2018 Stickboys Ohio Public Land Buck

[huskyarcher]

Simply put, the state of Ohio has just been good to me. Since being introduced to the state by Jeff Holchin, there is no where I dream of more during the long summer months. This year was no different, and after several trips up the hill to better figure out the public area we are beginning to understand, I felt like it was going to be an awesome November. I wasn't disappointed.

Any public land bowhunter knows they ought to have backup plans, good public land hunters know they need backups for their backups, and some dummies like myself that just think too much have backups that backup their backup's backup. This trip, that overkill came in handy. The first day, Ethan and I slipped silently into an area that we had scouted extensively. We had found an isolated bedding area way back in some public land, and the perimeters revealed some massive buck sign..and a lot of it. I think the latter is really what did the place in. As we pulled in that morning we noticed that there were truck tracks all in the little pull off area, (hadn't been any there all fall) and as we were situating our stuff a jacked up, straight piped, 16 year old at Walmart parking lot kind of truck also tried to pull in. The West Virginia plates revealed they had the same intentions we did, and he honked the horn and waved (not sure how many fingers were up) as he apparently thought better of another spot.

I should have known right then what we were in for.

 

 

More in a bit, I've got papers to grade and the wife keeps looking at me like "you're wasting our day off."

[DanielB89]

no pics = didn't happen..

[DannyBows]

  This should be good, Dalton never disappoints in his harvests or his story telling.

[Jayrod]

Been waiting on this one but I will say well done Dalton!!

[23feetupandhappy]

Oooooooooo, I'm ready for a good tail

 

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Give all the papers A's and continue on my friend.

[Duker]

 

[HOGLESS2]

🙏

[carbonflyr]

oh pleeeese hurry with those papers

[huskyarcher]

So we spent that whole day in that location, despite the apparent pressure. We didnt see any people, however it was pretty clear they had been there. I was set up on a funnel coming out of the previously mentioned thicket, the road bed coming out of it had been littered in scrapes just days before. Three days previous the scrapes all had fresh tracks and even smelled of buck. As it got daylight my confidence faded as I saw that the scrapes were leaf-filled and obviously not what they were. As the day wore on it was clear my feelings were on point. I saw two small bucks, and that was it. I did feel a little better when they both ended up directly under me, I was in the correct tree, just at the wrong time. Ethan had a similar first day as he spotted a two year old 8 point and a couple small bucks as well.

When we met at the base of my tree we both had the same thought in mind-it's time to move on.

After a long day in a tree, the restaurant tasted amazing, although I'm quite certain it was average at best. The table was filled with laughter, big dreams, and truths that stretched with our pants as we packed out bellies with much needed hot food.  Tomorrow was a new day, and the optimism was apparent.

[huskyarcher]

The next morning was nasty. Mid thirties and a constant, drenching rain. We started to try it, but the downpour as we opened the truck door made us think other wise. I had several backup plans, but my dad and Aaron's dad, Brad, were already occupying two of them. Aaron was also in a spot that was a potential backup, so when the thought crossed my mind to just punt and gather intel for the rest of the week I quickly settled on that as the plan of action.

Aaron and I waited on daylight to start our search, Ethan, sick as a dog, decided he would be better off staying warm and dry and not letting his Laryngitis turn into pneumonia.  I didn't blame him, he sounded horrible.

The Onx app really came in handy this trip. Sitting in the truck, aaron and I circled some spots that we'd been cyber scouting. Focusing on leeward benches and saddles, we took off. And it wasn't long before we knew we were in good shape. There must have been 40 fresh scrapes up the roadbed we were walking. Leg-sized rubs erased any doubt what could be checking them. After getting to a circled spot, we crouched and watch a borderline shooter buck as he cruised by, completely clueless to the danger that was sweating and panting nearby from the muddy hill that had just been climbed.

As we approached the top of a leeward hill it was clear we had found a honey-hole. Three ditches topped out and along that top out it was thick. The thick strip was littered in rubs and kicked up leaves. Like a drug addict I swear I was twitching and tweaking out at the find, this was a dang good place to sit.


 

[KAZ]

 

[23feetupandhappy]

Iv got a fresh cup 

 

[huskyarcher]

So with renewed confidence and and dry clothes I headed back into that spot for the evening sit. The rain had stopped and it felt like it was going to be a great evening. Its probably a good 40-45 minutes back to that particular funnel, with an inch of rain, it was more like an hour sliding and pulling stuck boots out of the muck.

Finally I made it in, as I climbed up the tree in my climber I noticed I had a creeper watching me. A fawn doe was bedded about 40 yards away, as she watched me climb I couldn't help but be happy about the situation, I knew there was a real good chance her mom was being run to death. Hopefully, she would come back to bed near her fawn and bring her pursuer along with her. I by know means would take that as any kind of tip or anything, I was merely being hopeful at the time.

The evening was pretty slow, didn't see a thing except for that fawn and by 5pm I was already game planning for the next morning. I looked down the hill and my attention was quickly snatched by the unmistakable glow of yellow rack, trouncing along perfectly through the bottom of the funnel.

[23feetupandhappy]

 

[huskyarcher]

Unfortunately he was about 80 yards below me, and at the rate it was going that was as close as he would get. Having nothing to lose, I flipped over one of those dumb sounding can calls. He locked it up, and after a second or two he was heading straight for me. I'll be honest with you, I was dumbfounded. I had always heard folks say those things can work but skeptical would be an understatement for me. But dadgummit if he wouldn't heading right for me.

At 14 yards my i pointed the camera in front of him and moved it from the camera to my string. With how fast everything happened I got sloppy. As my right hand reached its destination of my string I bumped it just a little too hard, my arrow rattled ever so softly and you can guess what happened next. Yep, he pegged me.

[huskyarcher]

Here he is, rookie mistake I had made.

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[huskyarcher]

Let me try that again.

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[carbonflyr]

he's a handsome lad!!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Good stuff Dalton, keep it up