lefler168
New Member
The only way I can describe this year's bow season for me and my closest friends is simply perfect. Myself, and my two closest hunting buddies all took down Giants, and thanks to "sureshot 1" and his hard work running trail camera's this summer, we were able to have history with all three. But enough recap, let me get to the story!
I started a 10 day vacation on November 1st, and to make things even better, "sureshot1" had already tagged out and was “all in” for video taping me in my quest to take my 5th P&Y buck in 5 years. We hunted hard for days at a farm that I consider my honey hole with great luck. We were seeing lots of bucks, but not the mature bucks that we were after.
On November 3rd, we decided to try a different farm where we knew from trail cam pictures of at least 3 mature bucks that would be respectable to take by any bow hunter. One of those bucks had been given the name “PT” which is short for “perfect ten”. “PT” had been showing up on the trail camera for 2 years now, and had recently started showing up on a scrape camera during the day.
This particular farm had not been hunted much, and we decided that we would use our lone wolf tree stands to walk in, read the sign, and hang a set where we thought we could get a crack at a good buck. To put it lightly, we did a lot of sitting the first day and a half without seeing much, but due to the extraordinary amount of buck sign, and the daytime trail cam photos, we decided to keep putting our time in.
On the afternoon on November 4th, we saw warmer temps and blustery winds sweep across southern Iowa, and we decided to hang a new set in a valley approximately 100 yards from where we had initially set up when we first started hunting the area.
After hanging the set, "sureshot" and I both knew we were in a prime spot to take a giant, and that it was only a matter of time before we were going to get an opportunity. Boy were we ever right. Late that afternoon I spotted a very nice 10 pt., that we later realized was “PT”, working his way right down the draw towards us, as if he was going to give us a perfect shot. As most of us know, things never go as planned, and the buck turned, went up the ridge, and crossed the fence not more than 10 yards from where our original setup was at. Not spooked, I turned to "sureshot" and said, "he'll be back, it only makes sense, lets just be patient." I don't get to say this a lot, but I was right. Not more than 15 minutes later “PT” returned, and was heading straight for us. I positioned myself for what was going to be a tough shot with little shooting lane to work with as the buck continued closing the distance. Despite my adrenaline pumping, and the wind blowing our tree around, I found it somewhere inside me to draw my bow and settle my pin rock solid behind “PT’s” shoulder. Just as I did though, “PT” moved his back legs forward, and I immediately reacted making a "baahh" sound to keep him from stepping out of my already tight shooting lane. Just as I did, the buck turned and looked right at us quartering hard. Not realizing at the time how bad the angle really was, I let my shot break, and the arrow hammered him behind the shoulder. After falling down twice and barely able to walk, “PT” made it out of sight. He was done! “PT” had slipped up, and was going to be the newest addition to my wall! I knew he was done, however, I also knew that because of the angle, I was going to be in for a night of no sleep and waiting until the next morning to go find him.
The next morning, "sureshot" and I headed out with video camera to finish up our hunt with the retrieval of "PT". Needless to say it was quite a roller coaster ride as we ended up losing our blood trail before finding "PT" still just barely alive and on his dying breath. I couldn't believe it, 15 1/2 hours later, he was not finished. Thankful for making the right decision to wait before tracking him, I put a finishing shot on the helpless "PT" and put an end to a two year history of a truly beautiful mature whitetail!
This year will definitely be remembered as one of my most memorable seasons. Not only did I get to tag another great buck, but I got to do it while spending time with great friends! To me, that is what bow hunting is all about!!
Good luck to those who still have tags to fill….and for all you indoor target shooter’s, I’ll see you on the line!
I started a 10 day vacation on November 1st, and to make things even better, "sureshot1" had already tagged out and was “all in” for video taping me in my quest to take my 5th P&Y buck in 5 years. We hunted hard for days at a farm that I consider my honey hole with great luck. We were seeing lots of bucks, but not the mature bucks that we were after.
On November 3rd, we decided to try a different farm where we knew from trail cam pictures of at least 3 mature bucks that would be respectable to take by any bow hunter. One of those bucks had been given the name “PT” which is short for “perfect ten”. “PT” had been showing up on the trail camera for 2 years now, and had recently started showing up on a scrape camera during the day.
This particular farm had not been hunted much, and we decided that we would use our lone wolf tree stands to walk in, read the sign, and hang a set where we thought we could get a crack at a good buck. To put it lightly, we did a lot of sitting the first day and a half without seeing much, but due to the extraordinary amount of buck sign, and the daytime trail cam photos, we decided to keep putting our time in.
On the afternoon on November 4th, we saw warmer temps and blustery winds sweep across southern Iowa, and we decided to hang a new set in a valley approximately 100 yards from where we had initially set up when we first started hunting the area.
After hanging the set, "sureshot" and I both knew we were in a prime spot to take a giant, and that it was only a matter of time before we were going to get an opportunity. Boy were we ever right. Late that afternoon I spotted a very nice 10 pt., that we later realized was “PT”, working his way right down the draw towards us, as if he was going to give us a perfect shot. As most of us know, things never go as planned, and the buck turned, went up the ridge, and crossed the fence not more than 10 yards from where our original setup was at. Not spooked, I turned to "sureshot" and said, "he'll be back, it only makes sense, lets just be patient." I don't get to say this a lot, but I was right. Not more than 15 minutes later “PT” returned, and was heading straight for us. I positioned myself for what was going to be a tough shot with little shooting lane to work with as the buck continued closing the distance. Despite my adrenaline pumping, and the wind blowing our tree around, I found it somewhere inside me to draw my bow and settle my pin rock solid behind “PT’s” shoulder. Just as I did though, “PT” moved his back legs forward, and I immediately reacted making a "baahh" sound to keep him from stepping out of my already tight shooting lane. Just as I did, the buck turned and looked right at us quartering hard. Not realizing at the time how bad the angle really was, I let my shot break, and the arrow hammered him behind the shoulder. After falling down twice and barely able to walk, “PT” made it out of sight. He was done! “PT” had slipped up, and was going to be the newest addition to my wall! I knew he was done, however, I also knew that because of the angle, I was going to be in for a night of no sleep and waiting until the next morning to go find him.
The next morning, "sureshot" and I headed out with video camera to finish up our hunt with the retrieval of "PT". Needless to say it was quite a roller coaster ride as we ended up losing our blood trail before finding "PT" still just barely alive and on his dying breath. I couldn't believe it, 15 1/2 hours later, he was not finished. Thankful for making the right decision to wait before tracking him, I put a finishing shot on the helpless "PT" and put an end to a two year history of a truly beautiful mature whitetail!
This year will definitely be remembered as one of my most memorable seasons. Not only did I get to tag another great buck, but I got to do it while spending time with great friends! To me, that is what bow hunting is all about!!
Good luck to those who still have tags to fill….and for all you indoor target shooter’s, I’ll see you on the line!
