well, the evening was beautiful...WARM...i didnt venture in the woods till 5 or so...didnt bother moving the stand....i was already sweating and didnt wanna stink the place up and make more noise than i needed too so i just climbed back up the same tree...
this is my first sighting...gunna be long
captain mauser style
not much going on...turkeys like usual...jusssst getting dark...figured id lower the bow down and head out...still legal light, but i didnt THINK id beable to see and ID deer so i was sneaking out while nothing was there....bow hit the ground and iwas unscrewing my hanger when i caught movement...saw antler immediatly...grabbed the binocs and had 4pts on one side...he was in a little crab apple patch...hurried up and got the bow back up...he never even looked my direction! got an arrow nocked and cocked the QAD...he was right about 20yds but too thick for a shot..then i realized that 1 side i seen was his ONLY side...
a decent side...maybe a nub on the other side i couldnt tell...looked busted off but i couldnt be sure...
what to do what to do.....2.5yo buck...probably 14-15" wide if he had both sides...would been my first 2.5yo buck ever....buttt its early, hes a half rack.....errr what to do!?!? after 5 minutes of that i told myself IF he came into the wide open clearing on his own and i had light, id shoot him...if he didnt, i wasnt going to try to help him...and wasnt taking any other shot because of the low light and invisible limbs being possible...he cleared the crab apples but i wanted him closer where i KNEW it was wide open...
WHOA! another deer behind him! a bigger one?? legal buck with both sides!?!? VERY VERY dark coat...almost black...farmer buddy seen him in the spring or early summer said it was a buck with thats REAL dark..seen antlers but immediatly seen he was smaller...4,5,6, maybe 7...i couldnt tell his antlers were dark and i wasnt worried about it because he was 1.5 and smaller..smaller than last years so he got a pass for that....still watching the half rack....probably watched them both for 10 minutes..(maybe 5 but it seemed like 30 lol)
im getting nervous..the small buck is behind me...with the East wind he was DOWN wind...AND standing on my trail i walked in on TWICE today and was sweating this evening walking in...he NEVER busted...caught my movement and looked but he went back to feeding...the half rack hits my clearning...uht oh...guess he might get it......hes facing me, head down...errr what to do what to do...them i realized although i could see the buck and antlers and knew it was clear, i might not see through the peep or see the pin...we'll find out...its GO TIME! full draw...he turns broadside...errrr he did what he was supposed to for a shot...maybe i better take it!?!?!
well........i passed him! i could hardddddly make out my pin...even if it was a monster, i would still passed. i wont take a shot im not comfortable with. 12yds broadside i coulda spit in his eye...but its bowhunting...ANYTHING can happen when you lose an arrow...
im happy with my decision...if he had both sides, i would be tellin a different story and would took the 20yd shot...i had plenty of light then....
VERY awesome hunt...i feel...satisfied? ive never PASSED a legal deer i COULD have killed...and watched it for THAT long...had 2 bucks within 15yds of me at the same time...both down wind and crossed my trail and they never flinched...
the first thing i thought of was ROB BUCK! lol...that was my first instinct when i seen he only had a half rack...
i know i learned more and will learn more from WATCHING rather than shooting...its early....yes, i could drilled him...but im confident i'll see another, or him later in the season...got the last 3 weekends to hunt and can hunt that spot hard if i want....i didnt spook either of them and let them make it into the corn 100yds away before i snuck outta there...i just feel...good...im hopeful that i'll get a bigger one..with the bow this year....and hopeful that anyone else that sees him passes him as well so next year i have a 3.5yo biggun on my hill....
i wanna see the stud that busted his rack!!!!