medicsnoke
Member
http://trophypursuit.com/corey/2012/11/11/video-the-shocker-falls/
This entire hunt was captured on film and can be viewed here:
Halloween Ohio Buck: THE SHOCKER
or feel free to read my story. Either way, enjoy and thanks for looking.
I guess I'll start with a little about the property. I have permission to hunt a farm that borders a highway. The highway creates a lot of noise that makes hearing deer at times very difficult. Plus the fact that I never get the peace and serenity that I look for when bowhunting, makes this property not 100% perfect. But with those negatives, its a great farm and the highway provides a great funnel, entry and cover noise when getting to the stand. This farm has agricultural bottoms and sandstone bluff hill tops that provide the deer a secluded bedding area. The terrain feature is very common for my area. Over the years, I've found this terrain very compatible to hunting.
I watched this farm all summer, glassing velvet bucks and running a trail cameras, but never really saw a shooter buck. I did watch a bachelor group across the highway one night, and labeled one deer Hands Jr. because he had brow tines that somewhat resembled my 2007 buck Hands. It was early in the growing season and he was across the highway. I never though I had much of a chance at him because I don't think deer cross the highway to often, Looking back know maybe I was wrong.
Near the end of September I moved a trail camera back onto the farm near the highway. I placed the camera over a sandpit that the bucks scrape every year. It's one of those areas, that as far back as I can remember, always has a giant scrape in it and it a great place to inventory bucks. I pulled the camera a week later and was excited to see a nice buck. I named him the Shocker because he has 3 brow tines on each side and I was shocked to see him there.
Looking at the above trail camera picture, I decided I would hunt this buck and see what he looked like. I hung a stand near this scrape pit and sat in it a few times but the buck never showed. So one day, when in was windy and rainy, I decided to poke around and do a little scouting. To be honest, I don't like to scout very often, I'm always afraid of bumping deer out of the area. When you know a farm as well as I do with this one, you kind of hunt on hunches and past experience. Anyway, this buck I felt had two options for bedding. Since I hunted spot number one with no success, I scouted area number two and found three big active scrapes and an area littered with rubs. I hung a morning stand right next to the highway and a trail camera on the biggest scrape. Then I waited for a good wind.
The first sit was 2 days before Halloween, I had just gotten in the tree, only 10 minutes before legal shooting light and a large buck pass my location. It was to dark to visualize his rack but it was a big buck and figured it was the Shocker. He came from the area of my trail camera and was anxious to see if I had captured him on camera minutes before. That sit provided no more sighting and around 10 am I climbed out to check my camera. I was correct, I had the Shocker on camera that morning and was now confident I had him figured out.
Halloween morning I decided to go after him again, it was a damp, cold, windy day. I slid into the stand again and waited patiently. Around 9 am I had 5 does work past me and head into the bedding area. I was pumped! The rut was approaching and I know how bucks tend to make it to bed late this time of year. About an 1 1/2 later I looked down the hill and saw a giant white racked buck sniffing the doe trail. At first, I thought this was a giant, clean 8 point! He looked like a mega giant! Probably the biggest looking buck I had watched in a very long time. I looked at him with the binoculars and saw the split brows (It had to be the Shocker) and decided to shoot him if given the opportunity. He read the script and walked right up the hill, following the doe trail and right to my stand. I was so busy running the camera I forgot to take off my gloves and facemask, something I always do before a shot. I drew once on him at 30 yards when he stopped on a logging trail, then he started walking again and let down, moved the camera and drew again. That's when I tried to anchor and realized I forgot to take of my mask. With the buck at 12 yards and camera rolling, I anchored hard (probably torquing the string) and LET ER EAT! I hit the buck back, way back! 100% gut and I knew it. He ran 40-50 yards and stopped with his head down. He acted like he wanted to lay down but then slowly walked off. I was worried but knew a 2 blade rage to the gut would kill him, if only I could find him.
I backed out and waited till the next day. A hard decision to make when your in those shoes. Those few hours are filled with lots of uncertainty and second guesses. I thought I had shot the Shocker but the deer I shot looked so much bigger. Also, i know how white racks look much bigger than they really are, I was worried that somehow I got caught up in the moment and shot a small buck. I was worried as to what I would find the next day.
I gathered a few friends and family and went looking the next day at first light. I knew we would be looking for a dead deer, no blood trail today. I located my arrow and then went to where I had last seen the buck. I didn't even make it to the point where I had last seen him and saw/smelled a dead deer on the sandstone bluff top. Crazy deer tried to climb into his bedding area and died only 50-60 yards from my tree stand.
After gutting him I inspected the shot. Straight gut fellas, nothing else! He went 60 yards max! Rage 2 blade are deadly! Stay away from the shoulder and you have a dead deer. I'm not advocating shooting one in the gut, but shoot middle lung and leave some room for error and you have a dead deer every time.
