The early bow season here in Iowa has come and gone, and once again I’ve been blessed to have had some pretty incredible encounters along the way.  Kyle Reenders (WKP cameraman and editor) and I had hunted about 40 straight days before I pulled the trigger on an Iowa whitetail.  Along the way, we documented some pretty incredible things in the field, but as always – I’m a little sad that I can’t hunt here in Iowa until late December.

Our season started out really slow with 7 straight days in Illinois.  Food sources had changed just before the beginning of the season on our Illinois farm, so the bucks were gone.  We actually knew this because a local friend knew where they were feeding, and it wasn’t in our area.  We headed back to Iowa and hunted hard for many weeks.  We didn’t really even see too many deer until late October.

My property neighbor Rich Baugh of Midwest Whitetail Land was nice enough to provide me with these pictures of “Jumper”.  Rich has many trail cameras operating on his property year-around, so we usually have a pretty good inventory of what (or who) is running around our hunting properties.

Here are several images of Jumper, from this past summer…

When it turned on - it turned on I’m here to tell you.  Between myself and a couple other hunters in the same area, we had seen nearly every big mature buck we knew was around within a few days in the last week cold-front that came between October 25^th and the 28^th.  It was insane.  On the evening of the 28^th, I passed 3 different mature bucks – one of which is a buck from the past.  That’s the only hint you will get.

On the morning of November 8^th, Kyle and I were situated on the edge of a thick ridge that sets just above a bottom in a narrow stretch of timber that separates several CRP and food plot fields.  We had been waiting the entire season to hunt this spot, but we needed a straight West wind, and we needed to be about 5-10 days into November.  That is when we figured it would be the best.

We had a doe and fawn followed by a small buck come from behind us, work their way up the creek bank, and worked their way right past our stand, cutting through both shooting lanes at a mere 12 yards, and even though we were at eye level with these deer – they didn’t have a clue.  After about an hour, another smaller buck came down past our stand in the bottom, caught our wind, and boogied out of there.

Story continues below
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the morning was gaining maturity, time was slowly passing, and I was deep in-thought.  I hear Kyle say “Big Buck, Big Buck - Right Here”.  I turn to see a big rack coming straight for us at about 15 yards in some thick Cedars above our stand.  I instantly stood-up, and the buck catches movement and slams on the breaks.  I could only see the frame and part of the face of the buck.  At first glimpse I believed it was a giant 8 pointer that I had targeted in this area.  I told myself, “you have got to get you bow (which was still hanging next to me on the opposite side of the tree), come to full draw, and you may still have a chance”.  But I knew I would have to make this move very quickly or I would miss the opportunity.  The exact same scenario happened with a buck I called the “Iowa Tree Shredder” back in 2003.  He busted me, I made a move as soon as he moved, and he’s on the wall because I held it together and made quick decisions that ended with an arrow through his boiler room.  The only thing a hunter can do in this moment is to remain motionless, and let the buck make his move first.

The buck stood motionless for what seemed like minutes, but was probably only 20 seconds.  As soon as he made his move, I made mine.  I swung around in the stand, grabbed my bow, tore my facemask down, clipped my release on my string, and in one panicked and rushed moment I was at full-draw with the buck just entering one of my shooting lanes.  I grunted to stop the buck as he entered the first lane, and I let it eat.  The arrow blew through the buck in what I consider to be the “12 Ring” – and he was a dead buck running. 

Here is Jumper in the flesh.  A MONSTER of a 3 year old buck…

As soon as the camera swung back to me, it was like a volcano of energy that had to go some place!  It is pretty embarrassing to watch my reaction I’ll tell you that much.  About 39 days of pent-up hunter aggression, frustration, and adrenalin that all came gushing forward – and one trembling freaking out dude is all that was left.  Man, I’m only going to have to watch it another 1,000 or so times during the editing process!  I’m such a dork! 

The buck ended up being a different animal than I thought I had released the arrow on.  It was actually a 3-1/2 year old buck that we had nick-named “Jumper” because he made such a jump between 2 and 3 years old.  I didn’t want to shoot this buck because he would have blown into a GIANT next year.  At the end of the day, a released arrow can’t be taken back, so I immediately decided that it is what it is, and he is such a beautiful buck that I could never be disappointed.

You know, at the end of the day, the only person you have to make happy in the hunting field is yourself.  There are certain guys out there who basically look down on people for shooting a 2 or 3 year old deer.  If everyone had the time and energy to put into whitetail hunting that I’m lucky enough to have; you can be pretty picky.  For the rest of the world, shoot what you want so-long as it makes you happy.  At the end of the day, it is between you and the animal and no-one else.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe season.  Happy Holidays everyone!