A few of my bow kills, public and private.

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wiscbowhntr
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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby wiscbowhntr » Fri May 09, 2014 7:25 am

Cool looking deer


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A few bow kills, public and private. (updated new story 5-9)

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 11:46 am

Here is another story, more to come...

Slowly scanning the timber before me, my eyes became fixated on the large yellow-colored spot worn raw on the stout pine tree ahead; there was no missing the giant rub nestled just above the heart of this tight bottleneck. I could certainly tell this was the handiwork of a big, mature public-land buck. I followed the faint deer trail with the large tracks past the rub and away from the double bottleneck through a tangle of greenbriar searching the high point overlooking the hollow. It was covered in buck sign: big tracks and rubs were everywhere. There was no mistaking that this was a perfect bedding site for a mature buck, offering an excellent vantage point, consistent winds and multiple fingers as escape routes.

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I went back the following year to look for sheds up there to no avail and snapped a photo of the rub to add with my buck photos of his.

Ten months later found me hunting that very location for the first time on a rainy Halloween day. An all day sit in the rain had been slow, no whitetail sightings. Although, these days do not get me down, when I am hunting a bed I don't care to see anything other than my target animal. Then... Just before dusk, movement caught my eye as a blocky body moved through the greenbrier above toward the bottleneck leading from the high point bedding site. I could plainly see tall tines coming directly at me; the buck closed the distance to his scrape located in the very center of the funnel and proceeded to destroy it. As I hoped the buck decided to not keep coming directly toward me but decided to take the saddle leading him SouthEast to the other hill side and broadside to me. Seconds later a well-placed arrow ended a very successful public-land hunt.

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I had many hours studying the topo maps of this location before I ever set foot on it and this tight little bedding and double funnel location did not show on the map due to this being reclaimed strip mines. The topo below shows that map hid this gem from me. Had Google Terrain been in existence back then (2006) this setup would have been glaringly obvious. The highwall drop off strip pits both flow along and about 20 yards of earth was left there, I assume for the equipment to get in and out. Also what I called a saddle above is another 25 or so yard wide swath of earth left that connected the two hill sides. It came together at this location like a 3 spoke hub.

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 1:13 pm

2011 Public Land Buck

Friday, October 21st 2011 was just one of those magical feeling days of Autumn. We were at the tail end of a cold front with overcast skies and moderate winds from the SW. I knew the weather could not have been any more perfectly suited for big buck movement. My experiences over the years have taught me that the third week of October in my area to setup on traditional scrape areas and acorns that lie near preferred bedding areas. I had just the place in mind with a good bed I found the past winter, this would be my first setup on this bed. This bed was just above a hill side with a handful of big oak trees and scrapes. The buck would have to travel SouthEast from his bed to drop down to the oaks and scrapes.

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My hunt did not exactly start as planned though as I was busted by a doe and fawn as I was pulling my bow up to my Assault. The wind was blowing hard enough to mask their sound, I never heard them until it was to late. As bad as it is to get busted by any deer... I knew it was a good sign that deer were on their feet three hours before dark.

There is no point in showing the Topo as it's is all blacked out like the Topo in the post above due to being reclaimed strip mines.

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Hardly an hour had passed and I could see a deer briskly moving my direction. A brief flash of antlers through the foliage confirmed it was a buck. I grabbed my bow and readied for a shot in case it was a good buck, and a good buck he was. I could see mass and lot's of it. At this point I was very thankful for the compact 30" axle to axle length of my bow, as the buck stopped just two yards from the base of my tree. I drew back, quickly settled in and off I sent the arrow toward him. I could see the impact and hear the loud crack of the arrow meeting it's target, the buck whirled around and ran back the same way he came. I was 100% confident in my shot placement, although I could see I did not get a complete passthrough. I could tell the broadhead punched an exit hole from the blood trail though.

I lowered my bow to the ground, then took down and packed up my Assault and sticks to help pass time before I went onto the blood trail. Off I went and it was easy to follow... Blood everywhere, I also found the back half of my arrow on the trail. Then I could see him across the ravine. I abandoned the rest of the blood trail and made a bee line to the buck. Once there I made a discovery, the other half of my arrow! The slightly quartering to shot took out both lungs. The arrow entered a few inches below the spine and exited the sternum.

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This photo was back in the truck in my dragging clothes.
Last edited by buckeye on Sat May 10, 2014 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby purebowhunting » Sat May 10, 2014 1:26 pm

Great hunts buckeye, keep'em coming!

