2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

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krent12
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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby krent12 » Mon Feb 17, 2020 10:00 am

The Coughing Buck. My wife’s first buck. Beast style

After years and years of begging my college buddy to let me come hunt some of his SE MN land he finally let me. Thinking it was going to be just me, but a surprise questions from my wife asked if she could come. Of course! She had just shot her first deer last year.
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We started looking at maps and I was showing her how interpret topo maps. I wanted to find a draw that had a gradual grade going into the top ag fields but had a sharp drop off. It was also due to be a west wind which would set up perfect for a cruising buck with some bedding points near by.
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As we got there in the dark it was what we had hoped. A sharp drop off with a beat down trail in the snow. She and I set up our lone wolf and beast sticks. She faced one way, I faced the other.
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About a half hour into the hunt I heard a deep cough come from Mara’s side. She said it came from in front of her. As soon as I turn around a I saw the wall of tines coming right down the trail we had found in the dark. I told her she gets the first shot but if she misses or it runs off my bullets were going to be coming fast!! She ended up make a great shot on the buck and began shaking like a leaf after. Even tho I did not pull the trigger I felt a sense of accomplishment of going to a spot in the dark I’ve never been to in my life, picking it on the map, trusting what I know and getting it done. I couldn’t have been happier for her first buck to be a GIANT!
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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby muddy » Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:00 am

2019 brought about a tough season. I lost access to a few good spots and had to really scramble to get the kids onto deer. In the end it all worked out as a friend let me take them on his place. After finding a heavily used acorn transition I set up a blind there and a blind in a rotated pasture and the rest was history. It has been a true blessing to have good friends that let me spend time hunting with all 3 of my kids, but since this essay is supposed to be about my kill I'll post their pic collage and move onto the story.

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Like I mentioned I had lost some more access so I was scrambling. My cams were showing nothing as far as mature deer so I did some cyber scouting but didn't have much success finding anything hot. As September blew thru October I was getting nervous. I hadn't seen anything worth a hoot and it was already rut. Oddly enough the "evil Facebook" helped out as a friend of a friend that went to my gym said "Hey, I dont own much land but it butts up against some public. We ALWAYS see deer. I liked how you took your kids outdoors so How bout you come shoot the deer tearing up my trees?"

At this point she had my attention. A quick conversation and 45 minutes later I was following her to their property. Shortly after that I had all the info I needed and planned a hunt the next day. Not knowing the area very well I did scope out 3 likely observation stands and went to, what I felt was, the best one. Since it was already November I went totally mobile as I expected to be moving by mid-morning if I could. By mid morning I was totally floored, there were deer EVERYWHERE and, to be honest, I couldn't move in anywhere because of "this problem".

In the end I opted to use the whole day to observe and take notes. Since the wind was going to be the similar the next day, and I had some time, I opted to observe once again the next day. I was really glad I did because even with the slight change I'm wind direction I noticed the deer moving quite differently. The one big similarity was between the 2 big pine groves... deer always took the same path. Later I found out that there was a heavy walking path just up over the rise from where I ended up sitting. You can see it in the aerial.

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Few deer I got crappy pics of while observing
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Day 3 was a quick morning set in the same place and my plan was to go pick a kill tree as a huge front came thru. By 1000 we had 30+ wind gusts and the deer movement had stopped. We were scheduled to have below zero temps and a blizzard that afternoon/night so I went and found my tree, hung it, and left because it was simply too dangerous to be in a tree. You can see the blue dot on the downwind trail between the pines. The tree was BIG, but that was the kill zone and made it work.

Day 4 brought a November snowstorm and howling winds. I just stayed in bed due to safety concerns. I knew that the next day would be money since the storm would blow itself out that night.

Day 5 was COLD. I remember driving to go hunt and seeing some idiot out jogging. I wasnt sure who was dumber.... the guy jogging or the guy heading out to sit in sub zero temps. Walking in I could see tracks EVERYWHERE. Deer were moving so I got climbed up as quickly as possible. Once setup I remember noticing it was around 5° temp, -10 wind chill, one of the coldest bow hunts I've ever been on. There was very little wind and I was nervous about getting winded, but as it went I didnt see a deer until close to 1000.

It happened so fast I can still barely believe it. You couldn't hear a thing with the fresh 6" of powder, but I heard an extremely muffled snap of a twig behind me. My tree was rooted downhill from the trail, so far that I was actually sitting BELOW the trail as a very wide buck trailed a doe through the Russian olives. I didnt hesitate and in one motion stood, clipped on, rotated around, and drew. It was over in seconds as the big bodied buck tore thru the underbrush and instantly disappeared. The shot looked great and I could see the snow painted red so I simply sat down and soaked it up.

Here's a quick collage of how thick the olives were, the frozen blood trail, and a how he lay at death.
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The buck was simply a big old 8 point. He was the biggest bodied buck I'd seen that year and I was totally pumped with the results of another year of using observation sets to find a kill tree, then move in and execute the plan. You can bet I have this place on my radar for next year. Thanks for reading.

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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Kraftd » Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:34 am

Lots of tough acts to follow here, but I guess since I signed up and killed a buck, I'm in!

This year I knew my season would be a little more sporadic. My wife started grad school in September, so while she's amazing and was in no way going to keep me out of the woods, I knew I'd have more things to keep on top of with kids and the house. I've developed a pretty good handle on a fair amount of both public and private, so was thinking I could be strategic and still find success. Late summer and early fall flooding in southern WI and NE IL, which was then compounded by the late corn picking, left me scratching my head more often than not this year. Some my best understood spots were underwater for more or less the first month of the season, and I didn't have time to scout much...Almost sealed the deal on a nice public doe opening night from the ground, but she got squirrelly at 60 yards and disappeared. Just took it as it came from there on out.

Managed to kill two does in three days in Central WI late October, so the meat was taken care of. I had been checking checking spots that had stayed flooded to see if activity picked up sporadicly with little to show for it. My IL marsh spot had been underwater with little to no sign of activity since our Oct 1 opener into the second week of November. I had plans to head to central IL with a buddy that week to a killer private spot, but he's got a bum shoulder that was acting up on him and then his truck got rear-ended, so decided to head to our place in Central WI for a the afternoon of that Saturday. Does and fawns and a couple of small bucks, but things had a very locked down feel. Hunted deep in our swamp Sunday am, then I scouted my way out and there were a couple of big wolf tracks, but was also very big buck track that I bumped into still hunting at about 40 yards, but no shot and he took off.

Wife needed me home for Monday so packed up around 11:30 on Sunday and headed straight for the IL marsh to check things out and maybe hunt. There was a good track on the close side of the river, along with some doe tracks, but the wind was bad for where I think they were bedded, which is also off the property. Paddled across in the kayak I had stashed in the marsh. There was only one medium sized track over on the other side that was a couple of days old, but the water levels were back down to where the deer usually show up, so I decided to sit.

There is one little thick and nasty bedding area that always seems to get used by a buck for resting during the rut as they cruise the river flat. We have pretty limited trees in this marsh so I needed to get to a trusty old silver maple that has been very good to me during the rut, and is situated about 80 yards from the bedding. Problem was my normal entry which allows me to paddle to within 20 yards of my tree on the opposite side of the bedding area was frozen, so was going to have to work through the marsh somewhat close (40 yards at the closest) to bedding if there were deer there. I stayed as far away from the normal cruising trail as possible, but at one spot had to get within about 15 feet downwind of the trail or make a huge racket breaking marsh ice.

Got climbed in and figured since my wind was right to take my scent out over the river and I made a bit of a noise walking in I'd throw out a couple of doe bleats at the bedding, maybe convince a buck that I was a doe cruising through. This has worked well for me a couple of times, including on a nice three year old last year.

Ten minutes later I catch movement 100 yards south on the tree line and its a shooter. He is making his way straight up the trail but then caught my ground scent at around 65 yards, sniffing everything. He never got on my actual trail, which at that point was about 10 yards past him downwind, and I think that saved me. After a few minutes he calmed down and started grooming himself and browsing on marsh plants, which he did for probably the next 20 minutes. After a bit he moved up to about 40 yards behind a willow facing me, and went back to browsing and grooming. At one point two cranes landed and he yanked his head up and I thought I was done, but he calmed back down. Now he's been within 60 yards for well over a half hour and I'm wondering whats going to go wrong to end this. Will the wind swirl, will he see me, will he get nervous about not seeing the doe, will he just do what big bucks do and use his sixth sense to sneak back to the bedding the way he came?

