Ray Charles could see the trail this deer was using. Ha! But he did not seem to use it any more in October. After I saw him opening morning, he went underground , and neither me or my brother saw him until the day I killed him.
So...... fast forward through an uneventful October to November 4. With an East South East wind I knew I would be able to sit a stand in a small cedar tree on the edge of the transition area between open grassy spoil banks and those smaller honeys suckle bush and autumn olive choked spoils. It was 4:00 PM. This was the first time I sat this tree/bush. The trunk was only 3 inches in diameter at 10 feet high and the stand was strapped in to rest on the cedar boughs. It did sway in the wind a little, but the blue green needles provide great background cover for me. It was a perfect time to be wearing the Sitka Forest Optifade jacket. After sitting there for 20 minutes I hear some sticks breaking behind me. I gave out a faint grunt, but got no response. It may have been a doe. 3 minutes later I heard some sticks breaking about 80 yards out in front of me- so I wheezed three times. I still heard the braches brake and knew that it was not from a walking deer, but from that of a buck thrashing limbs.
To get more range I grunted on a grunt tube a couple times. I could hear the buck coming closer. He was breaking limbs to let me (a wheezing and grunting buck) know he was coming. He was taking the bait.
Finally I saw the limbs of a tree shake and knew where he was. Then I knew who he was as his form popped up over a spoilbank as if coming right out of the ground. He was the old 'Tree Shaker' that grew up on our property. He looked huge! His neck was enormous and we knew from the 4 inch sticker tine on his right antler that he was responsible for all of the deep parallel grooves cut into many of the thigh-sized rubs in the area. I let out one softer wheeze that caused him to abandon his eastward route and come nearly straight south toward me. He dropped down into the bottom of two merging spoils and climbed up right at me. I had the bow up and the lower limb tip resting in the pocket I sewed on the inside of my left pant leg. This helped me steady the bow as I hid behind the wide limbs of the Tall Tines recurves. He kept coming. I hoped he would go more easterly and give me a broad side shot while giving me some breathing room as far as my scent trailing in the wind, but he did not. He heard a buck dare to wheeze at him, so he was coming to square the deal. Well he ended up looking directly at me several times as he approached. The wide lower limbs of the tree helped frame his vision and keep me a part of the tree (in his mind). He was not turning and ended up closing to 5 yards or less. I drew and held for 5 seconds as moved beneath me. I found a large opening through the cedar boughs and released the 250gr Woodsman Elite tipped 2219 arrow. Tree Shaker dropped in his tracks as the head severed his spinal cord. A second arrow dispatched him and the little cedar tree began to shake from my nerves. Tree Shaker was still working his magic on me.
Topic: Mike Mitten Pulls a Double (Read 6774 times)