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Sat May 10, 2014 1:42 pm

Outstanding buckeye!

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 3:12 pm

The evening hunt of October 17th 2009 held perfect weather to get them up before dark. A big cold front was moving in, once setup in my stand it was 37 degrees with a solid NE wind that was blowing into the low double digits. Perfect weather for a big buck to show before dark..

I was setup on an inside breakline, where mature trees met a clear cut regrowth. I knew this buck was bedding in the regrowth area but did not know where. With the weather pattern and it being prerut I wanted to get between where I felt he could emerge from the area he bed and the predominate food sources; white oaks and an uncut corn field.

As it seems to be a rule on big buck nights, everything was slow... Except I noticed that the squirrel "rut" was in the heavy chase phase as those little guys were running something fierce! The squirrels kept me entertained until I noticed a buck coming directly at me. One that I knew well from summer scouting. I recognized him right away from the palmation on the end of his left main beam. He was the biggest buck I located that season on the different places I hunt.

I was setup about 15 yards off the breakline and the buck stepped out from behind some brush around 20 yards away enroute to what appeared to be the oak trees. I drew back settled in and waited for him to make his way into an area I could get a shot off in. I was at full draw about 30 seconds when he stepped into a very narrow shooting lane at 6 yards and I let the arrow fly. There was no blood trail to follow as he dropped in his tracks and expired seconds later.

2009 was a great year. In June my first born son and October my second highest scoring buck.

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 3:22 pm

Pennsylvania Public Land

November 6th 2008, found me sitting in a familiar lock on locally after arriving back home the night before from our camp. The action down south at camp was pretty slow. I was seeing a lot of other hunters and some bucks but nothing impressive so I decided to come home for a couple days to check the action up here. That morning I saw a couple young bucks cruising. then a text with a buddy yielded a change of scenery for the afternoon. We decided to go check out a public land spot in PA we have hunted in the past.

Around 4pm I saw a good PA public land buck coming my direction from a thick creek bottom covered in green brier. He stopped and hit 3 scrapes as he closed the distance. As he was thrashing the licking branch on the last scrape (the one closest to me) I tipped the can call over twice. He stopped and scanned the area looking for his "doe" with no visual confirmation he went back to tending the scrape for a moment. He then walked parallel to me for 10 yards again scanning the timber from the new vantage point. He turned around went back to the scrape and thrashed the licking branch again then turned and came right in on me. A 15 yard shot yielded a 50 yard blood trail with him going down in sight.

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 3:30 pm

The season up to this point had it's ups and downs. I had a lot of deer in range and more borderline bucks than any year I can recall. I was on solid bucks all season, quite a few I almost tried to kill... but I just could not get on one I couldn't say no to. My rule is if I have to think about if the buck is a shooter or not to pass. Was the rough season from the huge EHD hit we had two years ago in my areas leaving few older bucks? Was I just in the wrong areas? Poor tactics? Those questions I cannot answer. Although, I do know getting on a big buck was no easy task.

Friday, November 15th 2014 was another great day in Ohio. The non stop high winds of November finally subsided a bit. It was a welcome change to have a comfortable day on stand.

I was setup in a clear cut regrowth area. My stand was situated where I felt I had a good chance of intercepting any bucks cruising this property looking for does. My buddy Franks has hunted this property for probably 18 years and a big buck had never been taken off of this land. I was hoping to put an end to that streak. This was only the second time I ever hunted this property, the last time was probably like 2005.

A few minutes before 3PM I simultaneously caught noise and movement off to my right hand side and I caught a flash of antlers. The buck was around 75 yards North of me traveling from East to West. It was to thick to tell if this was a buck that I wanted to use my tag on and I did not have enough time to figure it out because he was moving past and away from me quickly. I pulled out my grunt call and sent a call his way... Although, he didn't hear it. Three more calls each louder than the last and finally he heard it and he made a 90 degree turn coming my way.

He at first wasn't committed to finding the source of the grunt as he quickly started away from me again. So I grunted loudly again one time to get his attention. Again, he turned and took a few steps my direction just to turn and keep headed in his original direction toward an area does frequently bed. So, I sent off another grunt and he turned my way. Again, just to quickly lose interest and keep on to his original destination. We repeated this sequence probably 4 or 5 more times before he committed to the call.