After an eternity, he finally turns and starts coming right at me, but he was on a little rise so I wasn't that far above him inside of 20 yards at this point so was trying to figure out when to draw, finally he quartered towards broadside and I pulled back as slowly as I could, settled the pin and the arrow went on its way. Immediately I could see a spray of blood in the snow behind him and he bounded out to about 40 back down the treeline. He looked a little wobbly, but I got another arrow out and let it fly and missed. Took out another one and took a deep breath and settled it right on his ham at about 45 yards, since he was facing straight away at this point. Buried it two feet in right where I was aiming.

He staggered into the woodline, stood there for about two minutes then stepped out hunched over and bedded down. After about two minutes his head was down, where it stayed for 15 minutes. He was between me and my kayak and my only real way out. I started to assume he was dead, but then he flailed twice a tried to get up. Thinking he was too weak to get up, I lowered my bow and got down from the tree without jumping him. I closed from about 80 yards to about 50-60 and he got up and staggered off into some thick marsh grass. I did the best I could to back out and loop as far out as I could, but made a lot of noise breaking ice getting out.

Made it home and called the crew up. Wanted to give him as long as possible, but around 6:30 rain started pretty hard, so loaded up the canoe and waited for my buddy to arrive and we met my father in law back over at the river and headed in. It was about 8:30 by the time we crossed the river and headed into the marsh. I started sneaking back up the tree line and came around the corner and there he was, dead and stiff 40 yards from where I jumped him. He was probably dead before I paddled back across the first time.

First shot hit right where I aimed, but he was quartering to harder than I recognized. Clipped the back of a lung, sliced the liver pretty good, and got guts. Very glad I got the second one in him or I think I'd have been in for a lot of grid searching.

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Obligatory canoe pic!

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My daughters seemed to sense I wasn't grinding like I usually do this year and both gave me good luck charms the week before I killed to take with me!
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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Eddiegomes83 » Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:20 am

Man....there are some many studs out there that I pretty much dont have a chance. Congrats to all. The story starts off slow but i promise it gets better. So please read it all.

For this particular buck I am entering. He pretty close to being my personal best. I am no official scorer but he is within a few inches of my measurements to my best buck. I scored him at 101 but that is without deducting anything. Again i am definitely not even close to an expert at measuring and only tried to measure because he was so close to my personal best.

I am a Floridian and mainly hunt Florida. My fellow Floridians know and understand the challenges we face down here with deer size and numbers as well as pressure on public land. On a positive note.....we never have out of staters come here to hunt until turkey season arrives.

I drew a hunt to a pretty good Management area this year. It usually takes at least 3 years to get drawn. It is somewhat on my home home from work so i am always stopping and scouting it. You can only access on foot,horse back or bike during off season like much of the state....but the day before the season starts they open the flood gates and everybody can drive everywhere which changes everthing a hurry.

For my scouts early on i tried to identify everything i could within reasonable walking distance. This place gets a lot of horseback riders in the beginning. I figured if i find a bunch of different spots im this area...it would be the least likely to change when they open the gates to everybody. i highlight this because i think it is why i killed my deer.

The day i killed my deer i showed up late on the first day mainly to scout the people. I was looking for where they were parked vs what sign and experience i have had over the years hunting there. I have pretty much killed a decent buck here each time i was drawn here.

As i drove around it seemed that people were stacked were i was wanting go set up. I ended finding a spot i thought looked really good and got my gear and headed off to find some fresh sign. I wasnt seeing a whole lot.

This place is also a working cattle ranch. I noticed they moves the cattle from the front of the property to the backside. I believe this is why i wasnt seeing much sign. I scouted around for a few hrs and decides to check one last place.

It was near the entrance and when i came by there mid morning nobody was parked there. I had an area where i had found some decents beds in the past but wasnt sure how active they were. Once i find them i typically dont check on them again until after i hunt them a time or two with no sightings. Well it was only 3 hrs until dark and nobody was parked there again so i figured this was going to be my spot for the afternoon.

I changed my clothes as fast i could. Grabbed my saddle and my bow and headed for a spot. Now there is another way to get this spot that is a shorter walk but you would have to walk close to the main bedding and they would likely wind you and give you the slip so chose the long way.

Just as i entered the woods. I hear a truck pull up with 2 guys. They are getting their stuff ready. This particular block is pretty small for more than 2 hunters at most. So i sit and wait a little bit and for them to show up and figure we will talk about where each other is going. Well they get in their truck and leave. SWEET! So i keep walking.

I get to about where i start looking for a tree and these 2 guys, (same guys i seen in the parking lot that left. They never seen me just my truck), show up around a corner all out of breath. They ACTED surprised to see me. This is how the conversation went:

Guy: you must walk fast

Me: why do you say that?

Guy: (takes a minute )we just drove by the parking spot and didnt see anybody parked there

Me: really. Where did you guys enter?

Guy: we parked further down and jumped the fence. I am hunting right over there and my friend is going to hunt right here.

Me: ok well this place is too small for us all good luck

Guy: agreed...plus there was a guy walking in behind you when we drove by...

Well i really wanted to turn around and lay in to him for thinking i was an idiot. He just told me nobody was parked there when he drove by yet now when drove by he seen someone else walking in after i did. He also didnt realize i had seen them getting ready near my truck. But what ever i was running out of time to get set up and these idiots ruined the spot anyways by trying to cut me off and running right through the bedding.

I had one last spot that went and scouted with my wife and i found some pretty active beds. It was one of those spots i had found where the pressure doesnt change much because the access is fairly easy all year. Which is why i highlighted the above text earlier in the story.

I hoof it all the way there and find me a tree. I have less than an hr before dark. I start to set up my sticks on a pine tree...because that is mainly our choices here in Florida. But as i put the first stick on it makes a ton of noise on the tree bark. Im thinking no way..it is too close prime time to be making noise like that.

I look around and i see an ok size oak tree nestled in some palmettos. I decide i will take my luck there from the ground. I go over and set all my stuff up. I hang my saddle and use it as a seat. I have a good shot im front of me and a couple out to the sides. I fell good about my location but not confident on the ground. I have never shot a deer from the ground with my bow other than a spot and stalk once a long time ago.

It was almost instant that 4 does walked out. They fed in front of me for a while. They eventually went off to my left and i could hear them over there feeding from time to time. A couple minutes later i could hear a group of hogs coming from my right...i am not a big hog hunter and hate seeing them when i deer hunt. So as i am watching them slowly work their way in. I hear one of those does coming back from my left.

I look over and it isnt a doe..it is a nice buck and he is feeding without a care in the world about 35 yds away. He is facing my direction and i have a bunch of palmettos in my way so i just sit and hope he keeps coming towards me. I am starting to panic because those hogs are getting closer. As luck would have he stops feed and starts walking by way. He provided me a tiny 20yd shot through a hole in my palmettos and some baby pines. I smoked him. I hears him go crashing through the swamp and sounded like he ran for ever. It ended up being the does that ran for ever....he only made it about 40 yds from where i shot him.

My view:

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Where and how i found him:

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Now me and him:

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Check station clerk took this photo:
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My self euro:

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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Ack » Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:55 pm

2019 Season….The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

While some years it may be easy to sum up your season with one or two words, that’s typically not the case with the average hunter. Some guys will have a true “Dream Season” every now and again but still, what word do you use to sum up a season like that…..amazing, flawless, perfect? I think most can agree that even during a great season there are always a few things that can and will go wrong…..and this is where I mention that line you often hear guys say when talking broadheads or shoulder shots…..”things happen.” Well, as much as I want to claim a great 2019 season, which overall it was, there were still a few “things that happened”……some I could control, and some I couldn’t. So here’s the breakdown of a not-so-average season for Ack!


Leading up to the 2019 season, I happened to catch the shed hunting bug while out scouting in late winter/early spring while scouting. Now I’ve been finding a few here and there over the last few years, but last winter I found an area that clearly had several bucks that survived the war zone known as the Michigan rifle season. Finding a forkie or so that survived isn’t a huge deal, but finding two year old sheds does grab my attention. Once I figured out so many bucks were in this area, I put miles on the boots and found myself wanting to shed hunt rather than scout in my free time. As hard as I tried to get to 20, I ended up with 19 sheds from the public land by green-up, but NOT as many actual scouting hours as I had in previous years. Either way, it was some knowledge that several bucks would be around come fall.

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So summer came and things were shaping up well for season. I had a few new areas to try, and also another year on some spots that were producing good buck sightings fairly consistently. My buddy and I had also put eyes on some good bucks late in the summer, so hopes were high for a good 2019 season…….until mid July that was. That was when I got the word that, after 23 years of employment, I would be losing my job in September, as the company I was working for was shutting down my plant.


