In for the long haul

[huvrman]

I'm a resident of TN, but having been raised in MS, I have a farm there I purchased in the 90's. For the last few years I finally bit the bullet and spent considerable time and energy putting in numerous food plots, hanging stands, and managing the property for larger deer. I've reduced the number of hunters I allow access and have limited harvests to 3.5 year old 8 pt or larger. I typically hunt a couple of weeks in early/mid December, then another week in mid January. Last year I harvested a nice 8 pt in Dec, then missed a good 4.5 year old in January. They were the only 2 bucks I saw during my 3 weeks there. Fast forward to this year, and with the benefit of cameras, got 5 different bucks working one of my plots. I decided to work the dense thickets surrounding this plot, setting up in a couple of ladder stands that watch the edge between pine thicket and sapling/hardwood mixed. I hunted hard for 8 days, morning and evening, watching this particular area for roughly half of those sits. Sightings were tremendous, with many does and 4 bucks seen working in and out of the thicket. Three of the four bucks were not legal shooters (based on MS regs) but I was very pleased to be seeing many more deer than last year. The story on the fourth buck, though, is where the story really begins. Saturday afternoon I was perched in a ladder stand on the western side of a 100 yard wide sapling/hardwood funnel that ran north and south, sitting along the edge of a thinned pine plantation and thicket. With 10 minutes of shooting light left and facing east so I could see across the width of the funnel, I saw a doe walk across a small lane from north to south. She was at 50 yards, and immediately beyond her, about 20 yards further, a second deer stepped out into the lane. Too dark to see without the scope, I glassed the deer and it was a nice buck. But as soon as it was in the lane, it was out of the lane and into the thicker woods moving south. I remained in the stand for another 30 minutes, hearing the deer gradually disappear to the south. Ensuring they were out of the area, I got done and headed home. Two days later, I headed back to the same stand, arriving late at 4:00 pm. I decided instead of sitting in the stand, I would hope the winds remained steady to the southwest and I would just set up on the ground closer to where I had seen the deer cross 2 days earlier. By 4:00 I had found an oak to lean against and set up facing south but looking east. As I prognosticated about moving the stand (I hate hunting from the ground) on a future hunting date later this week, I hear a deer approaching from behind me. I dared only move my hand to the stock of my rifle, I sat perfectly still as a very large doe slowly eased by at 10 yards to my left. She proceeded south, in an incredibly slow stroll. She wasn't alerted to anything behind her, and never noticed me although I was plainly silhouetted against the oak. As she began to put some distance between she and I, I heard the steps of another deer behind me. Now I'm getting the fever. I can't see the second deer yet, but it is so close I can hear it's steps in the wet leaves from the day before. Then out of the corner of my eye I see a form at 10 - 15 feet. I don't dare move and can't tell what it is. I just know it is there and it has now stopped walking. After what seems like a lifetime, it takes a couple of steps and stops again. Still looking ahead, I can see the doe disappearing in the distance. By now I'm suspecting this is the buck I saw 2 days earlier, and the adrenaline Is starting to abate as I'm completely focused on not giving away my location. Finally, he breaks his hold and starts a slow walk in the direction of the doe. As he hits my 9 o'clock position, I see he is a shooter with a huge (for my area) body. As he gets to my 11 o'clock, I'm confident he's now completely focused on the doe and I can get the gun up. As he hits 15 yards, with me sitting upright against a wide open oak, I bring up the crosshairs and let one fly. He immediately goes down and the rest was history. He turned out to be a main 8 with a kicker weighing 170 - 180. I suspect this may have been the same deer I missed the previous January, as that deer had a bad limp, and this one did as well, (although not as bad). He was headed towards the same plot as last year, and had layers upon layers of fat, even around his eyes, nose, and mouth. So glad our efforts are paying off and the deer are getting bigger. And with pictures of 2 bucks larger than this one, I'm optimistic about the future of this property.

 

[cbhunter]

Great buck, congrats!

 

[CBU93]

Awesome. What part of MS is your farm in?

 

[Snake]

Congrats on a nice buck .

 

[cbrock84]

Congrats

 

[Gravey]

Congrats!!!

 

[Crappieaddict]

Congrats!

 

[Bone Collector]

Congrats!

 

[DoubleRidge]

Good deal!! It's nice to see hard work pay off and a plan come together!! Congrats!!

 

['borohunter]

Congrats - great buck

 

[41Magnum]

Congrats! Your efforts are paying off.

 

[huvrman]

Awesome. What part of MS is your farm in?

Near Oxford. North Central.

 

[thirdwilliam]

congrats

 

[rem270]

Great buck and story! Congrats

 

[bigtex]

That's a good one for sure! Congrats!!

 

[Volbuck777]

Nice buck congratulations

 

[tndeerman]

Nice deer,hang in there it will pay off

 

[Acorn]

Nice buck, Congrats!

 

[megalomaniac]

congrats! Lafyette county is an interesting place when it comes to the rut.... the NW portion peaks Dec 7th, while the SE portion peaks between Christmas and New Years.

And there is a potential for large antlered deer there as well. IIRC, there was a deer killed there 3 or 4 years ago with a bow that scored 180 as a typical

 

[rifle02]

Congratulations on that buck, its a good one.

 

[Stalkhunter]

congrats

 

[Wrangler95]

Nice buck,congrats!!

 

[1jamey]

Congrats

 

[Dully]

Nice buck ,good story

 

[BLOODTRAIL]

Congrats

 

[Specializedjon]

Great story. Congrats. Hunting from the ground does suck sometimes. But I always think back to my Grandpa, he always still hunted and/or sat beside an old oak.

 

[jemo4570]

Congratulations. Great story.

 

[xtremedeerman]

Congrats

 

[JKC]

Congrats!