About a month ago I got 3 photos in a food plot during the middle of the day. It was about 10 degrees and blowing hard so I immediately thought it was odd that all 3 photos showed the bucks fighting. I told my wife that I thought they were locked up & about an hour later I hit the road with my father in law & two of the kids. It took about 45 minutes but we finally found them locked up super tight in a patch of locust trees.
The next 20 minutes were a complete rodeo. They must have just gotten locked up because they traveled 0.68 miles in a dead run & locked together. My expectations for getting them separated quickly changed. I assumed they wouldn't like our presence but I had no idea they'd be capable of traveling like that. We finally caught up to them in the pickup and got them cut off. After a bunch of repositioning and waiting for the perfect opportunity I was able to use a 350 legend to shoot one side off of the younger buck. My first attempt I wiffed. The real trick was being about 40-50 yards away, timing it where they weren't moving, but then also having to factor in that my 350 legend is 3" high at 100 yards.
My son was a mess because he thought for sure they were both dead. It wasn't until he got to scoop up the antler I shot off that he finally calmed down & realized they were going to be ok. Getting them back on trail camera 4 days later was definitely the highlight!
I wish yours had a similar outcome, that sucks!