At that point there were a lot of unknowns, questions and concerns going through my head, and of course bow season was one of them. Long story short, this chain of events actually ended up making my season BETTER than I expected. I was given an extension at my job until early November, and was also able to use up my remaining three weeks of vacation….two of which were already scheduled for the first two weeks of November. With the amount of work dwindling daily, come September I was able to choose what hours I wanted to work until my last day. Well duh……..5:00 am to 1:00 pm of course (for obvious reasons lol)!


So finally season came and long story short again, I was able to hunt pretty much every afternoon except weekends. This allowed me to rotate through spots that I previously would have waited to hunt with much less time available to me. I found myself able to try spots that I could never get away with hunting when the leaves were down…..on the ground, 4” trees, you name it……it was a blast! And I was seeing deer, and bucks, every time out. Just a few days into season I had a decent three year old get to 30 yards right at closing time, but I just couldn’t make myself take the shot. That stuff never happened in my previous seasons!

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Even though I rotated through several spots early on I still was not seeing much for big sign come mid-October. We had a ton of water in the woods (as everyone could see on the Public Land Challenge) so it was tough to hunt certain areas that had been good in the past when things were dry. There was also an abundance of acorns which can, in some cases, actually work against you…..deer just didn’t need to travel far for food.


So the October days were slipping away and I had only one encounter with a shooter buck on the public. I was keeping some of my better spots in my back pocket until the end of the month, as that is historically when the heat up. One day my buddy says to me “it’s about time for you to get into that one spot,” and he was right……it was time to dive in there. Biggest buck I’ve ever seen on stand on public was at this spot, and I’ve had chances in there the past three seasons, just hasn’t worked out…..yet.


As much as I would love to post a map, I cannot do it for obvious reasons. I will say though that this is an overlooked area that holds a doe group or two, but also has what an older buck needs to stay away from most hunters. I do not access this spot from the most obvious, easiest direction as I’m sure the deer are expecting that. I loop way around and come in on the back corner of this thick area, as I’ve noticed over the years the deer typically come out of the side and or back of the thicket. I have two or three trees that I can sit depending on the wind direction, but I also have one tree right on the corner that’s a little more forgiving for variable winds. That was the kill tree for this particular hunt.


So it was the afternoon of October 24th, temps were in the mid to upper 30’s, slightly overcast with a light NW wind. I was a little concerned about getting in undetected because of the light wind, but I made it to my tree and up three sticks without any issues. As is typical in this spot, the does/fawns were the first on their feet making their way out of bedding and working my way. We almost had a major setback when the lead doe just about picked me, but as hard as she tried she just couldn’t make out any danger with me well tucked in to the triple trunk maple only 12 feet up. This group of five to six deer eventually worked their way across in front of me, when I heard some rustling and grunts coming out of the bedding thicket. Out came a four point all hot and bothered, scattering the does and fawns as he quickly made his way to them. And then, things got interesting!


I was watching as these deer worked their way around me towards my 2-3:00, hoping they were not going to get down wind and ruin the rest of my hunt. As I was keeping an eye on them, I happened to hear some more rustling and splashing through the water out in from of me and caught sight of what looked to be a six point and right behind him…….tines. They were moving through at a good clip, heading for the other deer that were out a little farther now. I lost sight of the two bucks momentarily because of the foliage, but then saw the six point coming around on my right side. I was anticipating the big buck to still be right with him, so I turned on the stand and tightened up on my string.


Sure enough, out steps the big buck taking the same exact trail as the six…..around 25 yards from my tree. There was not much for shooting out at that distance because of the foliage, and I needed to make a split decision if I was going to try to thread an arrow through the tops of the saplings that were there. Most of what was in the way was small tips of saplings and leaves, so I quickly drew and was able to stop him where I figured I had the best shot opportunity.


I dropped the string and watched the arrow disappear into his upper chest, originally thinking the shot looked high. He wheeled and ran back the way he came, and after only covering 60 yards, through the foliage I was able to see legs flailing, and then all was silent. There were still other deer around, and the six point had actually looped back around and was walking through the same area again. I was able to get a quick pic of him for reference as to where the big one was standing when I took the shot. You can see in the pic (yellow circle) the green tops I had to shoot through.

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As hard as it was, I had to force myself to sit there for a half hour just to be sure he was actually down. I was not able to see him from my tree, so I started to get those “what if” thoughts in my head. I texted my buddy and told him I’d probably need some help, as the body on this buck appeared pretty solid. After 25 minutes I couldn’t take it anymore. I quietly let my bow down and climbed out of the tree, looking over at where I though he was to be sure he didn’t run off. Now on the ground I still could not see him and I was getting nervous, thinking worst case scenario. I nocked an arrow and slowly made my way through the flooded woods in the direction I though he was, glassing as I went. Turns out I couldn’t even see him until I was 20 yards or so away from him……it’s crazy how hard these things can be to see when they’re laying on the ground!

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This buck ended up being my personal best, and I am super proud to have shot him on high pressure Michigan public. Waiting for the right time, utilizing a first time sit, and knowing how the deer exit this bedding area were the key things that put me in the game on this kill. This could even be the same buck I had get by me in this spot in 2018 (read last year’s contest entry). It also turns out this was a buck that my buddy and I had glassed about a mile and a half away in the late summer. Hard to tell by the pic, but it’s him.....this was a screen shot from a really bad video of the buck......

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That wasn’t the only chance I would end up getting at a decent one, but unfortunately this was the ugly part of the season. I went on to have two more shot opportunities at bucks……one of which was the same buck from early in the season. Both of these bucks were also on first time sits in areas I had never stepped foot in, but I managed to somehow put low forward shots on both of them. I spent endless hours looking for them and am hoping that they both survived, but it’s hard to say. I will probably go back once the snow is gone and look some more, but I’m also hoping to find sheds as well. It’s a punch in the gut to lose one……but to do it again a few days later put me in a really dark place hunting wise. Actually kept me off the site for awhile too. But you have to analyze what went wrong, try to fix it and move on.


After starting my new job I was able to get out a little during the muzzleloader season, but having to work afternoons until midnight had me getting out to the woods at weird hours of the morning. I basically turned my hunts into scouting trips, trying to find where the deer were stacked up after the busy rifle season. I finally found an area with quite a bit of sign and was able to fill an antlerless tag only ten minutes into a mid-morning hunt. With only time for one more hunt after that, I called it a season and hung up the weapons.


I had a lot to reflect on about my 2019 season…..the good, my biggest buck….the bad, losing my job….and the ugly, losing two more bucks. And yes, losing two bucks WAS worse than losing my job! But I cannot complain about the opportunities I did have and the seemingly endless hours I got to spend in the woods…..it truly was a season to be remembered. As I move on to 2020, I will be faced with new challenges…..mainly trying to figure out how to effectively hunt morning hours. As always, I will accept the challenge and will make the most I can out of next season!

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seazofcheeze
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Making a Comeback

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:41 am

Here is the “too long, didn’t read” version

I had my best year ever in 2015, killing 3 bucks with a bow including my first P&Y. I got humbled during the 2016 season, blew out my shoulder a few days into the 2017 season and missed or wounded several nice bucks in the 2016-2018 seasons. I finally got redemption in 2019 killing 3 public land bucks in MT, ND, and SD with my bow, including my biggest ever whitetail (and 2nd P&Y).

Full Story

I had a great 2019 season. The first thing I want to do is dedicate this season to a few people who I am really thankful for. First, my girlfriend for being crazy enough to uproot her life and move with me from Michigan to Montana last February. Second, Dr. Marc Milia, the orthopedic surgeon who fixed my shoulder in December of 2018. Third, my girlfriend’s dad, Boyd, who really got me interested in bowhunting, was my first hunting mentor, and is more like a father to me than my real father. Finally, I want to give a big thanks to Dan and the whole hunting beast community, because without all the knowledge and resources on this site, I wouldn’t be 10% of the hunter I am today.

I don’t feel like I can give this season proper context without a quick recap of past few seasons:

2015 – It was my second year on the Beast, and I ended up having my best season ever up to that point. I killed two 2.5yr old bucks with a bow in Michigan (a first for me at the time), and I killed my first P&Y buck on an out of state trip to Southern Ohio.

2016 – After 2015, I really thought I had it all figured out. In 2016, I was humbled in short order. I wounded and lost my biggest Michigan buck on a chip shot (10-15 yards). I killed a solid buck again in Southern Ohio, and then I absolutely blew it in Kansas when I got out of my stand early on a freezing cold morning, only to have a 160”+ deer show up literally two minutes later, 25 yards from the tree I had just climbed down from. I saw the same buck the next morning and never could get a shot at him even though he closed to within 10 yards, but did so directly behind my tree.

