deerhunter93
Well-Known Member
I have been able to hunt more this fall than the last three years combined – partially because my cross-country season didn’t go exactly as planned. I know this is low compared to others but I have sat in a stand over 50 hours in November, which is way more than I normally am able to and spent lots of them self filming.
This year I focused on one property as I thought it would give me the best chance at a buck cruising during the rut. I ran two trail cameras in there since late August and got pictures of 5 different bucks that I would be happy to wrap my tag around. I passed one of them at 10 yards on the 5th of November since he had a broken g3, not on film, and had two full days to hunt with my Dad and brother that weekend.
October passed with many hours in the stand but no shooters spotted. The big boys started to move on October 31st so I made sure to put time in the stand in November. I hunted hard early and then had two all-day sits with my Dad and brother where I passed a decent 10 point 20 minutes into the first day. On November 16th my brother came down to film me in the stand that I thought it was going to happen from and it almost did. The biggest buck I had on camera came in to 20 yards and got our wind. It was a great encounter but it hurt because we were so close to getting it done on a 150+ inch deer.
Dakota and I just after the big 10 went over the hill and out of our lives for that day
I continued to run cameras into November but wasn’t getting much activity so I started to think where else on the property to hunt. Last Thursday I was able to get out and watch deer pour into a cut cornfield on the North side of the property I hunt so I decided I needed to be on a travel route to the corn.
Tuesday morning I hunted a stand that I put up in September. I had good deer movement until 8am but it was all does. The wind was supposed to switch to the south so I figured why not get as close to that corn field as I could and hope the big guys were checking the does as they went towards the corn. I was running a bit late for a hang and hunt but decided to go ahead with it and was setup shortly after 3:30pm. As soon as I got everything situated a few does moved through and headed for the corn. Two 2.5-year-old 8 points were lagging behind and ended up sparing. While they were pushing each other around I caught movement to the east and saw it was “the big 10” that escaped Dakota and I nine days earlier. Unfortunately a can call sent them back where they came from and I thought the night had been ruined at 4:00pm.
I had a great view from the stand
At 4:45pm I heard something behind me towards the cornfield and had a doe and button buck work their way to 10 yards. I thought I heard a grunt but they fed for 5 minutes without worry. I heard another deer walking behind them and saw it was loppy heading my way – a buck that is super lopsided with a big crab claw on his right side. He was favoring his back left leg and as he was walking in I said a quick prayer for my arrow to hit the mark if given the opportunity. The camera was rolling the whole time but I drew early and held for at least a minute. He took his time browsing towards me and stepped out of the frame seconds before I shot without me noticing.
I got pictures of him working a scrape on a CRP field twice towards the end of October and then on November 1st he walked past my stand an hour before I got there.
Self-filming is incredibly difficult but it has been a good challenge. This Thanksgiving break I will hopefully get out and film my brother to see if we can get him a buck with the bow. A big thanks to my Dad and brother for coming down and sharing the experience. Another thanks to my buddy Gunnar for helping drag him out. And a final thanks to my fiancee, Emily, for being open to this great passion of mine.
Emily was thrilled to be in this picture
This year I focused on one property as I thought it would give me the best chance at a buck cruising during the rut. I ran two trail cameras in there since late August and got pictures of 5 different bucks that I would be happy to wrap my tag around. I passed one of them at 10 yards on the 5th of November since he had a broken g3, not on film, and had two full days to hunt with my Dad and brother that weekend.
October passed with many hours in the stand but no shooters spotted. The big boys started to move on October 31st so I made sure to put time in the stand in November. I hunted hard early and then had two all-day sits with my Dad and brother where I passed a decent 10 point 20 minutes into the first day. On November 16th my brother came down to film me in the stand that I thought it was going to happen from and it almost did. The biggest buck I had on camera came in to 20 yards and got our wind. It was a great encounter but it hurt because we were so close to getting it done on a 150+ inch deer.
Dakota and I just after the big 10 went over the hill and out of our lives for that day
I continued to run cameras into November but wasn’t getting much activity so I started to think where else on the property to hunt. Last Thursday I was able to get out and watch deer pour into a cut cornfield on the North side of the property I hunt so I decided I needed to be on a travel route to the corn.
Tuesday morning I hunted a stand that I put up in September. I had good deer movement until 8am but it was all does. The wind was supposed to switch to the south so I figured why not get as close to that corn field as I could and hope the big guys were checking the does as they went towards the corn. I was running a bit late for a hang and hunt but decided to go ahead with it and was setup shortly after 3:30pm. As soon as I got everything situated a few does moved through and headed for the corn. Two 2.5-year-old 8 points were lagging behind and ended up sparing. While they were pushing each other around I caught movement to the east and saw it was “the big 10” that escaped Dakota and I nine days earlier. Unfortunately a can call sent them back where they came from and I thought the night had been ruined at 4:00pm.
I had a great view from the stand
At 4:45pm I heard something behind me towards the cornfield and had a doe and button buck work their way to 10 yards. I thought I heard a grunt but they fed for 5 minutes without worry. I heard another deer walking behind them and saw it was loppy heading my way – a buck that is super lopsided with a big crab claw on his right side. He was favoring his back left leg and as he was walking in I said a quick prayer for my arrow to hit the mark if given the opportunity. The camera was rolling the whole time but I drew early and held for at least a minute. He took his time browsing towards me and stepped out of the frame seconds before I shot without me noticing.
I got pictures of him working a scrape on a CRP field twice towards the end of October and then on November 1st he walked past my stand an hour before I got there.
Self-filming is incredibly difficult but it has been a good challenge. This Thanksgiving break I will hopefully get out and film my brother to see if we can get him a buck with the bow. A big thanks to my Dad and brother for coming down and sharing the experience. Another thanks to my buddy Gunnar for helping drag him out. And a final thanks to my fiancee, Emily, for being open to this great passion of mine.
Emily was thrilled to be in this picture
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