For the past 15 years or so my dad and I have taken off the 3 days before the Missouri gun season to bow hunt the rut before the woods are invaded by all the gun hunters. I really look forward to this hunt with my dad and this year was no different. Dad got us started off on a good note by taking a nice doe Wednesday morning. The hit was not great and the tracking job took some time but we ended up finding her about 200 yards from his stand. He shot the deer with a compound so I'll leave the pictures to your imagination. Regardless, it was a great way to start the trip. I saw 3 deer that first morning and had 4 turkeys at about ten yards but could never get a shot.
On Wednesday evening I was set up in one of my familiar spots when I heard something directly behind me. I slowly turned and looked to see a decent 8 pointer standing only 20 yards behind me. He was straight down wind and I knew he probably wouldn't be there long. Sure enough, he winded me and took off on a steady trot.
On Thursday morning I set up in a new spot I found last year while helping my dad drag a deer out. The sun hadn't been up for more than an hour when I saw a deer heading toward me from the right. I instantly recognized him as the same 8 pointer I had seen the evening before. I got ready for a possible shot as he headed my way. Instead of crossing on the trail in front of me he turned to my right and headed down the hill. When he was directly to my right he stopped at about 25 yards. He was behind a couple trees and branches but I saw a small opening to his chest. Everything just felt right so I took the shot. It was a beautiful sight seeing the arrow past directly through the opening and find its mark in his chest. The shot looked perfect. I watched as he circled around behind me with a growing red spot on his side. He stopped about 75 yards behind me and stood for what seemed like forever but was probably about 30 seconds. He then stumbled and fell to the ground.
He's my second buck taken this year from the ground using a ghillie suit.
That same evening I decided to hang a tree stand and just sit back and enjoy the evening and recount the happenings of the past 24 hours. I hadn't been in the stand for more than an hour when I heard footsteps in the leaves behind me. This trip was about to get even better......
Topic: A few great days in the Missouri Ozarks (Read 3416 times)