2017 – On October 4th, I got drawn back on the biggest buck I had on camera in Michigan, but he spooked before I could take a good shot. Climbing down from my stand that night, I missed the second to last step on my LW stick, and caught all my weight on my outstretched left arm. I didn’t know it at the time, and I wouldn’t find out for another 10 months, but my fall ended up tearing my labrum in my left shoulder. I hunted again in early November, and I had the second biggest buck I had on camera come in to 25 yards. I tried to draw my bow, but due to my shoulder injury, I couldn’t…for the first time every in my life. I tried to draw three more times with the buck in range. The buck stopped at 5 yards, literally, from my stand for a good 30 seconds. I’d never felt more helpless in my life. It was devastating. I ended up with a nice muley buck in Montana that fall as a consolation prize.

2018 – I found out I needed shoulder surgery, but I scheduled it for December 2018. I had done enough rehab and purchased a new bow with a lighter draw weight to be able to hunt. A few days into the season, I wounded a nice buck on another chip shot of less than 10 yards. I called a dog and looked for the buck for two days, but never found him. A few days later, I shot over the back of the biggest buck I had on camera at 35 yards in 30 mph+ winds. I’m not sure if it was the wind, my bum shoulder, or my bruised confidence, but I was starting to feel like the worst hunter in the world. I ended up shooting a small buck towards the end of the season.

I entered the 2019 season against the backdrop of the failures and near misses from 2016-2018, with my confidence severely shaken, and still nervous my newly repaired shoulder wouldn’t hold up through the season. It would be my first hunting season in Montana, and despite my battered confidence, I was ambitious—buying an archery whitetail deer tag for North Dakota and an any deer archery tag for South Dakota.

Tbunao and I headed to North Dakota for the opening weekend of archery, but neither of us put any deer on the ground. We spend a good part of September chasing bulls, and had a lot of great encounters for a couple of newbies.

Montana Muley

In early October, I decided to do some deer hunting. I had never been on any of the ground, so I decided to scout/still hunt. The first piece I hit was a total bust. I saw a few tracks, but I walked 3-4 miles and the sign just wasn't there. The more I travel to hunt, the more I have decided that I won't hunt marginal sign. I'd rather spend the whole trip looking for a great place to hunt than spend the whole trip hunting spots I don't have confidence in. So...on to the next spot.

I had a hard time finding the access road to the next piece of public. I talked to a local guy and he told me the place received almost no bow pressure. When I finally found the access road, I started walking a transition line. It was a relatively windy day, with winds 10-15 mph and occasional gusts to 20ish. I was only a few hundred yards in when I jumped two nice whitetails. The one was a 130s class, a deer I would have definitely shot. Unfortunately, they vacated the area pretty quickly. Good news, I jumped them from bedding. I pinned the area on OnX and kept walking. About a half mile later I jumped a doe at about 25 yards. We had a stare down for about a minute, and then all of a sudden, a big buck busted out next to a big dead fall. He didn't have a monster rack (115-120"), but he had a HUGE body that definitely said mature deer. I took a pic of his very well-worn bed. I pinned the location on OnX and took note of a few trees about 100yds from the bed that I thought I could sneak back into on another hunt since he looked to have left the county.

I walked another mile without seeing any deer or much sign. Then I walked up on a thicket type area. My wind was really iffy, blowing slightly quartering ahead of me, and I think that cost me. I looked into a hole in the thicket and saw the tallest rack I have ever seen. From the base of the rack to the top of the tines looked as long as the deer's neck. Shooter for sure! I covered 50 yards quickly and then started glassing the edges of the thicket hoping to see this giant pop out. I never did see him again. I took note of suspected bedding for another hunt. At this point, I had blown out 3 shooters and all of them ran the same general direction. I worked back to the truck after hiking a 4 to 5-mile loop that morning, and I made a plan for the evening. There was a county road on the other side of the public where I could access with the wind in my face and work towards the direction where all the spooked bucks had gone towards.

I started in about 2.5 hours before dark. I was moving really slowly and stopping every 30-40 yards to glass suspected bedding. About 45 minutes in, I spotted a few does 100yds out. They were upwind of me, but before I knew it, they were 20 yards away. I was hunting on the ground, tucked into a Russian Olive looking shrub. Despite my best efforts, the does noticed me when they got to about 15 yards. Then they did the ol' stomp and snort dance for a few minutes before bounding back into the bedding area. I was a little bummed and thought the hunt might be over. It was only the first night though, so I wasn't too disappointed. About this time, I also noticed I wasn't in the greatest location. I was on a sidehill around 20ft tall, and I couldn't see over the top to the other side. I decided I would creep in another 30-40 yards closer to suspected bedding and also move up the hill a little more so I could see the other side but not skyline myself too bad. I tucked into another Russian Olive and about 5 minutes later I saw 2 mule deer does. I was watching the muley does when I noticed ol' snorty, the whitetail doe, was coming back out of the thicket. I watched both doe groups for about 10 minutes when I saw a whitetail buck pop out. It looked like a year old 6 pointer. At this point, all the deer activity had been straight ahead of me at my 12 o'clock. I glanced over to my right and saw what I thought was a rack about 100 yards out, just over the top of the hill that I had moved up so I could see over. It looked like a 2-year-old buck, and I had seen only whitetail bucks, so I didn't pay too much attention to him.

At this point, I decided I didn't like my shooting lanes and made a move towards the 2-year-old buck hoping he had big brother with him. It took me about 10-15 minutes to move 30 yards. I ended up leaning against a really large cottonwood tree. There was another other big tree about 8 yards from me at about the 10 o'clock position. I watched the doe groups feed around and kept tabs on the buck who was now about 70 yards away. It was getting down to the last half hour of light and the does were all starting to work parallel to me about 60 yards away. I looked back at the buck, and to my surprise, he was walking right at me. I took a peek through my rangefinder, and noticed it was a mule deer buck! Now I was pretty excited by this 2-year-old buck, since I had never shot a muley with a bow. He was at 40 yards, then 30 yards, then 20 yards, literally walking right at my tree. About 15 yards out, he veered to my left and I noticed the left side of the rack was a 4pt side. I didn't get a real good look at the right side, but I decided if I could get drawn on him this close that I would shoot. He walked just on the other side of the big cottonwood 8 yards from me. I drew my bow, anchored and readied to shoot. When he stepped out behind the tree, I thought he would peg me and bolt for sure. To my surprise, he kept walking, completely oblivious. At 13 yards, I gave him a soft “meeeehhhhh" and he stopped almost perfectly broadside. I let the arrow loose and he took 4 big muley hops, stopped, tipped over 30 yards from the shot, and I had my first archery muley down! I was pretty excited. He was probably the second smallest buck I saw all day, and he won't be making any record books but it was a super fun hunt, my first buck from the ground, my first archery muley, my first solo recovery, and on public land to boot.

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South Dakota Whitetail

Jmaas07 and I have been doing some out of state hunting for a few years. We didn't draw our preferred state this year, so we decided we would buy South Dakota tags and see how bad we could get our butts kicked in a new area.

I got out of work around 2:30 p.m. on November 5th. I was pretty unmotivated to pack my gear in the days leading up to the trip, so the afternoon of the 5th was a mad scramble to pack my gear, buy some groceries, and do some last-minute odds and ends. I was on the fence about leaving the night of the 5th or the morning of the 6th. I really wanted to get to the area and do some road scouting to check ag fields, access, parking, etc., so around 7:30 p.m. on the 5th I started heading east. I drove until about 1 a.m. when my fading energy levels and an ever strengthening snow storm told me to pull over in Belle Fourche, SD.
I caught a 4-hour power nap, and started driving again. The roads were horrible. Rain had turned to sleet, then turned to snow, and the temperature had dropped from mid-40s to mid-20s. About 2 hours into South Dakota, I hit some black ice and found myself in a pretty sketchy fishtail on the highway at 50 mph. I managed to save it, and the shot of adrenaline really woke me up for the next 60 miles. I rolled back the speed to about 35mph after that.

I had been in South Dakota since daylight, and it was now 9-10 a.m. on November 6th, and I hadn't seen a single deer...not one. I was already starting to question if this trip was a good idea. At this point, I had hunted North Dakota twice in 2019, and that had proven to be extremely tough sledding, and now I was expecting more of the same. About an hour from the final destination, I finally saw my first deer...there is hope! Between the long drive and the terrible roads, I had about 2.5 hours before dark to do some road scouting.
I checked out access and crops at a few pieces of public. When I arrived at the 3rd or 4th piece, there were two great muley bucks standing 30 yards off the road...on public! I drove by, double checked OnX, and I realized I wasn't 100% sure if they were actually on the public or a small piece of private. I decided I should settle for a pic rather than a possible violation. Plus, shooting a deer off the side of the road on day one didn't seem very sporting.

