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I'm driving home from work when my son calls me and wants to know if I would be interested in going to my brother-in-laws farm for a couple of days to hunt deer during Iowa's late muzzleloader season. It had been a long week at work (I'm usually gone for 4 or 5 days at a time and only home for 3). I wasn't too sure about it because I wanted to spend time with my younger kids and wife. I talked to my loving wife and she said "GO, the season is almost over and the public ground you want to hunt has been pushed too hard already!". WHAT A WOMEN! So I decide to go.
It was a very short night. I got home at 1 am, then get up at 6 am to start packing. We arrived at the cabin at 1 pm, unpacked, and hit the timber and corn fields around 2 pm. As we were walking in, I told my boys, "I'm shooting the first deer I see". My younger son says "DAD, what if it has spots!". I told him, "Doesn't matter, I don't have enough time to be choosey and if it has spots, that just gives me a nice dot to aim at".
My older son did a great job of picking our spot. He set us up on a terrace with woods to our back and a nice cut corn field out in front of us. He brushed us in with some cedar branches from a nearby tree, we also had a big white blanket to sit on and pull up over our legs.
My older son would be filming the hunt with a borrowed HD video camera while my younger son would be the backup shooter after I had my shot. We sat for maybe an hour when the first few deer started to show themselves straight out in front of us around 280 yards out in the timber behind our corn field. They slowly made their way to our right, staying on the edge of the trees. We thought that maybe we sat in the wrong spot and the deer wouldn't hit the field until they were too far to the right and out of sight. Maybe 10 to 15 mins later, another group of deer show up and follow the path of the first group. We could still see all the deer in the timber, when all of a sudden, we had at least 20 deer come running out of the woods straight at us! It was very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. We weren't sure where they were gonna stop! We had deer to our left, we had deer to our right, we had deer all over the place! Finally, they all settled down and I had a small 9 pt buck walk within 90 yds slightly off to my right. It was the closest deer to us, my son swings the camera on him and whispers "shoooot". I level the crosshairs on him and squeeze the trigger. He bolted off to our right and we lost sight of him after some 40 yds (he fell over dead just out of site). I felt good about the shot and half of the deer in the field stayed where they were, so we decided to let my younger son try to fill his doe tag.
My little 9, double-lung 90 yd broadside shot with a good 40 yd blood trail, 50 cal. Apex, Nikon Omega BDC scope, 110 grs BH209, CCI209M primer, 290 gr Barnes TMZ bullet
We still had 45 mins of light remaining and the deer were settling down and were starting to work their way towards us again. We had some big does in the corn but they were out of my younger son's 100 yd range limit. I couldn't believe the amount of deer we were seeing that evening. As we were waiting for the does to come closer, more deer were pouring out of the timber. With ten mins of light remaining, my son, the cameraman, says "Here comes five more does with a big buck trailing them!". He had a buck tag, so we scramble to get him set up with a gun and the shooting sticks. There's no time for me to work the camera because the buck is walking straight towards us and then stops some distance out. My son frantically gets the gun set up and swings the camera on the buck hoping he's got it close. I range the buck at 130 yds out. The buck is staring straight at us now and is starting to look nervous, i'm sure its not from the commotion we made moving everything around, ya right! From my view point, its going to be a straight on chest shot but its now or never! The gun goes off and the buck's hind end instantly drops straight down followed by his front end! Its a perfect BANG FLOP! This was my son's biggest buck to date and to say he was excited is an understatement.
After the High-5s and congratulations, we go to check out our trophies. When we walked up to the 8 pt my son shot, we admired his rack and looked for the entrance wound. We couldn't find it. No entrance, no exit, no blood. I told my son "That must be one OLD deer, he had a heart attack and died right when you shot at him!" After we loaded the deer into the truck, we did find the entrance hole, it was a high shoulder shot that went through the top of the scapula, took out one lung, and hit the bucks spine.
My son's 8, 130 yd very slightly quartering shoulder/spine shot, 50 cal. Triumph, Nikon Omega BDC scope, 110 grs BH209, CCI209M primer, 290 gr Barnes TMZ bullet.
My nephews had some trail cam photos of this deer and had him as one of their target bucks that they wanted to take off of the farm. They estimate he was a 4.5 yr old and called him the 'Sweeping 8'.
