Shot this buck Nov 17 with about 5 min of light left. He's not the buck I was hoping for as there were 2 real good bucks that I've seen but they just haven't presented a shot.
On the weekend I took a walk around the property and spotted a new scrape line. Amazingly, there was a straight tree of appropriate size (pretty rare around here) 25yds from the one of the scrapes. I set up a stand, did some minor pruning and left the area. I figured I would come back on Monday.
I got into the tree Monday PM and settle in, hoping for the best. Lots of activity in the area. About an hour before sunset a doe appears in the field with a buck chasing her. I look in the other direction and there's another buck chasing a doe. A bit later the same thing happens in the sparse bush behind me. The last one was one of my targeted bucks. I grunted a couple times but he did not respond.
Nothing for the next 30 minutes. Then, my favorite doe comes down the trail with her twins. She's easy to ID as she's missing half an ear. She had twins last year and a single the year before. She's a great mom and always gets a pass.
Fifteen minutes before the end of the day, the buck in the picture enters the field, following a doe. He's not chasing her, just following. He's not the deer that I wanted but I figured I would try to call him for fun.
I grunt. He stops. I grunt. He turns and looks. He stands still for a half minute, then continues on his way. I grunt again. Now he's coming in. He circles the area looking for the other deer. He stops at a nearby scrape and checks it out. Now he's coming down the trail towards the scrape that I set up on.
I had no intention of shooting this buck as I had my sights set on the bigger guys in the area. But as the buck approached the scrape I started to think about the entire situation and had second thoughts.
- I've shot quite a few bucks with my bow, so I really don't have anything to prove.
- I had set up the stand in a new location and it was working perfectly.
- The buck was coming in to the call, which I love.
- It was a beautiful day with lots of deer moving around.
- I thought to myself, "This is perfect". It was kind of a dream day.
- Although he wasn't great, IMO he was still respectable.
- And, I like garlic sausage.
My mind was made up. I would take this deer if I got the chance. The buck came to the scrape and started to sniff it. With his head down, I drew my bow and held. The buck shifted slightly as he stretched upwards to sniff a branch, completely exposing his vitals. I squeezed the trigger and made what looked to be a perfect shot. The buck bolted about 40yds, stopped, staggered and fell to the ground.
Did I 'settle' for this buck? Given what I was hoping for and what was in the area, you could argue that I did. Had I waited and continued to hunt during the rut, the possibility was there. But I'll tell you this. After the deer was loaded in the truck and I was sitting on the tailgate, drinking from my canteen and looking up at the stars, all that I could think was this was one of the finest days that I have ever spent bowhunting.
In my mind I didn't settle. It's all in how you look at it.
Sorry about the garage photo. My phone is ancient and the camera doesn't work.