I had done everything right for a change, I was finally caught up enough that I wasn't messing with a stand or some other silliness that should have been taken care of months ago. I exited my vehicle quietly, got my gear and "deer walked" my way slowly to a stand near a creek bottom. I'd not tried deer walking seriously before, but with the dry leaves making silence impossible, I had to admit I sounded more like a deer than a man as I stopped and started my way down the hill. I didn't bump anything out, I knew that was a good sign as deer frequently bed not that far away. Hunting alone for the first time this year, with no teenage sons to get settled in first, I was in my stand quickly. It was a nice day...too nice in fact, once I was settled I decided it was downright hot, not the best conditions for deer movement. However, with the rut winding up I could hold out some hope, and enjoy some time away from it all in the woods. Things didn't feel right, it was too warm and I had that unexplained but confident feeling I wasn't going to see anything. An hour passed that way, but the temperature began to slowly drop a couple degrees, and the wind calmed somewhat. Sure enough, I heard the tell tale sound of a walking deer, behind me of course. I angled around slowly and surveyed a 6 pointer with surprisingly good mass for his age, strolling towards me on the other side of the creek. I recognized the deer as one we'd seen before, he frequently bedded on the fringe of neighboring property. He got to the other side of the creek and stopped. I knew he was not a legal deer so I decided to sit like a statue and see how close I could get him. Not very close it turned out, as the fickle breeze gave him a hint of something wrong. Judicious scent control on my part payed handsomely, as he did not spook or alarm, but after some apparently whimisical thought and looking around he opted to wander off back the way he had come, unconcerned but opting to play it safe. It is always fun to have deer close and I enjoyed it immensely. About half an hour later I looked back again and could see him browsing about 100 yards away behind me, and right under my son's stand. I made a mental note to be sure to tell him. More time passed and I figured, "That was probably my excitement for the day". About 15 minutes later I heard a deer walking fast to my left, angling behind me. I slid slowly around again to see a deer trotting down the other side of the creek bottom toward me, paralleling the creek. It was the buck, and I welcomed back my recent visitor. The wind had faded to a steady breeze, no longer fickle, and this time it was completely in my favor. I manuevered around to watch the buck, and he trotted to nearly the same spot as before and began to calmy browse. Wait a minute! This is a different deer! I began to count...1-2-3...1-2-3..I counted to 3 good points on both sides, over and over again like a four year old, but to no avail, I kept getting 3 points. I relaxed a bit and enjoyed the show. "Wait a minute dummy!" I thought to myself, "You're counting 3 points on the main beam! If this deer has any brow tines to speak of your looking at an 8 pointer." Well, I couldn't see any brow tines but the main beam points were fairly long, giving me hope. I attempted to hold my bow, keep my balance and fish my binoculars from off of my day pack with the other hand. It wasn't very smooth but I got it done. After juggling with the binoc's in my left hand, trying to pull lens caps off with my teeth and focus with a single finger I finally had the deer in my Burris'. He turned broadside at 20 some yards, browsing to his off side and exposing his vitals as if he was begging to be perforated. I took a hard look and there they were, a pair of brow tines close to 3 inches long! I was looking at a legal buck, and he was absolutely clueless to my presence. The bulk of his rack was white and polished, but the brow tines were dark, which made them hard to see against the background. As I put down the binocs and started to angle for a shot the deer was already moving again, to my left and behind me. Rats! He continued to move behind me along the creek. This was going downhill fast, I pulled out my can call and hit it once. He looked around but wasn't coming, so I thought "enough of that", no need to tip him off. He calmly sauntered farther behind me and to my left, well in range but obscured by limbs, and he eventually walked away down the creek and out of sight.
I'll get him another day I thought, and thanked the Lord for a great day and a great hunt.
Man I wish I'd have recognized what I was looking at sooner...but in my defense this is the first year my hunting area is under a 4 point restriction, so there's a learning curve I guess.
That has been my best hunt thus far. Tim
Topic: Missouri Hunt Stories 2008 (Read 12974 times)