When he was around 40 yards I then knew he was definitely a buck I was interested in. He kept closing the distance and at 22 yards I let my arrow loose on a slightly quartering to deer. Perfect hit right up the back of his leg and few inches below the spine. He whirled and ran the direction he was trying to go the whole time. I found him around 70 yards later. The 125 grain two blade Bloodrunner did some serious damage. Took out both lungs and left major damage to the liver. With his slight quartering angle and the shot being tight enough to the shoulder neither the stomach or guts were compromised by the shot.

In this last photo you can see his left eye was swollen shut. The eye looked fine underneath when my buddy Frank opened it to see. Not sure what caused the damage

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 3:37 pm

Opening weekend buck.

The second day of Ohio's archery season, September 30th was a beautiful day for hunting early season whitetail. A brisk North wind and a high of around 60 degrees.

I was setup in my Lone Wolf Assault and sticks in a cluster of white oak just off of a nice 3 year old amish cut - clear cut bedding area. Early season, bedding areas and oaks have produced very productive hunts for me in the past.

I was setup directly South of the bedding area so the North wind could not have been more perfect, The North wind was pretty chilly, I am glad I had a windstopper lining to my jacket. I first had a doe and a fawn come through around 630, then about ten minutes to seven I could see another deer in the cutout coming my way... I could tell it was a large body but couldn't tell much else through all the foliage. A minute or so later I saw a flash of a wide rack and I thought, game on. He was headed right to me, as he closed in to 20 yards I could then confirm this was a buck I would be proud to put my tag on. He stopped at 5 yards and off I sent a 125 grain 2 blade BloodRunner toward him. A couple phone calls, some work and photos ensued.

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 4:00 pm

October 16th 2003 My first mature buck bow kill. I had been on good bucks a handfull of times the previous few years but for one reason or another I just couldn't get it done.

I didn't see anything until around a 8:15AM when a doe and a fawn walked past my stand. To my surprise this buck came in about five minutes later, around 8:20AM and milled around about 60 yards out from me. It's not that often I see a decent buck this late in the morning in the early season. He then started to work away from me out to about 80 yards and fed under an oak tree for a while.

He then started off walking away from me, but soon after looped around another oak and started heading back in my direction. I wasn't going to shoot at first as I though he was only a half rack when I saw him off in the distance. Around 40 yards away, I could now see the non typ side with the droptine and couldn't pass my chance at my first mature buck. He came all the way back to 21 yards of my stand, offered a perfect broadside shot at 9:22AM and I released. I then sat there collected my thoughts as the fact that I finally did it after my previous missed opportunities then climbed down.

I walked over to my arrow to check it then gathered up all my equipment and carried it all back to the truck. I then called my brother to help track and the long drag out. I waited an hour and a half to get on the trail. He only went about 60 yards.

The small 6 was my Step Dads from PA, photo was snapped on way to the butchers.

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby Zap » Sat May 10, 2014 4:10 pm

Good stuff, brother!

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby buckeye » Sat May 10, 2014 4:21 pm

Although this one scores the most inches I do not consider him my biggest buck. But, based on rack and body, I'd put him as my second best buck.

I wish I had an awesome bedding story to go with this guy but I don't...

Wed Nov 3rd 2004/ 7:08 AM

I was set up just off of an old logging road running next to a swamp when it all started with a small coyote coming in at about 7:00. my attention was all on him... I was wanting to get a shot to remove him from the property. But, he passed through to fast for a shot. Hoping to call him back I reach in my fanny pack and pull out my can call. I tipped it over fast 4 times trying to get the yotes attention, but to no avail. I then sit back down wishing I could have taken him.

A moment later I then saw movement to my left. 50 yards away this buck was chasing a doe right to my stand, coming from the direction of a standing corn field.. He stopped behind the doe into a shooting lane at 29 yards and I let the arrow fly. Double lung passthrough. He ran 50 yards, I watched him fall over in sight. No great tactics in this one, a November sit in a good traffic area between food and beds.

This was before I owned a digital camera so the field photos are terrible.

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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby JoeRE » Sun May 11, 2014 12:46 am

Good deer and good stories! Thanks for posting, I like the descriptions of the setups.
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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby Spysar » Sun May 11, 2014 1:04 am

A great addition to the personal tactics thread. Nice bucks.
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.
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Re: A few of my bow kills, public and private.

Unread postby PK_ » Sun May 11, 2014 1:09 am

Very nice.

Looking forward to keeping up with your future hunts as well.
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