Diesel77

Argghhh!! Well, make the best of it bro, Saturday will be a good day to be in the woods. Good luck, Im sensing we will have some smiling faces on here soon enough.

FF/EMT

Well, Ive been out quite a bit lately, had some really good encounters but havn't been able to seal the deal yet. Last Saturday I had 4 bucks come in chasing a doe, 1 buck was in the 130 -135class buthe never presented a good shot opportunity.

Going out for an all day sit tomorrow. Forecast looks like crap,Thunderstorms in the morning, high is 56 and the temp is suposed to drop to around 40 by evening, so hopefully that should get them on there feet. Gun season starts Saturday so this is going to be the last good chance with the bow so wish me luck.

Goodluck to everyone and stay safe

Tom

SouthernMDArchers

You guys have a nice buck down. I am posting this on behalf of one of your hunting teammates. I am sure he will be on later with a score, pics and the story.

Dave

NavyDeerHunter

Well, it's been a very long night, but well worth it. It's me who was fortunate enough to take a good buck today and also fortunte enough to have Dave come and help me drag it out. Here comes the story and pics if I can get them posted.

My plan was an all day hunt with a stand switch at some point as the winds were due to change in the afternoon. I got to my morning set well before light and had a big bodied deer come in right at 0600. Could see the body well enough to know it had some size, but could not see the head well enough to tell if there was any bone or not. Obviously not enough light to shoot so it got a pass. About 0700 a fairly good 6 point came in, but also got a pass. 1030ish brought an end to my morning sit and I went out to the truck to meet my new friend Dave (SouthernMDArchers). After catching up with him for awhile and having some lunch I went home to switch out a batch of jerkey from my last deer . I got to my stand at about 2 PM and got settled in. At about 2:20 I spotted a nice buck...off to my right at what I thought was 75 yards or so. He was crossing right to left and going deeper into the woods all the while. I lost sight of him when he went behind a deadfall and a bunch of thick junk. Figuring that I had nothing to lose I hit the rattle bag and gave about half a dozen long grunts to see what would happen. Sure enough...this guy came in on a string...I mean he was looking to see where in the heck this fight was taking place in his neck of the woods. He came in hard and fast and where do you think he stopped but DIRECTLY below my stand. NO SHOT. He stood there for at least 5 minutes, although it seemed much longer and all the while he was looking around trying to figure out where thisfight was taking place. He finally took a few steps away and I had to make the shot. If he kept going he would have been in very heavy briar and I would not have had a chance. It was a very hard angle, but I felt the shot would be a good one. It ended up a little further back than I would have liked. He bounded off about 10 yards and just stood there. I could see where the arrow went in and knew it was liver. After a bit he walked a few steps until I stopped him with a grunt. A few more steps, another grunt. I could tell he was hurting and I was just trying to keep him as close to me as I could. Each time he walked, I grunted and it worked. Finally he stood still for a couple of minutes before stumbling and falling. He got up, walked about 20 yards and bedded down. I could still see him from my tree and at this point it was about 2:35 so I decided to just sit still and wait him out. I texted Dave and let him know and he said he'd be down to help when the time came. My intent was to wait at least until dark, but being able to keep an eye on him with binosit was obvious to me at about 4:00 that he was dead. I climbed down, got my arrow and backed out to meet dave. The arrow had heavy blood, but also some brisquit fat and white hair which told me that the entry was high and the exit low. IF I had not been able to watch this deer bed down and not move for 1.5 hours...I would have waited until tomorrow to go after it. At any rate, we felt comfortable that it was dead so we walked in and easily found it. Dave was a great help getting it out of the woods and into my truck. Friends came over during the skinning process and they have just left so this is my first chance to post this. I'll send this and then try to upload the picture with it.
Have not put a tape to him yet, but Dave guessed 134. I'll know tomorrow before going to the Taxi.
Cheers,
Craig.

Edit 11/8/08...he scored 126 0/8...if I did it right.



http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/craigbuist/DSC01411.jpg

fun2hunt

Congrats on an awesome buck!!!

JoeyG

Awesome buck Craig. Hes got some long g2's. Did he break that browtine off?
I leave for Michigan Friday. I will be up in the U.P. rifle hunting until Thanksgiving. Then I will be bow hunting in South Carolina, and after that I still have a lot of hunting to be done here in Va. I'm still confident I will get a nice one on the ground. Yesterday I had a decent 8 pt stroll by me with his nose to the ground. I would of shot him last year, but I am holding out for something a little better this year. I guess I'll see if it works out for me.

Diesel77

Congrats again Craig, hes an awesome buck. Now go get another!!!

HuntingBry

Craig, congrats on the buck. He is a beauty.

I got one down too guys! Took him on Saturday morning. Here is a link to the story:

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=3160404

NavyDeerHunter

You took him on Saturday and we're just now hearing about it? What...were you looking for him for two days? Where are your priorities? J/K...looking forward to being able to see the pictures and see the score. Awesome story. Congrats again.

NavyDeerHunter

I know there are a lot of scores that have not been "entered" yet, but with yours Bryan it would put us at 342"...third place at this point.