I guess I just shouldn't try to sleep before I go hunting! I had a very rough night of Thanksgiving night and the next day I shot my bow buck (in the bow hunting forum). This story kind of goes down that road again.....
Last night I stayed out at the hunting cabin after a long day of hunting. I saw plenty of deer yesterday, at one point had 6 bucks around me. Thing was they were half rack forkhorns, half rack 3 point, etc. Nothing to get excited about. What I did take note of was where they were at. I had been sitting there in a lawn chair an hour early, but after a coon hound came running through, I figured the gig was up. I took a walk and as I was up on a hill top, I looked back at the lawn chair and saw three bucks heading into the brush. I kicked myself for leaving the chair. After all these years of hunting this place, you would think I would just sit there. I decided to try a stalk, what do I got to lose?
I drop back over the edge of the hill so the deer can't see me, then head south so that I can get into a waterway. Down in the waterway, I can walk until I'm straight east of them and the wind is out of the west. I start to move up over the little saddle that seperates me from them, first bent over, then on my knees, then crawling on my belly across an open soybean field. I'm laying there glassing the brushy draw when I see a string of deer running at me. Three bucks, three does, some of the ones I described earlier, young and all busted up. Of course they all stop and stand there at 50 yards wondering how an orange whale got beached up on this hilltop. They finally leave and I resume my stalk on the original group. Well, as usual, I wasn't as slow and patient as I should have been. This group of 10 deer trots out of the draw and stops at 100 yards. I counted three bucks but I think there was another one. I'm not sure because I quick scanned the racks and I was trying to check out the largest one to see if he was a shooter. I decided to pass. I headed back to the cabin.
Did I mention something about not getting much sleep? I'd say I didn't get any sleep, but I did get a lot of naps. I was up every hour or hour and a half throwing wood into the fireplace all night. I got the heat up to 46F inside, ahhhhhh, toasty! I woke up and checked my man watch and it said 5:53. I laid my head down and the next time I looked it said 6:44 am. Hey, shooting time, gotta go. I was basically dressed (wore my hunting gear all night), just had to pull on my boots, grab the Savage ML10II and head out the door. I really didn't oversleep because I wanted to still hunt to where I was going to sit. This area has a tendancy to load up with deer overnight and I didn't want to bust them out in the dark. Better to do it during the day when you can shoot and miss.
I decided I didn't want to sit in the same place with the lawn chair, so I picked it up and carried it further up the draw. I sat down in it, then realized I was right on a deer trail. I picked it up and moved ten yards further. I sat down again. It didn't feel right. I was low, low, low in this draw and was afraid that if the deer came over the hill, they would be staring right down on me. Plus, I would have no advance warning, deer heads would just appear over the hill. I looked around and saw a mulberry tree that had fallen over and landed on a hackberry. It was at a shallow enough slope that I could walk up it fairly easy. The mulberry branched perfectly, as there was a low fork for my feet, one to sit on, and one ahead of me. I broke off a branch and hung my rifle sling on it.
I watched deer feed across one of the corn fields clear to the north. I heard shooting from that direction, then saw three deer run across that field. I found out later a guy I know had shot one of those deer, but it kept going, not sure if he found it. I see deer movement and hear shooting about a quarter mile south. I quickly lose sight of them, though I hear shots getting closer and closer as if the deer were running down a line of standers. Things quieted down for a couple of minutes until I catch movement to my left. It is doe and she is running along the draw I'm in. Time to reach for the rifle in case there is something following her. Oh boy, second in line is a buck, looks good, closing fast, get the safety off. I'm wearing fingerless gloves with the mitten flaps, struggle slightly to get my trigger finger out as the buck runs by, no need to panic as he's ten yards from the base of my tree. He decides to pull up broadside at 25 yards. I think he either saw me move or lots of times they enter the brushy draw about there. The instant he stopped I didn't hesitate. The scope was on 2X and I easily found his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. He took off on three legs across the bean field. I was thinking go down, go down, go down, and right before he got to the south fence (100 yards) he went down. I got the man watch (cell phone) out and the time was 8:01 am. It was a heart shot, took the top off it about halfway across. I got pics, but I'll spare you the gore this time. He is a broken right brow tine away from being a very symmetrical 12 point.
How cold was it today? It was so cold his tongue froze to the bed of my truck!
If you've hung with me this long, the reason the post is titled trifecta is that I shot a buck early muzzleloader season (posted here in the muzzleloader success forum), shot a buck during bow season (posted in the bow hunting forum) and finished with this buck during shotgun season (though I used my muzzleloader, a legal weapon during Iowa's shotgun season). The load was 40 grains of IMR 4227 (ok, stop the booing and hissing), 250 grain XTP with HPH12 sabot and a Federal 209 primer.
