October 30th
So there I was on October 30th getting ready for another uneventful morning I thought. See the previous two mornings and nights have gone by without a buck sighting. My trail camera's are showing good bucks in the area but seem to be traveling under the Harvest Moon. All I was seeing was doe's, fawn's and more doe's during daylight hours. I told myself before the morning hunt that no matter what happens Im going to sit in a stand that I call the "Hay bail" stand if the wind was going to be out of the NW. The hail bail stand is set up in a strip of red oaks between a corn field and hay field. Twelve big round bails make a pinch point for deer to cross in one or two area's along these oaks.
That morning I got up and printed off a weather report and it called for a 7-10 mph NW wind. Perfect I thought and headed out for the morning hunt. On my way to the farm my Dad calls me and tells me that the "Big 12" is across the driveway tending to some does. My dad spotted him with the truck lights leaving for work. I had a stand fairly close to that area but I had already told myself I was going to the hay bail stand. I had second guess myself quite a few times with no prevail so I wasn't going to do it again. When I got to the farm I see the "Big 12" in the hayfield and was so tempted to hunt a stand close but the wind wasn't right. I wasn't taking any chances and headed to the hay bail stand. I grabbed a scent drag and a little Tinks 69 and walked to my stand. I walked past a fairly fresh scrape and was a little discouraged because I thought I had missed him already. All the leaves were gone and fresh dirt was kicked everywhere, oh well I thought. When I got all settled in, I looked at my watch and it was 6:20 am, well before daylight.
Thirty minutes pass and I can finally see the Slick Trick on the end of my Easton arrow. It was cold and the wind was perfectly in my face blowing out into the dead corn field. Obviously a lot of people suffered from bad crops this year but ours was completely dead with no corn. I waited the first hour and seen nothing, not even a fat fox squirrel or a group of annoying turkeys. Another hour passes and still nothing. It was 9 o'clock and I decided another 30 minutes and Im out of here. I looked up and this buck was already in the scrape licking the branch and freshens it up again. I quickly put my release on the loop and moved my pin to 30 yards. 30 yards is exactly the distance of a trail this buck was on. He turned immediately and followed my scent drag. He was closing quick and I drew back. Oh, crap.....my pin is set for 30 yds and he's only 7 yds away. I placed the pin under his arm pit and touched the release. The arrow hit its mark and went through the one shoulder and came out the other shoulder clipping the top of heart and both lungs. The deer died in the hayfield 60 yards away. When I watched him drop thats when I got nervous and that beautiful feeling of buck fever kicked in. He's not the "Big 12" but a buck I would never pass. I had him scored at the taxidermist and we came up with 146 1/8. He has a 18 1/8 inch inside spread. His G2'S are 9 5/8 and 9 3/8. And both G3'S are 10 inches. Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone still hunting.