Wow, you guys can sure humble a person. Thanks for all the positive replies I appreciate all of them.
Well, I’ve been one to talk a bit but I’ll try to keep this short, but it won’t happen.
I was hunting a good funnel area that in previous years held good bucks. Bucks that I would see one day and most likely never again due to the nature of this place.
Not long ago, I had a chance at another huge buck in this very same place, but no matter how I tried, I just couldn’t get a good shot at him. Now I was back and it was a new year.
I hung a stand where that big one a few years ago slipped by. There was a faint trail running down the middle of this place, but that buck was still haunting me and I decided to setup where that unforgettable morning took place.
The first night I had two small bucks walk by at about 30 yds. I let them walk and began to wonder if I should shift. The next morning back in the same stand I had a small buck walk right through my setup and felt I was in the right spot.
About an hour later I had a doe and a young buck travel the same zone as the bucks the night before had walked and decided to move. I moved back 40 yds, and in 20 yds for what would be a solid 20 yd shot.
I decided not to hunt that evening and really wanted to find some private ground. I swear I knocked on every farmers door in the unit I was hunting.
I finally got permission on some very nice property and decided to take a walk around the perimeter of the place trying to judge where the deer were coming and going. As I walked to one place on a fence row, I jumped a huge 4x4. The buck ran right down a strip of trees and after looking the place over, I felt great about the next night to come.
I got up that morning and hunted my public ground spot. It was opening day of duck season but I still had high hopes. The new setup was excellent. You know the type, the one you can sit in all day and not see a thing but still have that slight tension on the string because you know it “IS” going to happen. There was that feeling, little did I know it would come so soon, and so fast.
Well It didn’t! At about 7 o’clock I heard a deer go through the slough, followed by another. It was a buck chasing does. I grunted, the splashing stopped. I stood up, got ready and again I could hear the water splashing as deer were running through. They were heading away and all was quiet. I asked myself should I rattle? I decided against it, and let out a doe sound followed by a grunting buck. The water started splashing, I had tension on ths string, drew one time and got ready. I looked at my sleeves and all was tight. String slap wouldn’t be a problem. The string on my fingers felt good, seated perfectly in my shooting glove. I heard the big cotton wood leaves crunching, like two children playing in the woods but these sounds were not from children. It was that magical sound that we hope to hear during those two special weeks in the November woods. The sounds stopped, and then started going away, I grunted, and grunted one more time. What I got back nearly floored me out of the tree.............................
It was the best “human” duck call one could ask for and I guess I was the “Duck” First named Daffy! As I sat down, I felt angry, but soon got over it. I felt like the guy who got cow called in during an elk hunt. Later I heard the deer running, but this time they appeared. One was yellow, the other black. I’ll let you figure out the species. It was time to go to the private land.
It was mid afternoon and I was ready. I walked to the trees with the wind blowing hard in my face. When I was about 20 yds from the trees I was sneaking into, I noticed a guy heading across the field at me in a pretty fast walk. I figured I should wait and see what he had to say. As he approached I noticed he was carrying a bow and he was a little upset. He started to ask me questions in a pretty loud manner and I told him to calm down, the deer were not far from us and just take it easy. He asked If I had permission to hunt there, and I told him I did. He then got upset and told me he had a spot just up the tree line and this was his last night to hunt. I told him not to worry, if he had a spot set, I’d let him hunt it and stay clear. As I left, I said isn’t it funny how we both selected pretty much the same spot? He agreed, and that was the last I saw of him.
As I walked out of the field, my spirits were pretty low. I’d been sleeping in my truck for three days and now this? I was ready to call it quits, and go see the kids.
I called my wife and told her I was going to sit till dark and that I’d be home by 9 so we could spend Sunday together prior to me going back to work .
It never happened, this night would be like no other...................
Topic: I know I just killed the best buck of my lifetime. (Final details) (Read 12166 times)