When the muleys crossed the road, they went onto private land, but they were paralleling the private/public fence line about 100 yards onto the private side. I had an hour or so of legal shooting light left, so I grabbed my bow, binos, and rangefinder and started hoofing it up the hill. I made it about 1/4 mile in when I got blown at by a whitetail doe 70 yards away. Then a tall tight racked buck jumped up and they both bounded off. I got a decent look at the buck, and he looked like a shooter! Tall rack, and good brow tines. I couldn't tell if he was an 8pt or a 10pt. I was excited, despite never laying eyes on the muleys that night. I was running out of light fast, so I decided to hike back to the truck. I called Jmaas07 and told them there was hope. Leading up to the trip, we weren't sure if the area would have muleys, especially big ones. I told him about the two muley bucks and the good whitetail. I told him I planned on heading to the same area the following morning. He told me he would be at the destination by noon the next day (November 7th). I joked around a little that I would have one down by the time he got there.

The next morning, I parked at the same spot as the night before. It was a brisk 16-degree morning, almost perfectly still, with a 0-2mph NW wind. I was accessing from the south and working north. I was optimistic based on the previous night’s observations, but due to the conditions, I was sure this was going to be 90% scouting mission/10% hunting. Maybe, I would see a deer or two on the hoof. I planned to hunt until 9:30-10:00 a.m. and then do some more road scouting. My #1 rule out of state is scout until I find the deer, and I wanted to make sure I found a great spot, not just a good spot.
I covered the first 250-300yds pretty quickly as it was mostly an uphill climb in CRP grass with a few scattered junipers. The grass was tall, frosty, brittle, and LOUD. I really slowed down when I got to within 100yds of where I jumped the whitetail the night before. It was a nice buck with a doe, so I thought maybe he was locked down with her and they would be close. I stopped next to a juniper for 5 minutes. I didn't see any movement or hear anything. I never blind call in Michigan, but I thought "what the heck". I let out 2 grunts, and, surprise! ...nothing. I poked around the area the buck bolted from the night before and found a light trail in the skiff of snow on the ground. I started following the trail deeper into the public. It led down into a pretty steep, pretty thick juniper draw. I had to crouch down to get through it...really thick stuff. I found a scrape in the bottom of the draw, but it looked like it hadn't been hit in at least 3-4 days. When I came up the other side of the draw, I saw a few taller rubs, but on small trees, and they also looked to be at least a week or more old.

I was now in a small clearing of waist-high CRP grass on a pretty steep side hill. I had a wall of junipers behind me, to my immediate right, and another wall of junipers about 20 yards in front of me. To my left, up the hill was a few scattered junipers and more CRP grass. Just beyond the junipers in front of me, there was another really thick draw that it looked like I would probably have to crawl through. I thought "what the heck" again, and made three punctuated grunts, the kind a chasing buck makes. To my absolute shock, a buck immediately grunted back three times...and he was close! I heard him walking below me at my 2 o'clock. When he let out the first grunt, he had to have been inside of 60 yards, the 2nd and 3rd grunts he had to be closer to 40. I couldn't see anything through the wall of junipers. Thankfully, I had already nocked an arrow prior to calling. It was so thick, I knew I'd never be able to draw if the buck stepped out into the open. I clipped my release on the d-loop, came to full draw and readied to shoot where I thought the buck might pop out of the junipers. Then, I didn't hear anything...silence. I was at full draw for probably 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. I started getting shaky, and thought "I need to let down". Then I thought, "As soon as you let down, he's going to pop out of the junipers and bust you." At this point, I didn’t know if the buck is a 2" spike or a 200" 20 pointer. Another 15-20 seconds elapse, and I had to let the bow down. Of course, as soon as I let down, I heard him start walking again. At this point he is at my 12 o'clock, probably no more than 23 yards away, just on the other side of the junipers. I still couldn’t see any part of him moving, because the junipers were so thick. I unclipped my release, slid the grunt call out of my chest pocket and gave a single short grunt. Before I even slid the grunt call back in my pocket, I could tell the buck immediately turned again and was heading directly my way. The buck was now at my 10 o'clock and probably already 10-15ft higher up the hill than me. A moment later, I see antlers start to come in to view, and I draw my bow before his head is visible through the CRP. The buck stops at 20yds with just his neck visible and facing almost head-on at me. I'm not sure if he is staring at me, scanning for the other "buck", or just listening, but he stands motionless for at least a full minute. At this point, the buck is in the shadows, and I can't really make out the headgear all that well. I'm starting to wonder how long before I have to let the bow down again? Is he going to bust right here? I have way too much time to think and time seems like its standing still. Then he starts moving again, still above me. Now I can see a good main beam and at least 2 points up on the left side. I'm pretty sure it’s a 3.5yr+ old just by the length of the beam, and in that instant, I decide I am definitely shooting. He’s still moving from my 10 o’clock towards my 9 o’clock and he’s close. The top of his back comes in to view. He covers 5 more yards, and now I can see the whole body, but not the legs. He clears a small, 5-foot, and mostly leafless tree, and is almost perfectly broadside. He's at 18yds. I let out a soft "meeehhh" and he stops. All of the failures of 2016-2018 seasons are in the back of my mind, so I settle the pin, take a few extra seconds to aim, center the sight guard in the peep, squeeze....CRACK! He bounds straight up the hill, and almost immediately I think I hear gurgling, a second later and he is out of sight...I think I hear a crash and thrashing.

As mentioned, I've had a run of bad luck the last few years with shooting, so I am really second guessing what happened. Did I make a good shot? Was he really gurgling? Did he really crash? Did I really just grunt in a nice buck on the first morning hunt and get an arrow in him from the ground at 18yds? My mind is racing! I decide I am going to wait at least 30-45 minutes without moving before I inch up to check the arrow. I texted Jmaas07, Lockdown, and Tbunao that I had an arrow in what I thought was a 120ish 8pt, but I wasn't 100% sure about the shot. I ended up calling Lockdown and Jmaas07 after about 30 minutes. Jmaas07 convinced me to look for the arrow and first blood. I told him about the gurgling and he said "Dude, you smoked him." I walked to the shot location and couldn't locate the arrow in the tall grass. I started down the trail where I thought the buck had ran down. I made it 25-30 yards without a single drop of blood. A terrible sinking feeling hit me, and I thought "you blew it, again". I went back to the shot location, and I still couldn’t find the arrow. Then, I noticed another faint trail going almost straight up the hill. I start down that trail and after 7 yards there was really good blood. I nocked an arrow and took plenty of time following the blood trail. About 30 yards from the shot location, the blood trail took a hard left. I cleared a juniper and there he was, piled up, 45 yards from the shot. What a relief!

When I looked him over, I am surprised in a good way! He's a main frame 9 point with a 1"+ sticker off the right base, and holy brow tines batman! I definitely didn't realize the length of the browtines when I shot him. The beams are really long like I had thought. I was pumped!!! I started sending out the BBD texts and taking in just how ridiculous the whole hunt was. Counting the hour I had hunted the night before, my South Dakota season lasted about 2.25 hours. I ended up shooting this buck less than 200 yards from where I jumped the buck the night before, and I'm about 80% sure it is the same deer.
I ended up getting this deer officially scored in January 2020 after the 60-day drying period. It grossed 140 7/8” and netted 132 6/8. It’s my new #1 buck, and my second P&Y. I am thrilled with this hunt and this buck, and I’m sure I’ll never forget it.

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North Dakota Whitetail

Of the deer I shot this year, I am the proudest of this one. I put in a lot of work to get on a buck in North Dakota. I made a scouting trip in early August, and three separate hunts, one during early September, one during early November, and the last one during mid-to-late December. I don’t think I saw a buck on the hoof during the September hunt, and I only a few during November (and all out of bow range). My trip in December was off to the same start. I couldn’t hardly find a deer, especially a buck. I decided to go to a third brand new area after the first hunt in December turned out to be a total bust. After lots and lots of miles and failures, I finally found some deer. The deer were holed up in some of the only good cover around and they were traveling almost 2 miles to one of the last standing corn fields in the area to feed. I dove in on day two of my hunt (first day at this location), and I kicked up a ton of deer. I couldn’t believe how many deer were in the area compared to what I had been seeing so far in North Dakota. I saw at least 4 shooter bucks the first day while scouting/still hunting. I was really glad I decided to roll the dice and move to another new area.

