Post by Greg Krause on Apr 23, 2013 0:22:53 GMT -5
Here are som pictures of the buck I took on Friday morning,11-16-2012. The property is now town/state owned and open to hunting to anyone who passes a proficiency test. The one picture is a still from some video my buddy took on Saturday evening and what prompted me to pursue this buck exclusively. He worked on a deer farm for 7 years and had a regular contact with bucks up to 300". He said he thought this deer would go close to 150 from the look he got at it. I didn't see it from the picture but decided that this deer was mature and good enough to focus on. The story is a little long winded, but I think it's worth being told.
Sunday morning I decided to sit all day. I snuck into a tree well before dawn in the area he had seen him. I have climbed this tree in the past so I knew it would work well. I saw a doe in heat come through just after day break, another came in at noon and urinated in a scrape. At 2:15 I heard a few snort wheezes coming from a dense thicket just up the hill from me, near where my buddy saw the buck the previous night. A small spike rocketed out of the thicket and a doe trotted down to a 30yd shooting lane. She was looking back toward the snort wheezing and to the hiking trail 100yds on the other side of me. I knew this was it, she would lead him past my stand. At that moment a few hikers came down the trail yelling to each other loudly. She bolted away from them, me and the buck. I didn't lay eyes on him, but was sure it was the buck I was after. I didn't see another deer the rest of the day.
Monday I prepared for another all day sit in a tree I had prepped about 100yds up hill. It was perfect for the wind and I thought would give me a good chance to at least see this buck. I tried to get into the woods before day break but the fog was so heavy it was impossible to see more than a few feet and decided to wait until first light. Another hunted pulled up next to my truck and I got ready to head for my stand. He asked where I was hunting, so he wouldn't screw me up. I told him and he explained where he would be hunting. It should have been about 200yds apart. A little closer than I would have liked but it should have been fine. I headed in, climbed my tree and pulled up my bow. Just as I hung it up, I heard a noise below me. I looked down and 30yds away I saw my "buddy" from the parking lot. He was spraying doe grin all over the place as I tried to get his attention. He finally saw me when I turkey called to him. He gave the universal gesture for "sorry" and backed 50 yds farther down the hill. For the next 15 minutes all I could hear was him clanking his way up a tree. about an hour and a half later he clanked back down his tree, walked back over to me and took the scent dripper off the branch he had left it on before. He then stumbled out through the bedding area to leave. I was annoyed but figured eventually things would calm down. They didn't. All day on stand and no deer seen.
I took a break on tuesday and slept in. Wednesday the wind was perfect for a prepped tree, 50yds above where I sat on Monday. From daybreak until noon, when i climbed down to get ready for work, the deer were everywhere. I saw 16 does and a spike. Passing on 8 does less than 15 yds away. I decided to send my buddy who needed a doe to "doe in" and had been the one that spotted the buck I was after. He sat that tree Wednesday night and Thursday morning. He saw one small 6 point and that was it. I saw a few bucks but no shooters on a different property Thursday. I had a little time before work after the hunt so I decided to scout a little. Last January I found a huge rub on the other side of the road and using google earth saw a funnel of sorts that lead to the hill I was hunting. Below where I had been hunting was littered with thigh sized rubs but with no real pattern. The rub I found last year was on the opposite side of the hill. I needed to scout the top. I did a quick recon and found a distinct rub line on thigh sized cedars, running through a thicket along the edge of an over grown field. I had just connected the dots. The problem was that since this area is all new growth and nearly all the trees are under 6" around. I did find a shag bark hickory that would work as far as location and wind direction for the following morning.
On Friday I left my truck before 4:30am, even though it was a short walk. I went as slowly and quietly as I could, staying off the deer trails and keeping my red light close to the ground. I had a hunch that this deer was close and maybe locked down with a doe in this area. I climbed my tree very slowly, quietly peeling off the shag bark by hand as I went up. At day break everything seemed perfect. Around 9am, I saw a young buck acting real skittish around a blow down I had passed within 50yds of on my way in. At first I thought he had caught my scent, but the wind was good and I had just washed an ozoned all of my gear and sprayed down with scent killer. By the time he left I thought that a doe or buck and doe may be on the other side of the blow down.
