I pushed my luck and it played out!

[Tim]

We all realize late season hunting is tough. The deer herd up pretty good, foliage is sparse, wind direction can change in a breath and the deer know the game, most often better than we do.

Yesterday fellow gang member Tom aka KentuckyTJ posted a great thread about the benefits of a 2 blade head.  It's a great read and still on the first page, check it out.  Tom and I had our own conversation going outside the thread in a few text messages. Tom's a great guy and I really do enjoy our talks.    

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

He is a good dude for sure.....

,,,Sam,,,

[Tim]

I didn't plan on hunting yesterday and was hoping to help my son drag a deer out.  He's hunted hard this year to no avail.   He's got a bad case of the "no see ums"!  When I found out he had to work I decided to squeeze in a last minute hunt.

The property I'm hunting is a beautiful high end neighborhood with 35 acres of common ground.  There's quite a few deer on the property and our late season hunts do wonders for our relationship with the residents.  During the late season they often times have half a dozen deer in their yards eating anything lush and green.

I had a stand tucked near some thick stuff at the far end of one gentleman's property.  It's extremely tough to get in to without bumping the deer out the other end.  The bedding area consists of some nasty multi floral rose, high grass and bright sunshine.  Everything they need to be comfortable!

[Tim]

I've hunted this stand twice this year.  The only time I'll hunt it is in the afternoon when we have a NW wind, really wet ground a good steady breeze.  That's exactly what we had yesterday!            

I got dressed in one of the neighbors driveways and slipped up and across his backyard.  Yes folks....hunting backyard deer is quit different than what most of us are use to.....            

I made it to the woods safely and had a good 75 yards to go to determine how the evening would play out.  One broken branch under foot would ruin the whole plan.  I would take a few steps and look for tails heading down through the woods.  So far, so good as I tied into my life line.  I slipped up and into the stand....still no tails!!!

[Tim]

The problem I've found during late season hunts is that the deer usually don't stray too far from their bedding areas during day light.  If you can't slip to within 150 yards of where their bedding, chances are they won't get to you within shooting hours.  I'm usually overly conservative but with our season ending this week I thought it would be fun to push my luck a bit and see how it played out.  

I had only been seated for 30 minutes when I saw a doe slipping down along the edge of the woods towards the guys back yard where I had parked.  Bringing up the rear were  6 more does.   I watched them browse the edge not 60 yards from where I sat.  I remember thinking, 20 more yards in the direction they're heading and the gigs up.  They'll be down wind and out of here!

[Tim]

I'm not sure what spooked the lead doe but she stared intently for several minutes down through the yards.  Figuring things were about to get real good, real fast, I stood up.  

The lead doe jumped back into the thick stuff to my right bringing everyone with her.  I had two large does broadside at 25 yards.

Here's a pic of my stand, I'm standing where the group of deer had huddled together.  My stand is in the top right corner of the photo.

 

[Joeabowhunter]

[Huntrdfk]

Still jealous Tim, but love reading about your hunts!

David

[Tim]

I preach the following shot process to my son all the time.

Determine the angle
Pick a distinct hair
Come into your anchor and aim, aim, aim.

I took my own advice as I came into my face holding firmly as I narrowed my focus to a spot midway up and tight to the shoulder.  

Deer ran in every direction as my arrow struck home.

[Tim]

I sat down quietly as I went over everything that had just happened.  The shot placement looked to be perfect,  my white fletch buried tight against her shoulder as she took off.  I remember hearing my arrow strike bone, most likely the opposite shoulder.  

6 of the deer had now grouped up once again further down the woods where they slowly made off single file.  The next few minutes were eerie quiet, no birds, no breeze just silence.  I checked my watch and began the long wait.  

The 20 minutes passed quickly.  The weather was beautiful and the bird life was back to enjoying the last 15 minutes of sun.  I climbed down quickly and over to the spot where they had stood. The shot had been right around 25 yards and the deer had showed no reaction to the sound of my bow.  I was shooting my 50 lb Toelke Lynx, Axis 500s and a 4 blade Magnus Stinger.   Just a fantastic, quiet setup for late season.

Here's where the doe was standing when I took the shot.

       

     

[Big Ed]

I know that stand!

[Tim]

My conversation earlier in the day with Tom was about broad head choice, 2 blade versus 3 or 4.  Today I was shooting a 150 grain Magnus 4 blade.  A head that had obviously done its job by the blood trail that had started a few feet from impact and increased profusely.  The deer was at a dead run through this thick stuff.

 

 

30 yards into my trail I found the fletched end of my shaft.

 

[Tim]

Not far ahead I could see the doe lying in a small opening.  She had covered around 60 yards and had no doubt went down quickly.  She was in great condition and very healthy weight wise.  A deer that would top off the freezer until next year.   As Tom said in his text message to me, "we are blessed"!  I couldn't agree more.

     

     

[akaboomer]

Great results from a tough hunting situation.  Congratulations on your hunt.

Chris

[wooddamon1]

   

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

Good shooting sir....

,,,Sam,,,

[KentuckyTJ]

Awesome Brother, Big Ed wants to know if it is ok if he uses your stand this weekend?

[Fritz]

Another good one, Tim! Congrats! Been wanting to try those magnus stingers.  

[Tim]

Just a note to Big Ed if he climbs up in that stand.  Use the life line!!! I always make them a touch sketchy to get in to, it keeps out the trespassers!    

[JMG]

Great job Tim!! Congrats!!    
That was a great posting yesterday and finally convinced me to go ahead and order my 2 blade broadheads, Simmons Tiger Sharks 175 grains,.