On the morning of day 3 (2nd day in this spot). I headed in at o’dark thirty with my stand on my back on a mission. I got setup over a bedding area I had marked the day before, and I climbed into my stand at gray light. Within an hour, a lone, antlered deer approached. Minutes later, I had arrowed my first North Dakota buck. Even though it’s a pretty average buck, I am super happy to have him, because of all the work I put into getting on deer in North Dakota, and I am now pretty optimistic about the next time I get back that way to hunt.

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I made a video (below) giving a lot more detail and recapping the hunt.
https://youtu.be/Q-mSlD9B-T4

I want to say thanks again to everyone who made this year a reality, and good luck to everyone in 2020!
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cattailcrusher
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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby cattailcrusher » Sun Feb 23, 2020 11:16 am

This past Monday afternoon 9/2 I connected on a nice public land buck, this being my second buck, in two sits, in two years utilizing beast tactics.

Ill start out by saying that I found this buck, along with two other really nice bucks, in the end of June by jumping him out of his bed while I was scouting this piece of public. I knew at this point by how much growth he was already showing that he was gonna end up to be something special, at this point the chess match began. So with me already jumping him out of his bed I completely tore this bedding area apart trying to learn it as best I could and finding what I thought would be the tree that I could slip in and kill him from opening day (9/1/2019).

Over the next two months, July and August, I would make the 1.5 hour drive to this piece a couple of times a week to glass him out in the bean field that he was feeding in, and documenting where he would come out into the field, based on what the wind direction and weather was at the time. With what I gained from the observations over the summer was that I was going to need a southerly wind in order to get in and hunt him.

Well fast forward to this past Sunday 9/1, the wind was not cooperating it was a light wind and was very swirly. Looking at the forecast for the next day the wind was predicted to be out of the south/southeast at 10-20 mph, BINGO! So I made the decision, just to sit back and continue to glass that bean field that I watched him feed in all summer and sure enough right before dark he stepped out and started to feed. At the time, that was a weird feeling knowing that I could of possibly had a shot at my target buck that night if I would of moved in for the kill that afternoon, but my gut was telling not to risk with the swirling winds.

Monday 9/2 came along and with it came the stronger south winds that were projected. I knew I had to get there pretty early cause it was going to take me a while to get to my spot and get set up, that being because I had to kayak around a half mile across a slough, and then also had a pretty far walk to my stand. And as others have mentioned before on this site, the last 100 yards to my stand i had to be super quite and go slow because the tree I wanted to get set up in was around 75 yards from the bed that I jumped him out of in June. Well it ended up taking me about 2.5-3 hours to get to my tree and get set up. Here's where things start get interesting, now it is around 4:30 p.m. and I am starting to get everything situated up in the tree. All of sudden I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye, to my disbelief there is my target buck just getting up out of a bed about 75 yards away, I couldn't believe it, all the time I put into watching this deer and there he was 75 yards away standing up out of his bed at 4:30 in the afternoon. I was able to watch him for about a minute before he moved into this thicket about 10 yards away from where I first saw him. I did not see him leave the thicket in any direction so my gut was telling me that he must of just re bedded down in that really thick stuff. At this point I was feeling really good, I knew this buck was really close and I was currently set up between him and the food source that I glassed him in all summer.

Well quite a few hours past and it is now 8:00, at this point I am starting to get worried that he slipped out of that thicket in the opposite direction away from me. In the mean time a decent 10 pointer stands up out in the CRP field about 100 yards away from me and I start to watch that 10 pointer. As I am watching the 10 pointer through my bino's, I catch myself thinking to myself I really need to be paying attention to what is around me, well to my surprise as i am taking my bino's down from my eyes there is my target buck cruising by my stand at what I thought was 30 yards, and he was about to go behind some trees which at that point I would of no longer had a shot at him. So with me being caught off guard and with him about to be out of my shooting lane, I grunted at him with my mouth to stop him, granted at this point I don't even have my bow in my hand yet. So with him stopped staring in my direction, I grab my bow, pull back, put my 30 yard pin on him, and release... I watch my arrow go right over his back. I watch him bound out to 60 yards and stop, and he starts to look around wondering what just happened. In the mean time I get another arrow nocked and I am drawn back, I settle my pin on him and and release... this time I watch my arrow hit home. I watch him take off on a death run for about 50 yards and then I lose track of him. I wait a while and then I get down and start tracking him, I am finding some blood but not as much as I would like. Ended up tracking him about 150 yards and he circled around and I found him laying dead in his bed, in that thicket, that I watched him go into at around 4:30. I couldn't believe it, there he was the buck I put so much time and effort into getting I was finally able to get my hands on him.

I just want to say thank you to all the members on here who freely give out so much good information, if I would not of found this site two years ago I can guarantee I would not of killed theses last two bucks.

I hope everybody here has a great season this year, Good luck!
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After filling one of my buck tags on the second day of the season in my home state I decided that I was going to buy a Minnesota tag and see if I could get it done over there also. Although I did grow up in MN, I haven’t bought a tag or scouted anything there since I moved away 7 years ago. Going into it I was hoping that I was going to be able to use some of the knowledge I gained when I was younger about a few spots. I quickly came to realize that wasn’t going to be the case, since finding the beast my tactics have changed so much from the way I use to hunt that a lot of that knowledge from my earlier days wasn’t going to help a whole lot.

Having just the weekends to hunt and maybe a Friday afternoon hunt here and there my plan going into it was to be super aggressive. In most cases I would throw one maybe two sits in an area, if I wasn’t seeing the sign I was looking for I was onto the next spot. That being the case I burned through the areas that I was familiar with from my younger days pretty quick, since I wasn’t seeing a whole lot of big buck sign in those areas I moved onto pieces that I have never hunted before.

So, with that being the case, during the month of October until gun season started in early November, I would study aerial images during the week and then head to MN on Friday and dive into those spots that I thought looked good from the images. I ended up getting into what I thought were some promising spots by the sign I was finding while I was walking in, but these spots just keep yielding small yearling or two-year-old bucks. Nothing that I was personally looking for. I think in some of these spots I may have been slightly too aggressive, and dove into the best areas to quick, without throwing an observation sit at them first.

I ended up not finding any bucks before gun season rolled around that I wanted to shoot. Since I didn’t want to bow hunt during the gun season I was headed back home with my tail between my legs. Not going to lie at this point I was ready to throw in the flag on MN. I was getting into the old mindset of “now that gun season is here there aren’t going to be any good bucks left, ill just be wasting more time if I head back there after gun season is done, etc.”

Well it only took a couple of days of being back home to get the wheels turning again, I remembered reading on here somewhere how in some cases the pressure during gun season will stack the deer in areas that a lot of people won’t go to. I once again dove back into the aerial imagery looking for the thickest, hardest to access areas where I think the deer could possibly get stacked up in from the recent gun pressure. I ended up finding a piece of public that mainly consisted of cattails, tamaracks, and a guy would have to cross some water to access a piece of this public area.

The weekend after gun season rolled around, and I was headed back to MN to give this new spot a shot. I decided that I would just scout this area that Saturday morning, November 23rd, to see if I could tell what recent hunting pressure was like and what there was for fresh deer sign. I ended up finding exactly what I was hoping to find, there was a lot of human sign on one side of the water but as soon as I crossed the water that disappeared, and the fresh deer sign appeared. I wasn’t just finding normal deer sign either I was finding mature buck sign, large rubs (waist to chest high) and scrapes, easily the best sign I have seen so far.

That afternoon rolled around and I was headed back into this spot to get set up. Trees were scarce but I ended up finding a small willow tree that was backed up against the water, so no deer were able to get down wind of me and I was able to look over a huge bedding area of tamaracks, cattails, and canary grass. Time rolled on and it ended up being about and hour and half before dark, and then all of sudden there were deer popping up out of the bedding area everywhere, I couldn’t believe it, I ended up watching around 20 deer stand up out there and just mill around, none of them leaving that thick cover.
At this point it is getting down to the last 15-20 minutes of shooting light. I just keep scanning that bedding area thinking to myself that there must be nice buck out there somewhere. Sure enough all of sudden I catch a deer step out of small patch of tamaracks about 350 yards away, just by seeing his body with my bare eyes I knew he was a nice buck, I pull up my binos to confirm and sure enough he is something that I want to shoot. But with shooting light running out and him being so far away there is no way he will make it to me before it gets dark. I decide to grab my grunt tube and throw a couple loud grunts his way. He hears my grunt and quickly snaps his head in my direction, he stares my way for about 20 seconds then turns his body and starts walking fast/trotting on a string right at my tree. He closes the distance in no time, he stops at about 50 yards and shreds a small tree for about a minute. He finishes doing that and starts to posture up and continues to walk to my tree eventually giving me a perfect broadside shot at 20 yards. I place my 20-yard pin on him and watch my arrow hit right where I was aiming. I was able to watch him for about 100 yards, before I lost him in the thick cover. Ended up giving him an hour and then headed back in to take up the blood trail, he only ended up going about another 50 yards from where I lost track of him after the shot.

