Master Chief
Member
It was a long day when we found that spot. I'll never forget it. What was meant to be a short scouting trip ended up in a bittersweet five hour hike. We were lost in the middle of a state forest, but it was due to not wanting to be out of the woods. We had undoubtably found a honey hole. It seemed like there were thousands of rubs. No matter what ridge we walked up there were countless two liter sized rubs and plentiful scrapes. We had no choice but to continue onward in hopes of finding our way to another trail. We ended up on a trail and of course walked the wrong way. Fortunately we made it to a recognizable land mark and knew to turn the other way. Several miles later we were back at that truck. That was just the start of the journey though.
We hunted the spot a few times that season with little result. I still had a particular trail camera buck that had my attention in a different place and my dad wasn't a fan of the sitting and not seeing deer like he had been in the other area he was hunting. Post season came around and we hung a few cameras in the area. What we seen surprised us. Our first check had a group of three bucks pass through-a giant with only one side of his rack in the picture (shed later found and scored 61" without his estimates 11" G3), a 2.5 8 point that captivated me as his potential was like no other deer I had seen, and another good buck aging an estimated 3.5 with about a 120" 8 point set of antlers. We set out some more cams and had another nice one show up. He was at least 6.5. His hide told stories of many battles fought in the past. It was striped like a zebra and his muscles were flexed as if he wanted everyone to know he was a mean son of a gun.
We looked for their sheds and my buddies had decent luck finding some old ones. Particularly a matched set from the largest antlered of the group. With an estimated 18" spread he would have been 138" the year before. Only two other antlers were picked up. Both of which were very old and the tines they once held were gone forever to the squirrels.
We knew of a nearby salt lick that might allow us to get their pictures the following summer. Unfortunately, we had no luck. Come November I had a game plan. Wildlife biologist Bryan Kinkel had told me to start mock scrapes with my own urine. I initially thought he was insane but had tried it the previous year and had successfully photographed a young 12 point in another area so I let'er rip! I was beyond excited to check the camera! I patiently waited two weeks and on Nov. 8th I was rewarded with seeing that the 2.5 8 point had grown into a 3.5 nine point-or so I thought. I hunted the area hard trying to get him. He was the one I wanted to see since the day he showed up and I was obsessed! Nov. 15th I got a daylight picture. This revealed he was actually a ten point. I became even more obsessed and as a result hunted even harder! One morning I had a chance at something(s) I had never been able to do before. I passed two 120" deer hoping direly it would pay off and I would get the ten. I never did. He came through on another cam on Nov. 22nd, but it was not until post season he would return. He showed up seldom, but posed his large antlers as if he were taunting me. None of the other three deer showed back up either. I didn't care though. I had found my deer! We shed hunted hard and only found one shed in that area. It was the old shed from the big guy that only let us see half of his rack. It had been chewed badly, but I was glad my buddy found it.
2014 rolled around and I couldn't take it. I asked the area manager if I could start a couple of salt licks and he happily allowed me to. I started cams early.. In May. The first cam I put out malfunctioned after ten days so that was disappointing, but it did have a familiar face! You guessed it. The once 2.5 8, once 3.5 10, now 4.5 nubby velvet buck was back. This time he wasn't shy. I put up another came and watched him grow and grow and grow some more! He had neared the end of his growth and it was evident he was going to be a very nice typical ten. That wasn't the only good news though. He brought a surprise. The larger buck he first showed up on cam with two years prior came back through. He was unbelievable. Easily over 20" wide, tall, massive and had a drop-tine. Sadly, his left G3 had already been broken off and during his next appearance a week later his drop-tine had met the same fate. Both disappeared.
I had taken note of a big mistake I made last year and went into the season with a better plan than "hunt hard." I held off on hunting those two bucks until Nov. 13th. I chose three stands sites and switched based on the wind. My go to spot felt right. However, I had sat there three times and not seen a deer. I had also sat in my south wind spot and seen several deer, including a nice 8, but on the morning of Nov. 20th The only spot I could sit would be my go to spot. I feared it was over hunted. I sat in bed contemplating even going. I finally decided it couldn't hurt to try. I had spent so much time debating going I was running a bit late. I decided to try a new method of walking in. I trotted in attempting to mimic the sound of a deer. Astonishingly I had an immediate response. A deer circled around, but it was too dark to see what it was. It ran off. I gave it some time and decided to rattle. No immediate response. I gave it a little more time and rattled again. No response. Thirty minutes later, I saw something that made made heart skip beat. The dark fur with white that popped out better than any deer I had seen gave me a moment of realization like no other. It was him. He came peaking his head around brush. I caught a glimpse of the antlers. It became hard to breath.. hard to think. It's him. It's him. That's all I could think. It's him. Before I knew it he had made his was to the ridge in front of me. He walked quickly. I faintly maaa'd in nervousness. He didn't hear me. Again I maaa'd. No response. In desperation I let out a louder MAAA! He stopped. Time froze. I clicked the my safety. Asked that my shot please either be a clean kill or miss and squeezed the trigger. He turned, quick. Tail down. I was lost. I didn't know what to think. I reloaded immediately. I called my dad. He left work to come help. I called my buddy. He did the same. My other buddy wanted to so bad but couldn't. Still in shock I nervously walked down the hill to check my camera I had left the last time I sat there. No pics.. No big deal. I walked to where he stood which was actually exactly where my buddy found the first set of antlers from the bigger buck. I found blood. It was obviously good blood, but still in shock I sent my buddy a text curious what he thought. I followed it not taking my eyes off of it.. It wasn't long before he lay at the base of my feet!
