick, and binocs. I see some deer at the far northern end of the corn field, the edge of the field parallels a very large ditch/large creek/small river, we drive the top and between that and the field is a lot of scrub trees. They are working towards me, I see a nice buck in the group and get set to fire when he gets closer. They disappear into the scrub trees, they don’t come back out. I move 15 yards north onto the top of the ditch bank, they are now working the northern edge of the scrub trees on the ditch bank, can’t see the big buck. I know that I will get busted before long because the wind is still from the northwest and the field edge is inline with the wind. The deer disappear through the scrub into the field again, I move cautiously back to the field edge, still can’t see the buck, but I know when I am busted I need to be ready if he breaks into the field.
I am set and committed to stay at the field edge. Then it happens… I am winded and deer break everywhere, I didn’t realize there was that many!! There was a small buck with them also, not the one I want! There he is! I see a big bodied deer with tines, I track, he pauses, I line up just over his back, and fire… smoke billows out front and is slow to clear because it is moving toward the deer!! Finally it dissipates and he is down!!! I see his head drop for the last time. It was so quick!! The group stops and looks back at their fallen fellow and break again when I get up. I am puzzled at how many deer there were and the smaller buck, no big deal I got the big guy! I step it off, I estimated about 180 yards, it was 150 or so steps. When I arrive, I realize… I shot the wrong buck this isn’t big boy!! It’s his kid brother! There was more than one big bodied buck in there!! I am sick and humbled, he got me! He broke away from the group and gave me the slip.
I hit kid brother high, got both lungs, entered just below the spine on the near side and exited a couple inches lower on the opposite, he didn’t move, anchored him to that spot. He was an 8-point, big body and will be great table fare for the family. Respects to older brother for giving me the slip. It was exciting and I don’t think I would change the outcome even now.
Last tag, last dance for the year!
Robbie
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