Man talk about such a rewarding feeling to head out of state and get it done on public land. And after putting in so much time and almost giving up and then heading back after gun season to get it done. It is something that I will never forget.

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Well I am fortunate enough to live in a state where I can get two buck tags and with how my season was going to far I decided that I would head west and try to fill that second buck tag.

So the second week of December rolls around I was able to take a half day off from work on that Friday, December 13th. So i take off from work around noon and plan on getting out there in time to hopefully have an hour or so to at least scout a piece of public before it gets dark. I end up making it in time to the piece I wanted to get to, I quickly get my gear ready but with only about an hour or so until dark I decide i am just gonna still hunt an area of this public land and see what I see for deer/sign. As i am still hunting through this spot i am very surprised by the amount of sign that i am seeing, and I end up getting back to a small field and to my surprise there are standing soybeans that haven't been harvested yet and the deer are hammering them. I sit back and observe this bean field, and although I see quite a few deer i didn't see anything that I wanted to shoot. But with how much sign i was seeing I decide that i am going to come right back to this spot in the morning.

Well the next morning comes and when I get to the parking lot there is another hunter that beat me there and he said he planned on heading back to that soybean field also to hunt. I didn't want to bother the guy so I leave and decide to go and check out another piece of public up the road a couple of miles. By the time i get to this other piece of public the sun is already coming up and it is getting pretty light out. Well as i pull up to this piece I notice that there is a standing corn field and to the west of this field there is a ridge that drops down from this corn field that is thick with ceder trees. As I am driving by this corn field/ridge i notice a group of does and a small buck coming out of that corn field and then working down into the cedar trees on the ridge, at this point I am assuming that they are going down into the cedars to bed. So without having anywhere else in mind to hunt I decided to grab my bow and start walking down along this ridge paralleling the corn field.

I am only able to get about 150 yards away from my pickup before I catch three more does coming from the direction of the corn field and working down the ridge about 60 yards away from me. I decide to just tuck up next to a cedar tree and watch these does to see what they do. Well these does end up slightly working towards me at a diagonal, eventually if they keep on there path they are going to get downwind of me and wind me. It has probably been 5 minutes and these does are getting close to getting right downwind of me, then all of sudden I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye and I see a big buck step out from behind a ceder right were I initially spotted these does. He has his nose on the the ground and is walking right on the does trail. Well by this time the does are almost right down wind of me, and they are starting to figure out that something isn't right, which in return gets the bucks attention, and he ends up stopping at about 40 yards. At this point it was to late I was already drawn back, I watched my arrow hit home, he end up going about 100 yards before I found him piled up. I was in complete disbelief on what just happened, in a matter of 30 mins I went from being in my pickup to this buck walking right into my lap.


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Haha I sat here in this spot for quite some time reminiscing about the season I just had and enjoying the gorgeous country around me. I can' thank everybody on this forum enough for how much knowledge I have gained on here when it comes to deer hunting. It has completely revolutionized the way I hunt deer. And without that I wouldn't have had nearly the success I have these last couple of years.
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Luke Carpenter
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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby Luke Carpenter » Sun Feb 23, 2020 5:14 pm

During the 2019-20 Michigan Deer season I learned a ton about scouting, and the way I should hunt! I couldn't be more excited for the 2020-'21 season to get here and apply all of the things I learned! Last year I was blessed to be able to stay safe, hunt a lot, and make tons of great memories! This is a recap and highlights from my 2019-'20 season. I'm going to include a couple hunts I had with family that made the 2019 season my most memorable season ever! So here's a little background of how my family and I hunt. I'm the oldest of 10 kids and 6 of us love to hunt! Add our Dad, Uncle, and Grandpa and we cover a lot of woods. Dad has 40 acre's with a mobile home about 40 minutes from our house. We mostly hunt there, but the ones that are old enough hunt a mix of public and private. Six years ago we had our property clear cut and have since managed it to provide the best bedding in the area to hold deer during hunting season. We spent every weekend in August prepping stands, working on bedding areas, planting roads and fields, clearing and raking trails, and checking cameras. Then when September came we never stepped foot on the property for the 2 weeks till Youth season. Last year my brother James would be hunting with me and he would be using a Rossi Circuit Judge in 45 long colt and I would have my bow. Last year Michigan's youth season was a week earlier than normal so I was excited to have a chance at a velvet buck. James and I decided that if a 6 pt or bigger with velvet came within bow range I would shoot him and James would shoot any other buck. Opening morning James and I would be hunting the SW corner of our property on the edge of the neighbors corn field. On each side of the stand we made trails that the deer use in the morning to get from the neighbors corn field to the bedding we made on our property. So we left the trailor early opening morning and started the walk to our stand. Since I started hunting one of the best things I've learned is that if I sneak in silently and painfully slow and get to my stand undetected I usually see a lot more deer. And many times I see deer as soon as I get to the stand. So as we approached the last couple hundred yards to the stand we slowed to barely moving. When we got within 40 yds of our tree we could hear deer crunching on acorns less than 20 yards away from us on the edge of the neighbors' cornfield! So we went even slower and we're able to sneak right past them undetected. Finally at 7:10 we were in our stand. And within 30 seconds of sitting down James says, Deer! Quickly followed by, "IT'S A BUCK!" As the buck headed straight toward us from the neighbors' field I asked James (who was looking through the scope) if the buck had velvet. He said "No velvet! I'll shoot him!" So as the buck headed toward us, he took one of the trails into our woods. I stopped him at 20 yds and James made a perfect shot with the Judge. It was only 7:15 and we already had a buck down! After a quick celebration of high fives and congratulations, it was back to hunting. I told James to keep watching his side and be ready for more deer to come through. Not 5 minutes later James says, BIG BUCK! I turn to see a nice 8 point walking the further trail into our woods just out of bow range. I quickly switched my bow with James for his gun. I settled the cross hairs behind the bucks shoulder and pressed the shot off. Two bucks down in less than 10 minutes of hunting!
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After I shot my buck we got to enjoy watching a 3 pt, a doe, and another 8 pt follow the same trails past our stand!
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At 10 O'clock we decided to get down and start trailing. As we walked into the woods we found my buck first a nice 8 point 40 yds from the shot.
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A couple minutes later we found James's buck 30 yds from where he shot.
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As we walked up to James' buck I immediately can tell it has velvet. I guess I shouldn't have believed him when he said it didn't have velvet! James couldn't have been any happier with his velvet 6 pt. His biggest buck to date!
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So my season started off fantastic! Now I was ready for the bow opener!

October 1st finally arrived and I started trying to hunt down a nice buck on several different properties. Since we worked on our property all summer, I didn't get to do any scouting on other properties. So all my scouting was in season. Last year, was the first year that I spent more time scouting than sitting in a tree. And it payed off, almost every sit I had a buck come within bow range. I logged 37 miles in October, and was able to get within 30 yards of 8 different yearling bucks and a half dozen does. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before I'd get close to a buck I'd be happy to shoot, I kept hunting as hard and smart as I could.

On October 23rd I decided to leave my stand at home and try to fill a doe tag, on the ground, on a piece of public land I scouted the week prior. After a few hours of still hunting, I got my chance. A nice doe was only 50 yds from the road and working her way towards me. When she got to 15 yards she walked behind a small cedar. I drew my bow and made the shot when she stepped out. The arrow disappeared perfectly behind her shoulder. She took off straight toward the road head down and fell over dead 10 feet from the road! After I shot, I left to go get my jacket and take a quick nap while waiting for my Grandpa to pick me up with his car. While I was sleeping I woke up to hear truck doors slamming and a bunch of noise on the road. I quickly got up and started heading toward the truck. Somebody was taking my deer! The truck sped off with my doe before I got there and was able to talk to him. Hopefully, he needed the meat. Even though I didn't get to keep that deer, this hunt gave me confidence to do more hunting from the ground.

I finished October and the month of November only seeing one buck I wanted to shoot, and was unable to wrap my tag around him. It was now gun season. And every year during Michigan's gun season my Dad and a few of us boys go to Virginia and hunt for a week. I didn't get a deer on this trip, but Dad and my brother Jonathan got nice bucks!
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After we got back home I was able to hunt with James and Jonathan during Michigan's muzzleloader season.

