guitarzan
New Member
My best buck, to date, although not a giant. Split G2 on the right beam which gives him 6 on the right and 5 on the left. My setup was about 30 yards inside a patch of timber bordering a pond and a grass pasture with another patch of timber about 70 yards to the north. Got settled in the stand about 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning after the 75 minute drive. Settled in and watched the squirrels make way too much noise for squirrels! About an hour goes by and I see a small 4 X 4 cruising the edge of the timber. I glass him, but not quite a shooter, maybe in a couple years. I grunted at him just to see if he would commit to the trail that runs by the stand, which he didn't. Another 20 minutes or so pass, and I watch a half of dozen does come from the timber I was in, and head to the pond. Then the does start to file up the hill to the timber about 70 yards away. Then I hear a deep grunt coming from the timber to the east where the does had come from. I wait a few minutes and then I see him following the path the does had taken. He doesn't go to the pond, but instead heads up the hill towards the does that have not quite made it to the timber. I grab my grunt call as he's walking away from me and is about 50 to 60 yards away. I give him a couple grunts and a loud "buck growl" with a qick snort wheeze. Then he turns and gives me a look over his shoulder. When he continues towards the does, I hit the horns, not hard, but just enough to get his attention. He turns and starts coming on a string! When he gets to just about the 50 yard mark, still coming, I take another look through the bino's and confirm, "he's a shooter to me"! He then turns and follows the timber line towards the trail. I wait to make sure he commits to the trail, then I grab my bow, then the shakes start in!! I had to remind myself to "calm down"! When the buck goes behind a large oak tree, and still has 15 yards to go, I draw, hoping he doesn't stop and leave me hanging. He continues and when he finally reaches my shooting lane, I have to decide, stop him with a grunt, or shot him in stride, I quickly decide to shoot him in stride. The shot was about 18 yards and near perfect, right behind the shoulder and took out the upper part of the heart! He ran down into the wash part of the pond and I watched him fall, kick and there he lay. I couldn't be happier the way it turned out!!
