What a hunt!

[bornagainbowhunter]

To start this off, I will say that I never loosed an arrow.  I never even came to full draw.  However, I did have the bow pulled a couple inches the entire evening.

Here is the low-down.  I scouted all day on Thursday.  It was the 2nd time I scouted this area, but have never hunted it.  I found a spot I thought would be suiting for a sit about 30 minutes before dark and hung my stand.

The next morning, I noticed several does and a 140"+ 10pt walk by the same tree, too bad it was about 70 yards away.  Long story short, I moved.

The move was a great decision.  When I climbed into the stand it was about 2pm.  As soon as I get into the stand, I take a minute to say a prayer for a safe and good hunt. Before I was finished, I heard some deer coming in...fast!!

I finished my prayer and stood up.  About 8 doe came and stoped directly under my stand.  I decided to take one, but before I got to full draw, motion caught my eye to my right.  I looked over and saw a scrub buck trying to mount a doe.  Perfect!!  Now is NOT the time to shoot.

I let some of the tension off my string and immediatly heard a grunt.  A nice 8 pt came into view.  He was about a 115" guy, but was very young.  He started chasing the doe and the scrub just wondered off.  Little did the 115" know, he should have done the same.

As he chased the doe in circles under my stand, another 8 pt comes into view.  He was about a 130".  For Arkansas, thats a shooter!  Before I could get a good line on him I heard more chaos coming my direction.  This time it was 2 more bucks coming to see what was smelling soooo good.  One was a wide 10pt that was about 140" and the other was a narrow 10pt about 140"+.  The narrow guy was the one from earlier that day.

I was in hog heaven.  There were 4 bucks within 40 yards of my stand and 2 of them were over 140"!!  They were chasing the hot doe and fighting each other off.  The wider of the 2 ten pts seemed to be the stud.  He had fought and run off every one of the other bucks within 30 minutes of his arrival.  Every time he would whoop and chase one off, they would return within a minute or two of his return.  Bad for him...Good for me.

By this time I am just waiting for one to step into an opening.  I would take either of the 10 pts if the shot was presented.  Then it gets really good!

I heard another grunt and slow steady walking to my right.  All of the chaos is to my left.  When I turn around,  I see the star of the show.  In steps a 10 pt that would easily go 165"+...Easy!
That is when my heart hit overdrive.  He was a brute.  I guessed him to be 5.5 yo.  

When he stepped on the scene, he was a game changer.  The fights were on!!  I could not tell you exactly how many fights I seen, but the smallest 8 pt took more beatings than should be legal.  I will say he never backed down...that cat has some grit.  

The 165"+ buck, of course, took to the doe.  I watched her get bred 3 times.  The brute was within 20 yard of my tree 3 or 4 times, but never offered a good shot.  He was always straight on or there was some trash in the way.  This whole scene lasted until dark.  It was awesome!!

I never got a shot, but consider myself supremely blessed to even be able to witness such an evening.  It was a hunt that i will never forget.  I knew I just had a hunt that might even make them Wensel brothers jealous!

I ain't give up on them yet. I will be back out in the travel areas looking for the ol brute!  Maybe I can show you a hero pic of him soon!!

Well, thanks for reading!

God Bless,
Nathan

[ti-guy]

WOW! What a thrill! Awsome show you've witnessed  

[Hawkeye]

Amazing experience, Nathan. That's a spectacle few will ever see, and a night to remember for your whole hunting career!  Congrats on being there to witness it.

[LONGSTYKES]

Nathan that will be a hunt you always remember. Sounds like a fun hunt. Congrats, Sometimes I wish for a video camera.

[Altiman94]

That sounds like a great hunt.  I had an experience nearly similar back in 2007.  I can close my eyes and relive nearly the entire thing.  Like you, I never drew back my bow.  Days like that keep you coming back!

That was definitely a very neat experience and those are the happenings that make hunting what it is for me. Never took a shot and one of the neatest days you ever had in the woods!

Bisch

[Mudd]

I just know you have all of that still running around in your head.

What an awesome hunt!!

Thank you for sharing it with us.

Merry Christmas and God bless,Mudd

[Montanawidower]

That is the kind of hunt we all LIVE for.  I have had several such shows and they always leave me in awe.  That said... none of my players have ever been 160 class!  You are a lucky man. Congrats.

[bornagainbowhunter]

I do still have it in my head.  I set that same stand the next morning and I could see the whole thing unfold again.  I could pick out the trees that they circled, see the frusteration of the brute when the smaller bucks kept coming back...  I can still see it.

One cool thing I did not mention earlier was the frustration of the 165"+.  When he came back after chasing off the narrow 140" he went over and just thrashed a small bush.  I guess he needed to vent a little.

I have see chasing before, I have seen fighting before, I have even witnessed a doe get bred, but never even close the the extent that I saw last week.  A little over 3 hours of chaos.

God Bless,
Nathan

[MCNSC]

Wow, a great day indeed. It seems that most of my memorable hunting days I never got a shot.

[elknutz]

Sounds like a spectacular hunt.  My own top three hunting experiences are not ones that resulted in dead animals.  The kill shot hunts are great also, just not my favorites.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

[Rev Buck]

That's a great story!  I live just an hour west of you, we should get together.  Blessings, Rev

[Doc Nock]

Now if you could just stick a USB cable into your ear and download all you saw onto yoru hard drive for preservation to replay at will...  

Trust me...age starts to grain up the mental video's after time...

Excellent experience! Wow.  That would be almost as good or better'n than getting a shot! What a treat!

[ksbowman]

Thanks for a great read! Loved every word of it.

[South MS Bowhunter]

Nathan, sounds like you had that once in a lifetime experience, praying you get an encore performance!

[stujay]

Here's hoping next encounter will afford you a shot, or some pics.

[Hopewell Tom]

A couple of years ago on one of my first bow hunts I had about 2 hours of "commotion" around my stand, but nothing compared to what you described.
However, I had been worried that being so close and not being able to get a shot (as with the rifle) would be a bummer. Not so. I remember that day very well and that has to be part of the allure of this whole thing. The total anticipation during the whole scene unfolding is very invigorating.
Thanks for sharing and good luck, hang in there.

[Gray Buffalo]

Very cool read. Thanks

[bornagainbowhunter]

Well, I went back to the same spot. I seen 7 does and a small 8 pt. he was about 100". I could still watch all of that action unfold.

I actually had another cool experience. I watched a group of does come in and just watched them for a few minutes. Then a couple guys came into the area (also hunting). The does stood just feet away from these guys as the walked past. The does never moved a muscle and the men never noticed them. I was watching the does from only feet away also.  It made me chuckle that the two men were unaware they were being watched... The does does were also unaware of my presence.

I just got a kick out of watching the watchers. All that time, the men and the does thought they were the only ones anywhere around.

God bless,
Nathan