December 19th was James's birthday and he wanted to try and get a birthday deer. James was hunting in a blind with Dad about 100 yds from Jonathan and I. At 9:25 a group of does came by us, and as they crossed our shooting lane 30 yds away Jonathan made a perfect shot! The group of does ran towards James, and a couple minutes later we hear his gun go off! A birthday double!
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Other than James' birthday hunt, December had been super slow. Usually in December we end up with lots of snow and the deer yard up. But last year we didn't get almost any snow in December. That left spooky deer scattered all over the place and I couldn't figure out how to get close to them with a bow. So I started asking people how they were doing. I quickly found out that a lot of guys weren't seeing deer while sitting, but were jumping bedded deer while walking to there blinds. After several hunts of me having the same results as everyone else, I knew I had to change up my tactics. The deer were spooky and weren't moving far at all during the day. Knowing that sitting in one spot wasn't working I decided to spend my last few hunts of the year still hunting and scouting.

On December 24th Dad dropped me off on a piece of public land about a mile from our property. He would be hunting with my sister Charity trying to get her a doe on our property. It was Christmas Eve and we needed to be home for lunch with family around Noon. So Dad said he'd be back in the parking area to pick me up around Eleven. So I left the car and started still hunting, with just my bow, feeling Beasty, and determined to kill a deer. As it started to get light I snuck up on a group of does along a swamp in some pines, but felt it was too dark to get a clean shot. I then spent the next couple hours scouting finding lots of fresh sign and seeing a few deer, but none close enough for a good bow shot. At 10:45 I was almost a mile from the car. Feeling I had a good plan for my next hunt I put my arrow back in the quiver and started back at a fast pace. When I got a few hundred yards from the car I had to cross a narrow power line. So I snuck up to the edge to take a quick break, and maybe spot something. As I watched, an eagle eating on a gut pile flew up and across the bottom of the power line to my right. When I looked down to my left two deer, a doe and small spike were just 30 yds below me browsing in a small briar patch. I slowly got down low, nocked an arrow, then looked at the time. It was already 11 O'Clock and I had to decide if I would try and shoot one of these deer. I was at the highest point of the power line and the deer were directly below me, so I had to stay low to avoid getting sky lined. The deer were browsing away from me towards the car and I had the wind at my face. I took Dan Infalt's advice and remembered why I was in the woods. I was there to kill! I decided there and then if everything was meant to be, and I could get a perfect close range shot I would launch my arrow. So the stalk was on! Every time one of the deer would be feeding, the other one would be watching, and when that one would look away, I'd make my move closer. I was keeping a distance of about 35-50 yards. After following them for 10 minutes both of the deer went over a small hill. So I made a move toward them as quietly and quickly as I could. When I got 20 yards from the top of the hill the doe came back over the hill 15 yards in front of me, catching me totally by surprise! Thankfully she kept walking and never saw me. So knowing the little spike was probably going to take the same path, I got down on my knees and ready to draw. As soon as I got ready I saw ears moving over the hill, and drew my bow. At full draw the buck stepped out 15 yards away broadside. Everything was meant to be! I picked my spot and was ready to shoot when the deer looked the other way! So I stood up for an even better shot. I picked my spot again and squeezed it off. The arrow hit exactly where I'd aimed. The buck mule kicked and immediately disappeared over the hill. I immediately called Dad who had been waiting at the car for me to tell him I needed some help. I looked at the time and it was 11:15 so I called Mom next to tell her I'd shot a deer and we'd be a little late for lunch. Dad and Charity met me a few minutes later and we went to where I'd shot the deer. After looking for a couple minutes we found my arrow, then first blood, that turned into a heavy blood trail on a beaten down runway. The buck only made it 50 yds and fell over in the middle of that runway! As we walked up to my little spike I couldn't have been more excited! He's the smallest buck I've ever shot, and one of my most memorable bucks!
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After a few quick pictures and a short drag to the car, we were headed back home for Christmas Eve dinner. One hour late and with a buck! Last season I saw over 26 bucks while hunting in Michigan. And got within bow range of 15 bucks that were a lot bigger than my 3-inch spike, but he's the only one I was happy to take! And looking back he's still the only one I'd pick! l couldn't be any happier with the 2019-20 season. I made memories with friends and family that I'll never forget. I was able to fill the freezer with some fresh venison, and be in the right place, at the right time, and shoot a buck on the ground with a bow in December! I want to thank every one here at The Hunting Beast! You've helped me remember to keep hunting fun, to not worry about how big the deer is and shoot what makes me happy, and to change up tactics when I'm not getting on deer. A few years ago I never would have thought about still hunting with a bow in December! But that's what it took to finally fill my tag! My last two hunting seasons have been my best yet all thanks to The Hunting Beast!
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Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
RatMe
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Re: 2019 -'20 Season - Big Buck Contest Essays

Unread postby RatMe » Mon Feb 24, 2020 12:45 pm

December 10th 2018 - Heartbreak

After a great deal of scouting I found “the spot”. In fact, I found the spot within the spot. In all It consisted of a chunk of forgotten overgrown commercial land wedged between a mini swamp (I made this term up I think) and some overgrown wild apple trees. The system was relatively small being approximately 30 acres. That said, it had everything, including one particular point jutting out into the previously mentioned swamp with evidence of beds. Yes, just like those you see in the Infalt videos. As good as the spot was, I hunted and over hunted that 2018 season. I set up close in the swamp, I backed off over a scrape, and I sat over the food source. I trusted my scouting and had the camera intel, but simply could not connect the dots.

And then it happened. During a snow covered December morning sit, I heard the familiar sound of a deer crunching through the woods. He was headed back late to the previously mentioned bedding. I pulled back the string and when he was at 20 yards I let it fly. I couldn’t believe it, he just stood there. I quickly loaded another arrow and he began to trot with a purpose towards the swamp beds. He stopped one more time and I took a less than optimal shot. I promptly delivered this arrow into a tree. What just happened would stick with me for an entire off season. After investigation, the arrow had essentially exploded and instead, I sent a twizzler with vanes towards the direction of the buck. The buck was not harmed, but I was devastated.

To make matters worse, it appeared the deer had a limp prior to my shot. This was further backed up by trail cameras in the postseason. I wondered if I would get another chance the following year (it was in fact the last day of the season). I thought about this deer and the encounter nearly everyday.

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August-ish - 2019 - New Hope

While relieving the pain during a spring scout I found a sign that would give me new hope. It was a track larger than the rest headed in the exact direction of the bed and along the same path that I had missed the buck. Could he be this consistent with travel?

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I scouted harder and more frequently that summer. I lined up many spots so I could stay as mobile as possible. I dialed in my gear, practiced more, and purchased arrows that I could have faith in. I studied all the reliable and relatable content I could consume. Confidence is a tool that cannot be overlooked.

October - 4th - Validation

I haven't mentioned it yet because I guess, well, I am a little embarrassed. While this spot I am writing about has everything, it is also the “moped” (See infalt video for slang definition) of all moped spots. If seen, most would be downright red in the face. Needless to say that morning I dove into more than one ditch in order to avoid being seen in the early hours of October 4th (first sit in the location). I questioned whether it was worth it.

After only 20 minutes in the stand I would have one of the most incredible moments to date. Here he comes. My access was perfect and he paralleled my trail only 20-30 yards away. I waited until a shot window appeared and took a quartering away shot. He bounded off…. not the reaction I wanted. He was heading again towards the beds, but stopped about 50 yards from me. It was at this moment I noticed an obvious pulsation and quivering of his back leg. The shot was back.

After the obligatory wait I checked for some sign of blood and eventually found great blood (more than I expected), but bumped the deer and and immediately backed out. After posting to the beast, some folks indicated that I may have hit an artery in the hind quarters. I came back hours later with the wind to my face. I half methodically and half desperately searched the swamp for the deer. I strategically checked each known bed until I reached a few of the last I knew of. As a stepped through the tall swamp grass, bow in hand and release clipped on, I nearly stepped on him. I threw my bow down and sat beside him in disbelief. It was nearly 8 long hours later and I was both exhausted and in another world of accomplishment. Complete Validation.

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First and foremost, I’ll be the first to admit that luck was at play when that arrow was released. I accept this fully and whatever happened did (poor shot or deflection). In contrast, what was not luck, was the hours and hours of preparation put towards a second chance at the same deer a whole year later.


Key points:

Relate everything back to bedding
First sit is the best sit
Scouting 5x more than you hunt is so worth it
Older deer “can” be more predictable
Ride the “moped”... at least until someone sees you
Regardless of preparation, hunting is not perfect.
Beast tactics can work in the northeast!
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