For those that asked...... here is the story on buck #3.
In 1991 I decided to start trophy hunting. I wanted a P&Y buck. This was the first year that you could get an antlerless tag along with your either sex tag. So my idea was to shoot a doe right away for the meat as I had three mouths to feed, then hunt for horns. It worked out perfect because I shot my doe on opening morning.
Back in those days I hunted almost every day from the end of Sept until Dec 31 (season close) if I had to. I wasn't having much luck. I couldn't hardly find a deer much less a trophy buck. On Oct 12th I got out of my stand a bit early that evening to look at a field I hadn't seen in a while. I was just trying to see where the deer were because I sure wasn't seeing any! On my way out of the woods and to the field (alphalfa), I was walking down a fence row next to a field of weeds that butted up against the woods. I looked out into the field and spotted a huge buck. Well, he spotted me also! [:@]Of course he bolted.
The next morning, after work (3rd shift) I went and scouted where I saw the buck. I found a rub line and followed it through the woods. I found that it went between a pond and an inside field.woods corner. There was a nice trail there as well. I found a good tree and set up my stand and began hunting it. I had 3 or 4 stands in this area and hunted all the time. I was seeing nothing, maybe a doe once in a while. I have a log book and I recorded 12 sits in a row without seeing a thing. Nov 10th after yet another hunt with no sightings, it started to snow.
On the morning of Nov 11th I had 3" of snow on the ground but it just warm enough that it was starting to melt. When I pulled up to my parking spot and got out of my truck, I noticed deer tracks ALL OVER THE PLACE!!
I wondered where they all came from! As I was walking to my pond stand, a pinch point, I bumped some deer. I started to get excited. As I entered the woods there were tracks all over. I got into my stand in a hurry. At about 6:30 AM a doe and a fawn came past me and the doe was grunting. That was the first time I ever heard this. They moved off about 100 yards and bedded down. I could see them through my binoculars.
At about 5 minutes to 8:00 AM, I was thinking about getting down to scout for a better place to put my stand before the snow all melted and erased all the tracks. Well, a lot of times I procrastinate about getting out of my stands and this time was one of them. I decided to have a candy bar before I left. I was turned in my stand reaching for the candy bar in my fanny pack when I heard a faint sound of a twig snapping. I turned my head and there he was...[:-][:-][:-][:-]...... I said to myself, "Look at the head gear on that thing!!" He was 30 yards and slowly approaching my stand on the trail I was watching. When he was at 25 yards I reached for my bow and my glove scraped the bark of my tree! [:@] He looked right up at me! [:-]After a few seconds he took a couple more steps and I got my bow in front of me. Suddenly he looked up at me again. This time my right knee started shaking, I couldn't control it!! [
]I slowly turned my head away from the buck and took a long slow deep breath in order to regain myself! When he finally started moving again it was like he didn't like something and started trotting. I was shooting sights/fingers back then so I hurried up and drew my bow, aimed and shot. I dropped him in his tracks with a spine shot. I got down, finished him off and started babling to myself.
All I could say was "Holy s--t!" I must have said it 300 times plus all the times I said it on the way back to my truck! [&:]
That was one of my coolest hunts ever. My first year trophy hunting and this was the first buck to come by my stand!
Here's a couple more pics. Please note: I wasn't a trend setter back then and not well versed in taking quality pics (film camera).
Thanks for listening,
Mount
My favorite pic, my son ( he's almost 21 now).