Here's the mount. I have kill pics/trail cam pics on here already
We hunted the spot a few times that season with little result. I still had a particular trail camera buck that had my attention in a different place and my dad wasn't a fan of the sitting and not seeing deer like he had been in the other area he was hunting. Post season came around and we hung a few cameras in the area. What we seen surprised us. Our first check had a group of three bucks pass through-a giant with only one side of his rack in the picture (shed later found and scored 61" without his estimates 11" G3), a 2.5 8 point that captivated me as his potential was like no other deer I had seen, and another good buck aging an estimated 3.5 with about a 120" 8 point set of antlers. We set out some more cams and had another nice one show up. He was at least 6.5. His hide told stories of many battles fought in the past. It was striped like a zebra and his muscles were flexed as if he wanted everyone to know he was a mean son of a gun.
We looked for their sheds and my buddies had decent luck finding some old ones. Particularly a matched set from the largest antlered of the group. With an estimated 18" spread he would have been 138" the year before. Only two other antlers were picked up. Both of which were very old and the tines they once held were gone forever to the squirrels.
We knew of a nearby salt lick that might allow us to get their pictures the following summer. Unfortunately, we had no luck. Come November I had a game plan. Wildlife biologist Bryan Kinkel had told me to start mock scrapes with my own urine. I initially thought he was insane but had tried it the previous year and had successfully photographed a young 12 point in another area so I let'er rip! I was beyond excited to check the camera! I patiently waited two weeks and on Nov. 8th I was rewarded with seeing that the 2.5 8 point had grown into a 3.5 nine point-or so I thought. I hunted the area hard trying to get him. He was the one I wanted to see since the day he showed up and I was obsessed! Nov. 15th I got a daylight picture. This revealed he was actually a ten point. I became even more obsessed and as a result hunted even harder! One morning I had a chance at something(s) I had never been able to do before. I passed two 120" deer hoping direly it would pay off and I would get the ten. I never did. He came through on another cam on Nov. 22nd, but it was not until post season he would return. He showed up seldom, but posed his large antlers as if he were taunting me. None of the other three deer showed back up either. I didn't care though. I had found my deer! We shed hunted hard and only found one shed in that area. It was the old shed from the big guy that only let us see half of his rack. It had been chewed badly, but I was glad my buddy found it.
2014 rolled around and I couldn't take it. I asked the area manager if I could start a couple of salt licks and he happily allowed me to. I started cams early.. In May. The first cam I put out malfunctioned after ten days so that was disappointing, but it did have a familiar face! You guessed it. The once 2.5 8, once 3.5 10, now 4.5 nubby velvet buck was back. This time he wasn't shy. I put up another came and watched him grow and grow and grow some more! He had neared the end of his growth and it was evident he was going to be a very nice typical ten. That wasn't the only good news though. He brought a surprise. The larger buck he first showed up on cam with two years prior came back through. He was unbelievable. Easily over 20" wide, tall, massive and had a drop-tine. Sadly, his left G3 had already been broken off and during his next appearance a week later his drop-tine had met the same fate. Both disappeared.
I had taken note of a big mistake I made last year and went into the season with a better plan than "hunt hard." I held off on hunting those two bucks until Nov. 13th. I chose three stands sites and switched based on the wind. My go to spot felt right. However, I had sat there three times and not seen a deer. I had also sat in my south wind spot and seen several deer, including a nice 8, but on the morning of Nov. 20th The only spot I could sit would be my go to spot. I feared it was over hunted. I sat in bed contemplating even going. I finally decided it couldn't hurt to try. I had spent so much time debating going I was running a bit late. I decided to try a new method of walking in. I trotted in attempting to mimic the sound of a deer. Astonishingly I had an immediate response. A deer circled around, but it was too dark to see what it was. It ran off. I gave it some time and decided to rattle. No immediate response. I gave it a little more time and rattled again. No response. Thirty minutes later, I saw something that made made heart skip beat. The dark fur with white that popped out better than any deer I had seen gave me a moment of realization like no other. It was him. He came peaking his head around brush. I caught a glimpse of the antlers. It became hard to breath.. hard to think. It's him. It's him. That's all I could think. It's him. Before I knew it he had made his was to the ridge in front of me. He walked quickly. I faintly maaa'd in nervousness. He didn't hear me. Again I maaa'd. No response. In desperation I let out a louder MAAA! He stopped. Time froze. I clicked the my safety. Asked that my shot please either be a clean kill or miss and squeezed the trigger. He turned, quick. Tail down. I was lost. I didn't know what to think. I reloaded immediately. I called my dad. He left work to come help. I called my buddy. He did the same. My other buddy wanted to so bad but couldn't. Still in shock I nervously walked down the hill to check my camera I had left the last time I sat there. No pics.. No big deal. I walked to where he stood which was actually exactly where my buddy found the first set of antlers from the bigger buck. I found blood. It was obviously good blood, but still in shock I sent my buddy a text curious what he thought. I followed it not taking my eyes off of it.. It wasn't long before he lay at the base of my feet!
Here's the mount. I have kill pics/trail cam pics on here already
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