lefler168
New Member
well...to put it lightly, last weekend really took the wind out of my sails.....the main buck that i was after this year was a buck that i new would go over 200 inches, and he did, as i found out last weekend when the neighboring property owner managed to arrow him. of course i wish i would have been able to put a tag on him, however, i'm thrilled that an avid hunter that did his homework and hunted hard was able to tag him.......now on to my story......mid october was the first time i ran into this particular deer.....i had him head on at thirty yards for almost 20 minutes...at the time i thought he was a 14 pointer with split brows and g2's....little did i know...a week later i noticed that he had broken his g3 on his left side as well as the split on his g2...the reason why i knew this was because i had managed to rattle him into bow range for the second time and still not be able to get a vital shot opportunity. This past week i got trail cam photos of this buck and decided that he was going to be the only buck i would harvest this season....two days without a confirmed sighting of this deer had me worried, but tonight, Novemeber 8th, was a day i will never forget. A new stand location, a windy and somewhat unproductive night, turned into one of the most memorable hunts that i have had in the woods of Iowa. About a half hour before dark, the buck that i had named "Sevens" came in behind me chasing a doe. Unfortunately i wasn't ready for him when he came in, and he passed through bow range before i was ready. After he was well passed me, i tried for the grand slam, a snort wheeze, that would either make him just look my direction, or get him interested. Lucky for me, he turned and came right back to me, offering me a broadside 10 yard shot. I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity at this buck! i zeroed in my hoyt bow, and executed a shot that couldn't have been placed any better!!! he ran maybe 100 yards before piling up within sight!!! what i thought was going to be the year that i didn't get "my buck" was the year that turned into me harvesting "the buck that i wanted"!!!... i couldn't be anymore thrilled than i am now!!! it is one thing to harvest a nice buck, but it is another thing to win a game of "chess" with the buck that seems to elude you everytime you hunt!! I can't say enough about having great friends that helped me get this buck out of the woods...Chris Dunkin (sureshot1), Jason Hoch, Geoff Everly, and my younger brother Blaine all helped me get pictures of my harvest as well as help me get him to the truck! I am truly blessed to have taken a deer of this caliber, and am thankful for being able to enjoy the best whitetail hunting Iowa has to offer!! Score was 171 5/8 total gross
