First Buck...Monkey for sale
I was finally able to connect on my first buck this weekend. I am a little disappointed that it was with my muzzleloader and not my bow but I do feel a huge weight lifted off my back. I have been hunting seriously for the past 5 years and have only managed to take a couple of small does. This year for some reason all of that has changed. I was able to take three does with my bow and had an opportunity at a nice 10 pointer that would have scored in the 130’s but I think “buck fever” set in and I was unable to close the deal. Gun season opened in Indiana this weekend so I put the bow down for the weekend and tried my luck with the smoke pole. On Sunday two buddies and I went out for an all day hunt. The activity was pretty slow only seeing one deer from first light until noon. It was a nice 8 pointer but I did not feel comfortable with the shot so I passed. We got down for some lunch and when we came back the loggers decided to show up and do a little work that afternoon in the area I was hunting. I decided to go farther back into the woods when all of a sudden I saw one of them come walking back through the woods carrying a shotgun. He saw me and said that he had to take one more tree and would then would be gone. I asked him if he planned on cutting down that tree with his gun? Go figure he was going to shoot anything that was brown. I got fed up and went back to the truck and loaded my stuff up. Since I had a few hours of light left I walked over to another ridge line and just sat down on a tree stump and waited for my buddies to either connect or last light not really expecting to see much and fuming over the loggers ruining my hunt. Well after sitting for about 30 minutes I hear a deer crunching through the leaves. I spot him cutting through some downed tree tops eating leaves and anything else he can find. He starts to move out of sight so I reach for my grunt tube. Oh no it is gone, it had fallen off on my walk over to this ridge line so I try the next best thing. I grunt with my mouth, the best I could anyway. It seemed to do the trick as he turned around and headed in my direction. As he cut through a downed tree top I quickly stand and position myself next to a small tree, he keeps coming closer and closer. He was no more than 20 yards from me and still had no clue I was there. I was able to take the shot and drop him on the spot. Not only did I kill my first buck but Ii took him from the ground which I thought was an accomplishment in itself. Needless to say it was a long day that I thought was going to be a waste but I made the best of a bad situation I guess. I know it is not a wall hanger but it is a start to many more successful seasons I hope.