LessIsLess
Well-Known Member
I'm not a big poster in the forum, and now no longer am a resident of the state, but still come back to take my nephew and hunt with family a couple days each year. This is the second year in a row having close range success with bucks, and it sure has been fun. I don't remember if I posted last year or not, so I'll start there.
We left camp a little late, had a long way to walk, and got hot doing so. We finally made it to our intended spot for an evening ground sit, and stripped outer layers while setting up my tree sling. We were in a hard oak flat, with a thicket above us and the creek below. I told my nephew we would get layered back up before it got too cold that evening, to which he replied with some snarky comments to give his old uncle a hard time. I was sitting in the sling, and he was on the ground to my right. We had not been sitting 3 minutes (we were actually still talking) when I caught movement in a laurel thicket above us about 75 yards. He couldn't see the deer, and all I was seeing was flashes of horns. He actually thought I was kidding.The deer b-lined our way on a trot, out of the thicket and down the draw to my left, a path that would bring him right in our laps! I raised the gun while he was out of sight below us, my next view was him approaching about 10 yards on a trot, with my only view being the underside of this main beams. Not my favorite shot, but he stopped about 5-7 yards and I shot the center of his neck. No tracking required.
I experienced some significant ground shrinkage, as I thought he was a good 8 or better. ( and after typing all of that... I'm getting an upload error.... Will double back later.)
My last act that weekend in 2013 was to hang a ladder stand in the pines, a place I don't have much experience hunting. I could only use two sections as going higher would limit visibility. AFTER hanging the stand, I found a small scrape within 10 yards of the stand, but I didn't have time to move it at that point.
Fast forward to 2014; I came in the second weekend of ML due to other commitments. I don't know how many of you remember that weekend, but that's when the bottom fell out on temps. My nephew ended up not coming because of it. I was clear to hunt Friday PM through Tuesday.
Friday night I had a small 8 run some does through my flat, but gave the whole group a pass and hoped for more action...no luck there.
Saturday morning I opted for the pines ladder. it was 15 when I got out of my truck. My buddy had to run back to Knoxville for work that morning, so he could only stay in the tree until 10. All morning, I got texts from him of all the deer he was seeing, and he ultimately shot a doe. At ten he texted me he was leaving, and I heard him start his four wheeler as it echoed through the holler. What had I seen? zip.
I heard him pass behind me on the access road on his way to the camp about 5 minutes later. Once the noise cleared, I thought I heard a grunt down below me, over a shelf and down a ridge of pines. As a man that has not had much luck with calls, I still carry my trusty ol $7 adjustable grunt tube and mini can (why do so many of us do this?). I figured I had nothing to lose, so I flipped the can twice and then quickly followed with a few grunts. A six pointer promptly showed himself, climbing up the slope and onto my top, and closed to 15 yards to scent check that scrape. His neck was black, starkly contrasting his lighter brown coat, and extremely swollen. He crossed diagonally behind me and was gone in a couple minutes.
Around 5 mins later, I think I hear another grunt from the same locale. The noise was so faint, I was really second guessing it. Nevertheless, I repeat the same sequence. I have a doe quickly show, tongue out of her mouth, and follow the same path of the six ptr. Then, I have a good buck show himself from the same trail, and proceed to head straight for the scrape. I deem him a shooter and raise my gun, he's broadside at about 25-30 yards, and I need one more step before pulling the trigger. In a nerve racking twist, he turned directly toward me and put his head down, proceeding my way. This is a terrible angle for a shot (reminder I'm only EIGHT feet up!!). At around twelve yards he stopped, and did that one thing that can make us all shake like a leaf - picked his head up and stared straight at me! I again hate this but centered on his neck just in case, and he started to arch and turn, so I shot. He darted back down the hill and I heard a loud crash. My buddy called me almost immediately, as he had just stepped out the door of the camper when I shot.i told him I wanted to wait a bit and then go look. I got down about five minutes later and started to look for blood, planning on confirming blood and getting back in the tree. I didn't see it at first, so walked back to the tree again to check my line. When I turned back around, my buddy had barged into my spot to help! Peer pressure and excitement got the best of me. We peeked over the edge of the flat, down the hill, and here he was. The loud crash was him piling up into the base of a pine tree!
