Thursday morning you guys might remember me posting that I had a nice 8 or 10 pointer walk underneath one of my stands I wasn't sitting in and I was kinda bummed out about it. Well that was only a sign of things to come.....
Friday morning I called in sick to work and took off to Western IL for the weekend. Here's a quick summed up version of the events that followed.
Friday Morning: Spooked away one of the biggest bucks I've ever seen while hunting. He came from a direction I wasn't watching closely enough right at the crack of daylight and caught me moving as I turned around to look in his direction. Truely a magnificent buck.
Friday Night: Saw a total of 7 deer from stand, 2 really nice bucks. One of which was a heck of an 8 point but had 3 tines busted off about halfway down. He came straight in to my buck decoy and stood broadside at 30 yards. I shot right underneath him.
Saturday Morning: Same stand as Friday Night, rattled right as it got light out. 10 minutes later I spooked a big 8 pt as he was coming up through a valley where I couldn't see him very well. Later on in the morning while still hunting through the woods I got within 40 yards of a HUGE 10 pointer with at least a 24" spread, but couldn't get any shooting.
Saturday Night: Didn't see a single deer.
Sunda Morning: sat on the ground in a ravine 100 yards from the stand where I missed the 8 pt on Friday Night. Perfect morning. Slightly foggy, no wind, nice and damp, etc etc. I get set up at about 6:00 or so. At 6:30 I spotted a nice buck moving down out of a CRP field and into the ravine I was watching to my left. As soon as he got in the ravine I let out 3 small doe bleats. Sure enough, he turned straight for me and walked up the ravine. After crossing in front of me and coming across the ravine on my righthand side now, he stopped cuz something just wasnt right and he turned back the way he came, crossed over the ravine, and stopped directly in the center of one of my shooting lanes. I drew back, settled my pin on him and released. Only to watch my arrow sail 3 inches over his back and see him bound off into the fog.
Sunday Night: Saw one doe.
So yeah, that was my weekend. I saw more big bucks in a period of three days than I've seen all year and missed TWO of them! I still can't believe it. The first one I missed I underestimated the distance of the shot. It was an mistake anyone can make I guess. But the second one was just pure stupidity. I knew how far the shot was, used the right pin, and still somehow managed to shoot over him. I have no idea how. It was one of the biggest bucks I've ever had within bow range. Probably a 140+ class 8 point. At least a 20" spread and 10-12" G1's.
Ah well, time to go practice some more and hopefully get a shot at this big one I've been seeing close to home. I guess that's why they call it hunting and not killing.
