sep0667
Land of the Whitetail
Here is my buck for 2009. He is my fourth deer, third with my bow. Throughout the last year I have really become interested in whitetail management by watching Whitetail Freaks and other such shows on the Outdoor Channel along with IowaWhitetail.com Along with looking at ariel maps, scouting, and shed hunting. I really admire this site and a lot of the members here and all there knowledge. My goal this year was to pass on a lot of smaller deer and wait for a bigger mature buck, in hopes of having a bigger deer come by, like a 140 or up. I passed on a few deer this year but I just couldn't let this guy go by, I know he's not 140 but he is a mature deer, I'm guessing a 3 1/2 or 4 1/2. His antlers are small for his age but he was over 200 pounds on the hoof and was real fat.
Here's the story.
It was Saturday November 7 and my Dad and I got up sort of late. We didn't get in the truck until about 5:45 a.m. and had to make the near hour drive down to Leighton on my uncle's property. By the time we got there the sun wasn't up but it was already legal shooting time and everything was very visible. As we were walking in through the picked bean field 6 does ran off, they were all standing within 30 yards of my stand. That really got my hopes down and I figured the morning was just going to be a waste. Anyways I got to my stand and got settled in about 6:50 a.m. After I had sat down I waited a few minutes and I tried some rattling. A minute and a half later I could here something coming down the trail that leads under my stand. I caught movement about 50 yards out and noticed it was a deer. I thought, "Holy crap that's a big deer, oh shoot its a buck!" I watched as he was came out of the line of timber and started making his way down the trail between the standing corn and the woods. He was making his way slowly stopping to check the wind and look around. Once he started walking a slowly stood up and got positioned to make a shot. He looked real impressive coming towards me. I was figuring he was bigger than what he ended up being. As I stood watching him I couldn't believe how perfect this set up was, it was dynamite, he was going to come right to me. He closed the distance to 25 yards and was facing directly at me. Luckily there was a little puddle in the trail and he put his head down the get a drink, that when I drew back. Once he finished his drink he turned broadside and all he had to do was pass a tree. Once he passed the tree he gave me a perfect broadside shot at about 15 yards. I settled my first pin right on him and released. I watched my arrow burrow into him and pass straight through. I knew I had just smoked him and he would go down for sure. He hunched over and walked down the same trail he had just came. Once he entered the edge of the timber he coughed, took a couple more steps and I heard him crash. I checked my phone, it was now 6:55 a.m. I couldn't believe it, it was perfect. I stood there about a minute and then sat down and the sun came up over the horizon. What a beatuiful morning. He looked awesome coming towards me, I wish I had it on film. Since my dad was in his stand about 75 yards south I decided not to tell him and hope that something would come by him. He only ended up seeing a doe. About 8:30 I had a doe start to come down the same path but she noticed the blood trail and scurried away, darn, I have two antlerless tags. Then about 9:30 I text my dad and say lets go, Iowa plays at 11. Boy was he suprised when he came to the bottum of my tree and told him to go grab that arrow stuck in the ground! It was a good little joke.
Once I walked up on him I was initially dissapointed, he had same ground shrinkage lol. Next year I am going to hold out even longer. But all in all I'm excited and thankful for my deer. I'm proud of myself for passing on some smaller bucks that I wouldn't have a couple years ago. This was a great learning expierence, in the fact of that I picked the location, stand placement, and buying all my own equipment. It was awesome to see everything come together!http
Here's the story.
It was Saturday November 7 and my Dad and I got up sort of late. We didn't get in the truck until about 5:45 a.m. and had to make the near hour drive down to Leighton on my uncle's property. By the time we got there the sun wasn't up but it was already legal shooting time and everything was very visible. As we were walking in through the picked bean field 6 does ran off, they were all standing within 30 yards of my stand. That really got my hopes down and I figured the morning was just going to be a waste. Anyways I got to my stand and got settled in about 6:50 a.m. After I had sat down I waited a few minutes and I tried some rattling. A minute and a half later I could here something coming down the trail that leads under my stand. I caught movement about 50 yards out and noticed it was a deer. I thought, "Holy crap that's a big deer, oh shoot its a buck!" I watched as he was came out of the line of timber and started making his way down the trail between the standing corn and the woods. He was making his way slowly stopping to check the wind and look around. Once he started walking a slowly stood up and got positioned to make a shot. He looked real impressive coming towards me. I was figuring he was bigger than what he ended up being. As I stood watching him I couldn't believe how perfect this set up was, it was dynamite, he was going to come right to me. He closed the distance to 25 yards and was facing directly at me. Luckily there was a little puddle in the trail and he put his head down the get a drink, that when I drew back. Once he finished his drink he turned broadside and all he had to do was pass a tree. Once he passed the tree he gave me a perfect broadside shot at about 15 yards. I settled my first pin right on him and released. I watched my arrow burrow into him and pass straight through. I knew I had just smoked him and he would go down for sure. He hunched over and walked down the same trail he had just came. Once he entered the edge of the timber he coughed, took a couple more steps and I heard him crash. I checked my phone, it was now 6:55 a.m. I couldn't believe it, it was perfect. I stood there about a minute and then sat down and the sun came up over the horizon. What a beatuiful morning. He looked awesome coming towards me, I wish I had it on film. Since my dad was in his stand about 75 yards south I decided not to tell him and hope that something would come by him. He only ended up seeing a doe. About 8:30 I had a doe start to come down the same path but she noticed the blood trail and scurried away, darn, I have two antlerless tags. Then about 9:30 I text my dad and say lets go, Iowa plays at 11. Boy was he suprised when he came to the bottum of my tree and told him to go grab that arrow stuck in the ground! It was a good little joke.
Once I walked up on him I was initially dissapointed, he had same ground shrinkage lol. Next year I am going to hold out even longer. But all in all I'm excited and thankful for my deer. I'm proud of myself for passing on some smaller bucks that I wouldn't have a couple years ago. This was a great learning expierence, in the fact of that I picked the location, stand placement, and buying all my own equipment. It was awesome to see everything come together!http