So, 10 am, no deer, taking pictures at 10:50!
I'll call him a nine. Dressed 123. My second best, and I'm proud of him!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We left camp a little late, had a long way to walk, and got hot doing so. We finally made it to our intended spot for an evening ground sit, and stripped outer layers while setting up my tree sling. We were in a hard oak flat, with a thicket above us and the creek below. I told my nephew we would get layered back up before it got too cold that evening, to which he replied with some snarky comments to give his old uncle a hard time. I was sitting in the sling, and he was on the ground to my right. We had not been sitting 3 minutes (we were actually still talking) when I caught movement in a laurel thicket above us about 75 yards. He couldn't see the deer, and all I was seeing was flashes of horns. He actually thought I was kidding.The deer b-lined our way on a trot, out of the thicket and down the draw to my left, a path that would bring him right in our laps! I raised the gun while he was out of sight below us, my next view was him approaching about 10 yards on a trot, with my only view being the underside of this main beams. Not my favorite shot, but he stopped about 5-7 yards and I shot the center of his neck. No tracking required.
I experienced some significant ground shrinkage, as I thought he was a good 8 or better. ( and after typing all of that... I'm getting an upload error.... Will double back later.)
My last act that weekend in 2013 was to hang a ladder stand in the pines, a place I don't have much experience hunting. I could only use two sections as going higher would limit visibility. AFTER hanging the stand, I found a small scrape within 10 yards of the stand, but I didn't have time to move it at that point.
Fast forward to 2014; I came in the second weekend of ML due to other commitments. I don't know how many of you remember that weekend, but that's when the bottom fell out on temps. My nephew ended up not coming because of it. I was clear to hunt Friday PM through Tuesday.
Friday night I had a small 8 run some does through my flat, but gave the whole group a pass and hoped for more action...no luck there.
Saturday morning I opted for the pines ladder. it was 15 when I got out of my truck. My buddy had to run back to Knoxville for work that morning, so he could only stay in the tree until 10. All morning, I got texts from him of all the deer he was seeing, and he ultimately shot a doe. At ten he texted me he was leaving, and I heard him start his four wheeler as it echoed through the holler. What had I seen? zip.
I heard him pass behind me on the access road on his way to the camp about 5 minutes later. Once the noise cleared, I thought I heard a grunt down below me, over a shelf and down a ridge of pines. As a man that has not had much luck with calls, I still carry my trusty ol $7 adjustable grunt tube and mini can (why do so many of us do this?). I figured I had nothing to lose, so I flipped the can twice and then quickly followed with a few grunts. A six pointer promptly showed himself, climbing up the slope and onto my top, and closed to 15 yards to scent check that scrape. His neck was black, starkly contrasting his lighter brown coat, and extremely swollen. He crossed diagonally behind me and was gone in a couple minutes.
Around 5 mins later, I think I hear another grunt from the same locale. The noise was so faint, I was really second guessing it. Nevertheless, I repeat the same sequence. I have a doe quickly show, tongue out of her mouth, and follow the same path of the six ptr. Then, I have a good buck show himself from the same trail, and proceed to head straight for the scrape. I deem him a shooter and raise my gun, he's broadside at about 25-30 yards, and I need one more step before pulling the trigger. In a nerve racking twist, he turned directly toward me and put his head down, proceeding my way. This is a terrible angle for a shot (reminder I'm only EIGHT feet up!!). At around twelve yards he stopped, and did that one thing that can make us all shake like a leaf - picked his head up and stared straight at me! I again hate this but centered on his neck just in case, and he started to arch and turn, so I shot. He darted back down the hill and I heard a loud crash. My buddy called me almost immediately, as he had just stepped out the door of the camper when I shot.i told him I wanted to wait a bit and then go look. I got down about five minutes later and started to look for blood, planning on confirming blood and getting back in the tree. I didn't see it at first, so walked back to the tree again to check my line. When I turned back around, my buddy had barged into my spot to help! Peer pressure and excitement got the best of me. We peeked over the edge of the flat, down the hill, and here he was. The loud crash was him piling up into the base of a pine tree!
So, 10 am, no deer, taking pictures at 10:50!
I'll call him a nine. Dressed 123. My second best, and I'm proud of him!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
