Well, I was down in Pope County (southern Illinois) from the 10th through the 16th, hunting hard, but not seeing a whole lot. Everybody down there was saying the rut was in full swing, but I just wasn't seeing it in the areas I was concentrating on. I saw one buck following a doe at about ten o'clock in the morning on Friday the 11th, but the problem was I just happened to be hanging a stand at the time, so I just watched 'em go by.
Had an opportunity at a very large 3X4 on Saturday the 12th, at about 1:20 in the afternoon, but choked. He was walking slowly into my shooting lane and I drew my Schafer as his head went behind a tree. As he stepped into the lane I just sat there at full draw. My heart was screaming, "shoot!", but my fingers were definately not listening. I couldn't figure it out for a second, but finally realized that I hadn't picked a spot and was just looking at the whole deer. My brain evidently knew it though, because it wouldn't let my fingers loose the arrow. Knowing my error, I thought, "no problem, there's another good lane about 10 feet further up the trail". That thought was fleeting, though, because as soon as he passed through the first lane he stopped, put his nose in the air, and it was at that moment that I knew I was had.
The cool thing was, that at 20yds, with my new ghille suit on, he never even saw me. After my scent evidently filled his nostrils, he seemed to look all around me for a second or two, then simply turned, and walked somewhat stiff-legged, straight away.
The next day went a little better. I sat from 6a to 1:30p in the same spot I was in on Saturday. I saw one doe at around 7a, who busted me as soon as she walked into view, then I saw two small, but very fat bucks, at 10a. They turned away from me as soon as they got into my line of sight, so once again, no shot.
For the afternoon's festivities, I went to a stand I had erected on a little piece (20acres) of Shawnee National Forest that borders a friend's property, where I'm staying. Didn't see anything until about 4:55p, when I heard the little guy below walk up behind me. He was slowly walking broadside, or slightly quartering away, at about 25yds, when he stepped into a good opening. I concentrated on his shoulder crease and loosed a 2216 tipped with 175gr of Snuffer, which went right where I was looking and took out the top of his heart. He went down in sight, and I said a heartfelt "thank you" to the evening air, and whoever else was listening.
Topic: Daily Hunt pics and Stories 2006 (Read 41554 times)
