Nice hunting story for you...

Jimimac · 11-24-2008, 12:00 PM

Thought I"™d share a pretty cool hunting story with you guys now that the season is winding down.

In early November, you can usually find me in my funnel stand. I located this spot three seasons ago and it"™s been money ever since. It"™s a place where I"™m basically set up in between two outside fence corners. To get from one block of woods to the other the deer must either pass through the funnel or hop an electric fence into a pasture then hop it again to get back in the woods.

Anyhow, it was Wednesday, November 5th and I was sitting tight, waiting for my buck. Wind is in my face and I"™m feeling good. At 10:30, I see a deer"™s leg as it"™s coming through the thicket towards me. I"™m already standing, so I grab the bow, spin around, get set just as the buck jumps right across my shooting lane and gives me the slip, 90 degrees to my right. No shot down that way. This is a bad flashback from the day before when the same exact thing happened. In this spot, unless it"™s super crunchy, when the deer come in through the thicket they basically end up in my lap with hardly any notice.

Anyway, as I chastise myself for letting this happen two days in a row I grab my grunt call and give one soft grunt. The buck puts on the brakes just as he is about to go out of sight a mere 30 yards away. I then tucked myself in behind my tree as best I could, because even though I couldn"™t see his head, I know he is looking back my way. A few seconds goes by, and the buck decides to continue on his original path into the next thicket to troll for does.

I hit the grunt call twice more in rapid succession. The buck puts on the brakes, lets out a big exhale, spins around and trots straight back in. He"™s bristled up and looking for a scrap. Grunt tube gets tossed in the pack, and I"™m at full draw as he steps into the shooting lane. He"™s quartering to me and looking for the other buck. Confused that he doesn"™t see him, he starts to turn to go back to where he was originally headed. He flashes broadside and the arrow is on the way. Hit looks really good. Light up nock just disappeared into the sweet spot. The buck bolts 10 yards, stops, staggers and falls dead. Wow!

I wait ten minutes anyway then climb down to get my buck. A quick call to my buddy Bob has him at my side in 10 minutes for slaps on the back and a drag out. We decide at that point to put him in my stand once we get my deer out of there. After the drag and drop into the pickup, I stop by the house to lose some clothes before I"™m on the way to the butcher. It"™s now 12:50.

I head down the road and a few minutes into my trip, the cell phone rings and it"™s my buddy. He has a buck down. He spent all of 20 minutes in the stand when his deer showed up. His deer also falls within sight, so this is a pretty easy deal. I turn around and we repeat the process from a couple hours before.

Hold on"¦We"™re not done folks"¦

I call up my other hunting partner Michael and tell him the funnel spot is his if he wants it. He doesn"™t blink and at 6:15 the following morning, I"™m walking him out to my stand.

At 7:50, I"™m in the car taking my boy to school when the cell rings. It"™s Michael. Yep"¦he just put an arrow through a buck too. We agree to wait an hour and I"™ll come out to help. I get there; we inspect the arrow and are real pleased with what we see. Blood trail started immediately and it was heavy. No sense waiting any longer because it"™s quite obvious that his deer is down. Fifty yards later we get to his buck and the 2008 PA archery season was in the books for us. Three buck in less that 24 hours out of that tree. We made some sweet memories and the story should only get better as the years pass.

Me and Bob. I'm the exceptionally handsome one on the right! lol