Thanks for looking, stay safe and good luck to everyone with tags left to fill
This entire hunt was captured on film and can be viewed here:
Halloween Ohio Buck: THE SHOCKER
or feel free to read my story. Either way, enjoy and thanks for looking.
I guess I'll start with a little about the property. I have permission to hunt a farm that borders a highway. The highway creates a lot of noise that makes hearing deer at times very difficult. Plus the fact that I never get the peace and serenity that I look for when bowhunting, makes this property not 100% perfect. But with those negatives, its a great farm and the highway provides a great funnel, entry and cover noise when getting to the stand. This farm has agricultural bottoms and sandstone bluff hill tops that provide the deer a secluded bedding area. The terrain feature is very common for my area. Over the years, I've found this terrain very compatible to hunting.
I watched this farm all summer, glassing velvet bucks and running a trail cameras, but never really saw a shooter buck. I did watch a bachelor group across the highway one night, and labeled one deer Hands Jr. because he had brow tines that somewhat resembled my 2007 buck Hands. It was early in the growing season and he was across the highway. I never though I had much of a chance at him because I don't think deer cross the highway to often, Looking back know maybe I was wrong.
Near the end of September I moved a trail camera back onto the farm near the highway. I placed the camera over a sandpit that the bucks scrape every year. It's one of those areas, that as far back as I can remember, always has a giant scrape in it and it a great place to inventory bucks. I pulled the camera a week later and was excited to see a nice buck. I named him the Shocker because he has 3 brow tines on each side and I was shocked to see him there.
Looking at the above trail camera picture, I decided I would hunt this buck and see what he looked like. I hung a stand near this scrape pit and sat in it a few times but the buck never showed. So one day, when in was windy and rainy, I decided to poke around and do a little scouting. To be honest, I don't like to scout very often, I'm always afraid of bumping deer out of the area. When you know a farm as well as I do with this one, you kind of hunt on hunches and past experience. Anyway, this buck I felt had two options for bedding. Since I hunted spot number one with no success, I scouted area number two and found three big active scrapes and an area littered with rubs. I hung a morning stand right next to the highway and a trail camera on the biggest scrape. Then I waited for a good wind.
The first sit was 2 days before Halloween, I had just gotten in the tree, only 10 minutes before legal shooting light and a large buck pass my location. It was to dark to visualize his rack but it was a big buck and figured it was the Shocker. He came from the area of my trail camera and was anxious to see if I had captured him on camera minutes before. That sit provided no more sighting and around 10 am I climbed out to check my camera. I was correct, I had the Shocker on camera that morning and was now confident I had him figured out.
Halloween morning I decided to go after him again, it was a damp, cold, windy day. I slid into the stand again and waited patiently. Around 9 am I had 5 does work past me and head into the bedding area. I was pumped! The rut was approaching and I know how bucks tend to make it to bed late this time of year. About an 1 1/2 later I looked down the hill and saw a giant white racked buck sniffing the doe trail. At first, I thought this was a giant, clean 8 point! He looked like a mega giant! Probably the biggest looking buck I had watched in a very long time. I looked at him with the binoculars and saw the split brows (It had to be the Shocker) and decided to shoot him if given the opportunity. He read the script and walked right up the hill, following the doe trail and right to my stand. I was so busy running the camera I forgot to take off my gloves and facemask, something I always do before a shot. I drew once on him at 30 yards when he stopped on a logging trail, then he started walking again and let down, moved the camera and drew again. That's when I tried to anchor and realized I forgot to take of my mask. With the buck at 12 yards and camera rolling, I anchored hard (probably torquing the string) and LET ER EAT! I hit the buck back, way back! 100% gut and I knew it. He ran 40-50 yards and stopped with his head down. He acted like he wanted to lay down but then slowly walked off. I was worried but knew a 2 blade rage to the gut would kill him, if only I could find him.
I backed out and waited till the next day. A hard decision to make when your in those shoes. Those few hours are filled with lots of uncertainty and second guesses. I thought I had shot the Shocker but the deer I shot looked so much bigger. Also, i know how white racks look much bigger than they really are, I was worried that somehow I got caught up in the moment and shot a small buck. I was worried as to what I would find the next day.
I gathered a few friends and family and went looking the next day at first light. I knew we would be looking for a dead deer, no blood trail today. I located my arrow and then went to where I had last seen the buck. I didn't even make it to the point where I had last seen him and saw/smelled a dead deer on the sandstone bluff top. Crazy deer tried to climb into his bedding area and died only 50-60 yards from my tree stand.
After gutting him I inspected the shot. Straight gut fellas, nothing else! He went 60 yards max! Rage 2 blade are deadly! Stay away from the shoulder and you have a dead deer. I'm not advocating shooting one in the gut, but shoot middle lung and leave some room for error and you have a dead deer every time.
Thanks for looking, stay safe and good luck to everyone with tags left to fill
