I killed this deer this evening (Friday 11/28)on property I haven' t hunted in a couple years and the landowner just gave me permission to hunt a couple days ago. I could have hunted the land before just hadn' t asked in a couple years. A friend and myself headed into the area at about 1:30. I pointed out an area he should hunt along a thicket and I moved about 200yds farther south to locate a tree to hunt from. As I said I hadn' t hunted here in a while so I wasn' t sure where I would hunt. The wind was from the West/Northwest and I planned to stay along the eastern edge of the woods. I expected the deer to move from within the woods to the field to the east, so I was looking for an area they may have been crossing the fence. The rain over the past few weeks had most of the woods standing in water. I found out my wore out boots were leaking and had one wet foot by the time I chose a tree near several fresh rubs and a scrape with 4" of water over it. I noticed the scrape because of the mangled limb above it. I was using rope steps and a hang on stand (LocOn WindWalker)and chose a tree that was smaller than I would like but offered my best bet for a shot.
I had only been in the stand about 20 minutes and noticed a buck approaching from the northwest eating acorns. The woods has been logged in the past and through the thick growth I first thought it was a lot bigger buck. The buck was taking his time coming my way then decided to bed down on a dry spot with his back to the wind and facing directly my way. He was about 75yds away and I watched him for about an hour. I was already standing, so with the deer facing my direction most of the time, I was getting very uncomfortable trying not to move while he was looking my way. I would shift every time he looked one way or the other. The buck would stretch out every now and then and nose around in the leaves for acorns then just lay there and chew. He never once really let his guard down though, he was very alert at all times.
I was able to look him over with the binos a couple times and could tell he was not near the deer I thought he was originally. I really planned to not shoot the buck and let him go on by if he came my way. I have a lot more hunting time left and figured I could shoot a doe for meat. When the buck finally stood up he headed straight for me and I thought " what the heck I' ve been letting them go all year and I would like to kill a deer right now" . Once I contemplated shooting him I was more or less locked into the shoot mode and never thought different. He walked behind a big Oak and I came to full draw. He was pretty much standing in the flooded scrape and turned and looked directly at me in the tree. He knew that huge lump on that small Hickory didn' t look right. He shifted back to mostly broadside still looking at me and I settled the pin on the crease behind his left front leg and smoothly released. The shot was 15yds and the arrow entered just above center tight behind the shoulder and exited just below center about 8" behind the off shoulder. The buck ran through the flooded woods about 60yds then stopped. I could see his tail flickering a lot and knew he was done. He made another quick dash about 30 yds and collapsed. The time was about 3:45.
He isn' t my biggest buck and certainly not my smallest but I am still happy with the results of the hunt. I lucked into picking the right tree, I was able to observe the buck in a way that I normally don' t, I made a great shot and a quick kill resulting in an easy recovery, and I was also able to use the help of a friend and my brother, who is in for the holiday weekend, to retrieve the deer.
I plan to buy another tag tomorrow and hunt more throughout the rest of the season. Maybe I can luck into one of the bucks IL is known for. And if I don' t I might still take a doe or two along the way and love every minute of it.
