Too true Skeet! My hunt this week has been a perfect illustration of that in several ways. The pumpkin patch was clearly not the right place for me to find the right buck. Not saying there aren't any trophy bucks around there but when I see several 2 and 3 year old bucks holding does this late in the game without any competition, it can't be a good sign. Yep, the hunting pressure those pastures are getting is simply insane, by far the worst I've ever seen there.

Contrast that with my last few days up north of town and it was night and day. Sure there was some pressure but I only saw one other hunter out of the truck. Now back to the "right place, right time" thing. I got up to this new area wednesday afternoon and started seeing bucks right off the bat. Most were dinks but the highlight was watching 4 bucks(including a nice 140ish 5x5) do the hot doe choochoo train routine across the road in front of me at about 4:00 that afternoon. That's something you just don't see anymore in the pasture.

The area was basically two quarters of bush and two hayfields set up in sort of a checkerboard pattern, with the black squares being bush and the white being alfalfa and a 10acre slough. One of the bush quarters was once mostly spruce and had been logged about 5-10 years ago. The aspen have since regenerated in to that impenetrable mass of 6ft saplings that whitetails love. On either side of the section were similar bush quarters to the east and west with a mile of wide open stubble to the north and south. I spent all afternoon thursday stomping around in the logged quarter looking for an ambush spot that would allow me to catch the east-west movement I had seen on the road the day before(the 4 idiots). Finally, I found a great little finger ridge that overlooked the 600 yard wide pinch point between the two checkerboard quarters. It wasn't perfect but it allowed me to see about 90% of what wanted to cross from bush A to bush B. After a short, uneventful sit last night (not a surprise after tha stomping around all afternoon) i retreated with plans to return for an all day sit today.

I was a bit late arriving this morning (slept in) but arrived at the ridge about 20 minutes after legal time. I was already pissed at myself for being late and blowing several deer on the way but I was determined to get set up and catch the rest of the morning show. I was in the process of picking a spot for my seat when i saw movement 400yds off along the edge of the slough. Right away I saw antlers as the buck jogged across the 150 open yards between aspen stands. 400 is too long for me but i figured with him moving closer as he crossed he might give me a shot a 300. As he emerged from a low spot I hollered several times to try and stop him. Just as I thought he was going to be gone for good he stopped 5 feet from the edge of the bush at about 300. Using the shooting sticks, Thinking he was a bit further than he was, I held a few inches over back and took a poke. He dropped in his tracks with a broken spine. After the easiest 300yard sprint ever and a quick mercy shot he was mine. A beautiful heavy mainframe 5x5 with a split brow and a small sticker. I roughed him this afternoon at 167gross, 154 net.

Talk about "right place and right time"





Sorry for the timing on this one JD, not trying to rub salt in any wounds. Up till this morning my week was looking pretty dismal. I was just about ready to go home with my tail between my legs. It just goes to show how fast things can turn around.

Sounds like great season YF! Good luck fine tuning for next year. We'll definitely have to talk archery mulies in the off season. Have a great time in Mexico!

Good luck this weekend JD and Skeet.