Group photo of the hunters that day, two more nice bucks were taken that week after we left. We had a great time. I've never seen so many deer in a field at one time while hunting. I can't wait to see the video footage after my nephews edit it and put it on DVD.
It was a very short night. I got home at 1 am, then get up at 6 am to start packing. We arrived at the cabin at 1 pm, unpacked, and hit the timber and corn fields around 2 pm. As we were walking in, I told my boys, "I'm shooting the first deer I see". My younger son says "DAD, what if it has spots!". I told him, "Doesn't matter, I don't have enough time to be choosey and if it has spots, that just gives me a nice dot to aim at".
My older son did a great job of picking our spot. He set us up on a terrace with woods to our back and a nice cut corn field out in front of us. He brushed us in with some cedar branches from a nearby tree, we also had a big white blanket to sit on and pull up over our legs.
My older son would be filming the hunt with a borrowed HD video camera while my younger son would be the backup shooter after I had my shot. We sat for maybe an hour when the first few deer started to show themselves straight out in front of us around 280 yards out in the timber behind our corn field. They slowly made their way to our right, staying on the edge of the trees. We thought that maybe we sat in the wrong spot and the deer wouldn't hit the field until they were too far to the right and out of sight. Maybe 10 to 15 mins later, another group of deer show up and follow the path of the first group. We could still see all the deer in the timber, when all of a sudden, we had at least 20 deer come running out of the woods straight at us! It was very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. We weren't sure where they were gonna stop! We had deer to our left, we had deer to our right, we had deer all over the place! Finally, they all settled down and I had a small 9 pt buck walk within 90 yds slightly off to my right. It was the closest deer to us, my son swings the camera on him and whispers "shoooot". I level the crosshairs on him and squeeze the trigger. He bolted off to our right and we lost sight of him after some 40 yds (he fell over dead just out of site). I felt good about the shot and half of the deer in the field stayed where they were, so we decided to let my younger son try to fill his doe tag.
My little 9, double-lung 90 yd broadside shot with a good 40 yd blood trail, 50 cal. Apex, Nikon Omega BDC scope, 110 grs BH209, CCI209M primer, 290 gr Barnes TMZ bullet
We still had 45 mins of light remaining and the deer were settling down and were starting to work their way towards us again. We had some big does in the corn but they were out of my younger son's 100 yd range limit. I couldn't believe the amount of deer we were seeing that evening. As we were waiting for the does to come closer, more deer were pouring out of the timber. With ten mins of light remaining, my son, the cameraman, says "Here comes five more does with a big buck trailing them!". He had a buck tag, so we scramble to get him set up with a gun and the shooting sticks. There's no time for me to work the camera because the buck is walking straight towards us and then stops some distance out. My son frantically gets the gun set up and swings the camera on the buck hoping he's got it close. I range the buck at 130 yds out. The buck is staring straight at us now and is starting to look nervous, i'm sure its not from the commotion we made moving everything around, ya right! From my view point, its going to be a straight on chest shot but its now or never! The gun goes off and the buck's hind end instantly drops straight down followed by his front end! Its a perfect BANG FLOP! This was my son's biggest buck to date and to say he was excited is an understatement.
After the High-5s and congratulations, we go to check out our trophies. When we walked up to the 8 pt my son shot, we admired his rack and looked for the entrance wound. We couldn't find it. No entrance, no exit, no blood. I told my son "That must be one OLD deer, he had a heart attack and died right when you shot at him!" After we loaded the deer into the truck, we did find the entrance hole, it was a high shoulder shot that went through the top of the scapula, took out one lung, and hit the bucks spine.
My son's 8, 130 yd very slightly quartering shoulder/spine shot, 50 cal. Triumph, Nikon Omega BDC scope, 110 grs BH209, CCI209M primer, 290 gr Barnes TMZ bullet.
My nephews had some trail cam photos of this deer and had him as one of their target bucks that they wanted to take off of the farm. They estimate he was a 4.5 yr old and called him the 'Sweeping 8'.
Group photo of the hunters that day, two more nice bucks were taken that week after we left. We had a great time. I've never seen so many deer in a field at one time while hunting. I can't wait to see the video footage after my nephews edit it and put it on DVD.
artyman:
