ORIGINAL: medicsnoke

Couple weeks ago I seen a large drop tine buck eating some standing beans near my house. With the temps in single digits and a wind chill making it sub zero, the big boys were looking to eat. It was just a small patch of beans that the farmer missed due to it being a sharp inside corner. I immediately went home and started doing my home work. You gotta love the county auditors website. Every property in detailed outline with owner names and addresses. However, the local woods were owned by a few different people. I wanted to sit right on them beans and wait out the giant drop tine buck, If he made the mistake once, he'd make it twice. The next day I went to town and knocked on a few doors trying to locate the owner. The third door I knocked on, I was welcomed by a little old lady that enjoyed seeing her deer, ''We feed them and I hope no one shoots them'', she told me. Off the the adjacent land owner. Being a farmer, this guy said have at it. With the temps still in single digits, I told him Ide be back that night to hunt. By looking at the aerial photo I knew aboust where I wanted to sit. I took the lone wolf alpha and 3 sticks. While walking in I didnt see any tracks or sign, so I kept walking the wood line. After walking 200 yrds past where I wanted to be, I thought ide go back and reaccess the property, thats when I saw him. The droptine buck was walking through the CRP field I just walked through and past the tree I knew I should have climbed. So I did my best to slide into position best I could and started to climb the tree, only to see droptine running across the county away from my position. That night ended with no more deer sightings. Since that night Ive hunted that tree 4 or 5 times, each time seeing the droptine and several other bucks. Having my trail cam set up over my corn pile I started learning the herd and marking them as shooters and non-shooters. Although my heart was set on the droptine, a few others caught my attention. This guy being one of them. From this pic, I guessed him at a mature deer, maybe 140, and for late season, a definite shooter. What does he look like to you in this pic?



Fast forward to last tonight. I got on stand around 330pm. The woods were dead calm but not as cold as I would have liked. I sat until 515 and decided I better stand up and wait the rest of the night. The dinky tree I was sitting in swayed back and forth with my every movement and Ide need to be prepared. Just after standing up I heard a snap in the woods. Peering through the tree's I seen a decent buck trotting to my position. Before he cleared the tree line I put the bino's on him and could distinctly see the split brows. Its a shooter! As the buck reached the tree line he picked up the pace and ran to my corn pile. Yes, I admit it, I shot this buck over a corn pile. A tactic I only use in late season. As he cleared the tree to my right I gave a MAAHHH! Chip shot..........15yrds and I smoked him. He only ran 50 yrds and tipped over DRT. I made few phone calls and let the woods settle.

The recovery:
Tracked him for the first 15 yrds with no blood trail and couldnt find my arrow. Had me second guessing my self, But i was confident he did the death stance at 50 yrds, followed by the crash. So i kept in the direction of travel. I see him................and thats when it happened:
GROUND SHRINKAGE

I took the infamous Bill Dance photos and he looks like a great buck, but trust me, he is a 130-135 inch 2 1/2 yr old and If given a second chance Ide never had shot him. But as it is, he is a nice buck and my first January/ Late Season buck. With only six days left in the Ohio archery season, He aint bad. Guess I will have to put one of my buddies on droptine this week or pick his sheds up next month and hunt him next year. So to anyone with a buck tag....keep hunting, its not too late.



Couple more side notes:
1 )This buck has a dead zone shot through his backstraps from early bow season. You can see it in the bottom pic, just behing the rack. He smells of infection and will serve as coyote bait.
2) I shot him as he stepped in front of my trail camera, I could have some neat pics when i retrieve it next week???? Stay tuned!