Well, I had an interesting afternoon yesterday.
I've missed more hunting days this year than normal - between the hot weather early and the rain last week I think there were 5 days I didn't get out so far - which for me constitutes going into whitetail-withdrawal. I got pumped up late last week as there were some good rubs (4-5 inches) showing up in the grown over pasture part of the farm I hunt alot here near home. Seemed to me that there was a 3 1/2 yr old buck messing around there, which is my standard around here for a "shooter". This is the first real action I've found this year, except for some waterhole sits the first week of season. Anyhoo, yesterday afternoon I slipped into my "sure-fire-super-duper" early season stand. This is in the end of a finger of timber that sticks out into the grown up pasture, real heavy brush/honeysuckle and some pin oaks dropping acorns. Visibility is very limited, but a real "bucky" early season stand. Access is from the northwest up the draw the stand sits in the head of so I'm able to sneak into the bedding cover pretty well, and a southwest wind is perfect going back down the draw. About 6.30 I heard a deer walking and spotted a big bodied deer coming and got a couple of flashes of what looked like decent antler through the brush. "Oh boy!" says I, "Here's my 3 1/2 yr old!". I got lined up and ready and when he popped out of the brush at 15 yards I let him have it. He peeled out and went about 50 yards into open timber then stopped. As he was wobbling around I got my glasses on him...."Crap, thats not the buck I shot...he was WAY bigger than that!". Turned out I was right on about the body size - he dressed 185, so was around 215-220 live wt - but the horns were a size smaller than I thought. I figure he's either a real big bodied 2 1/2 yr old or, more likely, a late born "short yearling" that is 3. Certainly wasn't the deer I had convinced myself he was.
Oh well, I got him killed cleanly, and that's always a bonus, and he died in a spot easy to get him out of. He was the deer I wanted to shoot at that time and place - you pays your money and takes your chance - and in the end that is what matters. Boy, the fire control center was really lit up on that one, though! Moral of the story: check the horns twice before you drop the string!
I got an ace up my sleeve, though - two weeks off of work in November and a 500 acre farm to hunt in Northeastern Missouri - so the Fat Lady ain't sung yet!
Shot him with one of my old Jack Howard Gamemaster Jets - about 56 lbs at my draw - and a 600 grain carbon with a big Snuffer.
Best of luck to you all in IN...she's getting ready to roll next week.
Ryan
Topic: INDIANA DEER SEASON 2011 thread (Read 1562 times)