Last night I stayed out at the hunting cabin after a long day of hunting. I saw plenty of deer yesterday, at one point had 6 bucks around me. Thing was they were half rack forkhorns, half rack 3 point, etc. Nothing to get excited about. What I did take note of was where they were at. I had been sitting there in a lawn chair an hour early, but after a coon hound came running through, I figured the gig was up. I took a walk and as I was up on a hill top, I looked back at the lawn chair and saw three bucks heading into the brush. I kicked myself for leaving the chair. After all these years of hunting this place, you would think I would just sit there. I decided to try a stalk, what do I got to lose?
I drop back over the edge of the hill so the deer can't see me, then head south so that I can get into a waterway. Down in the waterway, I can walk until I'm straight east of them and the wind is out of the west. I start to move up over the little saddle that seperates me from them, first bent over, then on my knees, then crawling on my belly across an open soybean field. I'm laying there glassing the brushy draw when I see a string of deer running at me. Three bucks, three does, some of the ones I described earlier, young and all busted up. Of course they all stop and stand there at 50 yards wondering how an orange whale got beached up on this hilltop. They finally leave and I resume my stalk on the original group. Well, as usual, I wasn't as slow and patient as I should have been. This group of 10 deer trots out of the draw and stops at 100 yards. I counted three bucks but I think there was another one. I'm not sure because I quick scanned the racks and I was trying to check out the largest one to see if he was a shooter. I decided to pass. I headed back to the cabin.
Did I mention something about not getting much sleep? I'd say I didn't get any sleep, but I did get a lot of naps. I was up every hour or hour and a half throwing wood into the fireplace all night. I got the heat up to 46F inside, ahhhhhh, toasty! I woke up and checked my man watch and it said 5:53. I laid my head down and the next time I looked it said 6:44 am. Hey, shooting time, gotta go. I was basically dressed (wore my hunting gear all night), just had to pull on my boots, grab the Savage ML10II and head out the door. I really didn't oversleep because I wanted to still hunt to where I was going to sit. This area has a tendancy to load up with deer overnight and I didn't want to bust them out in the dark. Better to do it during the day when you can shoot and miss.
I decided I didn't want to sit in the same place with the lawn chair, so I picked it up and carried it further up the draw. I sat down in it, then realized I was right on a deer trail. I picked it up and moved ten yards further. I sat down again. It didn't feel right. I was low, low, low in this draw and was afraid that if the deer came over the hill, they would be staring right down on me. Plus, I would have no advance warning, deer heads would just appear over the hill. I looked around and saw a mulberry tree that had fallen over and landed on a hackberry. It was at a shallow enough slope that I could walk up it fairly easy. The mulberry branched perfectly, as there was a low fork for my feet, one to sit on, and one ahead of me. I broke off a branch and hung my rifle sling on it.
I watched deer feed across one of the corn fields clear to the north. I heard shooting from that direction, then saw three deer run across that field. I found out later a guy I know had shot one of those deer, but it kept going, not sure if he found it. I see deer movement and hear shooting about a quarter mile south. I quickly lose sight of them, though I hear shots getting closer and closer as if the deer were running down a line of standers. Things quieted down for a couple of minutes until I catch movement to my left. It is doe and she is running along the draw I'm in. Time to reach for the rifle in case there is something following her. Oh boy, second in line is a buck, looks good, closing fast, get the safety off. I'm wearing fingerless gloves with the mitten flaps, struggle slightly to get my trigger finger out as the buck runs by, no need to panic as he's ten yards from the base of my tree. He decides to pull up broadside at 25 yards. I think he either saw me move or lots of times they enter the brushy draw about there. The instant he stopped I didn't hesitate. The scope was on 2X and I easily found his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. He took off on three legs across the bean field. I was thinking go down, go down, go down, and right before he got to the south fence (100 yards) he went down. I got the man watch (cell phone) out and the time was 8:01 am. It was a heart shot, took the top off it about halfway across. I got pics, but I'll spare you the gore this time. He is a broken right brow tine away from being a very symmetrical 12 point.
How cold was it today? It was so cold his tongue froze to the bed of my truck!
If you've hung with me this long, the reason the post is titled trifecta is that I shot a buck early muzzleloader season (posted here in the muzzleloader success forum), shot a buck during bow season (posted in the bow hunting forum) and finished with this buck during shotgun season (though I used my muzzleloader, a legal weapon during Iowa's shotgun season). The load was 40 grains of IMR 4227 (ok, stop the booing and hissing), 250 grain XTP with HPH12 sabot and a Federal 209 primer.