At 9:30 I looked back that way and saw a doe. Something about the way she looked made me pick up my bow. As soon as I did, I saw a good buck behind her. I knew he was nowhere near 150", but he was good. She took her time coming in and he slowly walked about 50yds behind her. She crossed a rock wall and was in a 30yd shooting lane, relaxed and browsing. He got to the wall and I could tell he knew something wasn't right. He was looking in my direction even though the wind was right, he was no where near my trail and I had great cover. He stood there for 5 minutes or so just trying to figure out what was wrong. He looked back at the doe and crossed the wall quickly, probably hoping to push her along to the thicker cover just ahead. As he crossed that wall I drew and as he paused at 32yds, slightly quartering toward me, I touched off my release. He bolted 30yds, hit some brush. flipped over and was still. I had taken off the top of his heart and passed through both lungs.
After getting down I looked at the photo of the buck i was hunting and the buck i had just taken. It was indeed the same buck. It felt great to hunt this deer for 35 hours and take him in under a week on fairly heavily hunted land. Later I went to Bobs bait and tackle to pick up doe tags. I know the owner and mentioned I had the deer in the truck. He and his buddy came out and instantly wanted to know where I got him because it was "Bubba". A buck they had been getting pictures of for the last few years. It seems every year just after hunting season opened, he would disappear until christmas morning. They made a call and another friend showed up and agreed it was him. It turns out that this deer was walking about a mile and a half every year and would spend most of hunting season on the hill i killed him on. They all had stories of how he would hang up before presenting a shot, even when their was no tangible reason for him to do so. Just standing there and staring, before deciding to go back the way he came. They had him aged at 5.5 from the years of pictures. The DEC aged him at 5.5.
I feel a special connection to this property. A property that my Grandpa hunted years ago. He often saw bucks, but always said the big ones got away. I often wonder if i might be sitting in the very spot he did, long before my time. I have managed to take two mature bucks here in the last two years. Bucks that slipped by the 97 other hunters here. Just maybe I'm getting a little help and not all the big ones get away after all.
The picture that started it all
The arrow after the shot
The buck how he fell
Me and the Buck
Sunday morning I decided to sit all day. I snuck into a tree well before dawn in the area he had seen him. I have climbed this tree in the past so I knew it would work well. I saw a doe in heat come through just after day break, another came in at noon and urinated in a scrape. At 2:15 I heard a few snort wheezes coming from a dense thicket just up the hill from me, near where my buddy saw the buck the previous night. A small spike rocketed out of the thicket and a doe trotted down to a 30yd shooting lane. She was looking back toward the snort wheezing and to the hiking trail 100yds on the other side of me. I knew this was it, she would lead him past my stand. At that moment a few hikers came down the trail yelling to each other loudly. She bolted away from them, me and the buck. I didn't lay eyes on him, but was sure it was the buck I was after. I didn't see another deer the rest of the day.
Monday I prepared for another all day sit in a tree I had prepped about 100yds up hill. It was perfect for the wind and I thought would give me a good chance to at least see this buck. I tried to get into the woods before day break but the fog was so heavy it was impossible to see more than a few feet and decided to wait until first light. Another hunted pulled up next to my truck and I got ready to head for my stand. He asked where I was hunting, so he wouldn't screw me up. I told him and he explained where he would be hunting. It should have been about 200yds apart. A little closer than I would have liked but it should have been fine. I headed in, climbed my tree and pulled up my bow. Just as I hung it up, I heard a noise below me. I looked down and 30yds away I saw my "buddy" from the parking lot. He was spraying doe grin all over the place as I tried to get his attention. He finally saw me when I turkey called to him. He gave the universal gesture for "sorry" and backed 50 yds farther down the hill. For the next 15 minutes all I could hear was him clanking his way up a tree. about an hour and a half later he clanked back down his tree, walked back over to me and took the scent dripper off the branch he had left it on before. He then stumbled out through the bedding area to leave. I was annoyed but figured eventually things would calm down. They didn't. All day on stand and no deer seen.
