Barnes Ridge Rambler
Well-Known Member
I don't post too much these days, but I thought my story would be interesting to some. After moving to Iowa last year with my job, I was frustrated at how tough the hunting was on public ground. I mean, it's supposed to be whitetail mecca, right? A couple Doe for the freezer and my season was over. Fast forward to this year and things were looking up. I gained permission to hunt private land in the Southwest part of the state, but shortly after took a promotion on the Mississippi River. Given the distance (4 hours one way) I had to be selective of my time off of work to make the trip count. I opted for the early muzzleloader hunt in mid-October and was disappointed with the lack of bucks I saw the entire week. Zero. None. But, I did see over 30 Doe and finally settled on one and went back to work.
I had found a remote piece of public land back in September about half an hour from my apartment. It looked like a place to get in a quick hunt before work of a morning, so I scouted it and popped up a camera. I was pleased to see a nice 8 point and decided to put in a little time there. I was also pleased at the lack of people hunting there (I never saw anyone.) After several hunts, I hadn't seen a single deer. Talk about disappointment. It was 2015 all over again.
Jump forward to October 28th. I was off work that day and morning temps were supposed to be in the 40's. Imagine my disappointment when I woke up 3 hours late and realized I had missed a great morning of hunting (I blame the constantly changing shifts I work, but that's neither here nor there.)
After kicking myself all morning, I decided I would feel better about the day if I went to the woods for a long afternoon and evening hunt. I was parked by 11:30 and started my long walk. I pulled my camera on the way and noticed 4 really fresh scrapes near the tree I wanted to climb. I freshened one that was 25 yards out and took my time to not get sweaty climbing as it was now 70 degrees with a 15 mph SE wind. Definitely not ideal hunting conditions plus the wind was all wrong for my set up (or so I thought.)
I was settled in by 12:30. At 1:40 I heard leaves rustle off to my right. Upon looking down, there stood a solid buck at 10 yards with his mouth wide open and his tongue hanging out. I was floored...caught completely off guard! He stood there a few seconds looking around but completely zoned out and eventually walked about 5 more yards and stopped quartering away. I stood up, grabbed my bow off the tree, fiddled with my string loop for what seemed like an eternity, and finally got drawn back. He still had no clue I was around as he had came in from up wind. Leaning off to my left to clear some limbs I lined up my pin and touched my release trigger. Blood immediately spewed from his chest and him ran about 20 yards, stopped, looked around, then fell flat on his face. I was in absolute disbelief as to what had just happened! I had just killed my best buck ever, right in the heat of the day, with my bow!!!
After attempting to drag him myself, I phoned a friend for help. It took us 3 hours to get him back to my truck and I was still running on adrenaline. I guess the moral of my story is never give up, never count out any part of the day for hunting (especially pre-rut), and don't put yourself in a box by sticking to a morning and evening hunt routine. Sometimes it pays to sleep in!!
Here he is. He's a solid 3 1/2 year old 8 point that dressed out at 194 pounds. I had never used a Schwacker broadhead before, but man was I ever impressed with the results. I didn't get a pass through as my arrow buried up in the opposite shoulder. Thanks for reading!!!
I had found a remote piece of public land back in September about half an hour from my apartment. It looked like a place to get in a quick hunt before work of a morning, so I scouted it and popped up a camera. I was pleased to see a nice 8 point and decided to put in a little time there. I was also pleased at the lack of people hunting there (I never saw anyone.) After several hunts, I hadn't seen a single deer. Talk about disappointment. It was 2015 all over again.
Jump forward to October 28th. I was off work that day and morning temps were supposed to be in the 40's. Imagine my disappointment when I woke up 3 hours late and realized I had missed a great morning of hunting (I blame the constantly changing shifts I work, but that's neither here nor there.)
After kicking myself all morning, I decided I would feel better about the day if I went to the woods for a long afternoon and evening hunt. I was parked by 11:30 and started my long walk. I pulled my camera on the way and noticed 4 really fresh scrapes near the tree I wanted to climb. I freshened one that was 25 yards out and took my time to not get sweaty climbing as it was now 70 degrees with a 15 mph SE wind. Definitely not ideal hunting conditions plus the wind was all wrong for my set up (or so I thought.)
I was settled in by 12:30. At 1:40 I heard leaves rustle off to my right. Upon looking down, there stood a solid buck at 10 yards with his mouth wide open and his tongue hanging out. I was floored...caught completely off guard! He stood there a few seconds looking around but completely zoned out and eventually walked about 5 more yards and stopped quartering away. I stood up, grabbed my bow off the tree, fiddled with my string loop for what seemed like an eternity, and finally got drawn back. He still had no clue I was around as he had came in from up wind. Leaning off to my left to clear some limbs I lined up my pin and touched my release trigger. Blood immediately spewed from his chest and him ran about 20 yards, stopped, looked around, then fell flat on his face. I was in absolute disbelief as to what had just happened! I had just killed my best buck ever, right in the heat of the day, with my bow!!!
After attempting to drag him myself, I phoned a friend for help. It took us 3 hours to get him back to my truck and I was still running on adrenaline. I guess the moral of my story is never give up, never count out any part of the day for hunting (especially pre-rut), and don't put yourself in a box by sticking to a morning and evening hunt routine. Sometimes it pays to sleep in!!
Here he is. He's a solid 3 1/2 year old 8 point that dressed out at 194 pounds. I had never used a Schwacker broadhead before, but man was I ever impressed with the results. I didn't get a pass through as my arrow buried up in the opposite shoulder. Thanks for reading!!!