I took a break on tuesday and slept in. Wednesday the wind was perfect for a prepped tree, 50yds above where I sat on Monday. From daybreak until noon, when i climbed down to get ready for work, the deer were everywhere. I saw 16 does and a spike. Passing on 8 does less than 15 yds away. I decided to send my buddy who needed a doe to "doe in" and had been the one that spotted the buck I was after. He sat that tree Wednesday night and Thursday morning. He saw one small 6 point and that was it. I saw a few bucks but no shooters on a different property Thursday. I had a little time before work after the hunt so I decided to scout a little. Last January I found a huge rub on the other side of the road and using google earth saw a funnel of sorts that lead to the hill I was hunting. Below where I had been hunting was littered with thigh sized rubs but with no real pattern. The rub I found last year was on the opposite side of the hill. I needed to scout the top. I did a quick recon and found a distinct rub line on thigh sized cedars, running through a thicket along the edge of an over grown field. I had just connected the dots. The problem was that since this area is all new growth and nearly all the trees are under 6" around. I did find a shag bark hickory that would work as far as location and wind direction for the following morning.
On Friday I left my truck before 4:30am, even though it was a short walk. I went as slowly and quietly as I could, staying off the deer trails and keeping my red light close to the ground. I had a hunch that this deer was close and maybe locked down with a doe in this area. I climbed my tree very slowly, quietly peeling off the shag bark by hand as I went up. At day break everything seemed perfect. Around 9am, I saw a young buck acting real skittish around a blow down I had passed within 50yds of on my way in. At first I thought he had caught my scent, but the wind was good and I had just washed an ozoned all of my gear and sprayed down with scent killer. By the time he left I thought that a doe or buck and doe may be on the other side of the blow down.
At 9:30 I looked back that way and saw a doe. Something about the way she looked made me pick up my bow. As soon as I did, I saw a good buck behind her. I knew he was nowhere near 150", but he was good. She took her time coming in and he slowly walked about 50yds behind her. She crossed a rock wall and was in a 30yd shooting lane, relaxed and browsing. He got to the wall and I could tell he knew something wasn't right. He was looking in my direction even though the wind was right, he was no where near my trail and I had great cover. He stood there for 5 minutes or so just trying to figure out what was wrong. He looked back at the doe and crossed the wall quickly, probably hoping to push her along to the thicker cover just ahead. As he crossed that wall I drew and as he paused at 32yds, slightly quartering toward me, I touched off my release. He bolted 30yds, hit some brush. flipped over and was still. I had taken off the top of his heart and passed through both lungs.
After getting down I looked at the photo of the buck i was hunting and the buck i had just taken. It was indeed the same buck. It felt great to hunt this deer for 35 hours and take him in under a week on fairly heavily hunted land. Later I went to Bobs bait and tackle to pick up doe tags. I know the owner and mentioned I had the deer in the truck. He and his buddy came out and instantly wanted to know where I got him because it was "Bubba". A buck they had been getting pictures of for the last few years. It seems every year just after hunting season opened, he would disappear until christmas morning. They made a call and another friend showed up and agreed it was him. It turns out that this deer was walking about a mile and a half every year and would spend most of hunting season on the hill i killed him on. They all had stories of how he would hang up before presenting a shot, even when their was no tangible reason for him to do so. Just standing there and staring, before deciding to go back the way he came. They had him aged at 5.5 from the years of pictures. The DEC aged him at 5.5.
I feel a special connection to this property. A property that my Grandpa hunted years ago. He often saw bucks, but always said the big ones got away. I often wonder if i might be sitting in the very spot he did, long before my time. I have managed to take two mature bucks here in the last two years. Bucks that slipped by the 97 other hunters here. Just maybe I'm getting a little help and not all the big ones get away after all.
The picture that started it all
The arrow after the shot
The buck how he fell
Me and the Buck
