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A tale of two bucks (alternate title, late season rut hunting)

ArcheryIA44

PMA Member
I’m going to combine two different buck stories, separated by two years because the deer were shot only about 50 yards apart and under very similar circumstances…

In 2014 I was in an emergency situation at work all through the archery season and I only got out about twice during the rut. Needless to say that my fall hunt was unsuccessful. I finally got some time off during the late muzzleloader season and started my quest.

Our property is 80 acres of forest in South Central Iowa, predominantly oak and hickory. We have a half acre food plot and we carved out another small plot, both mainly in clover. (I can’t get brassicas to get roots as they are eaten as soon as they come up). Those plots are great during October and November but by the late season, any clover has been pretty much gobbled up, so my late season stand is on the “back 40” in a valley that sees quite a bit of traffic as deer move north-south through the woods.

On Jan. 3 2015 I was sitting on a stand that sits at the edge of a rapidly eroding ravine and looks to the east up the hillside. It was a great morning as I was in my new Christmas present, the Heater Body Suit, and the air temp was only about 30 degrees; I was snug as a bug in a rug.

Given my advanced age, I recently had gotten prescription glasses, but I hated using them with my muzzleloader’s scope. So I sat on my tree stand, watching every bush that moved and thinking it might be a deer.

Right at 10:00 I heard branches breaking, telling me that a deer or multiple deer were headed my way from the north. I grabbed the gun from the hanger. When I spotted the first deer I was disappointed to see in the scope that it was a doe, however…

Trailing her by about 20 yards was a nice eight point in hot pursuit. It was clear that he was REALLY interested in getting to know her in the most intimate way and I can only assume that she was one of the 2014 fawns that had come into season.

He was coming in quite fast and ran through the first shooting lane I had picked out before I could get a shot off. I then found another opening and without trying to stop him, pulled the trigger at 30 yards. After the smoke cleared I could see that he was down. It turned out to be a somewhat lucky shot as I got the top of both lungs and the spine. He expired as I watched and then I proceeded to lower my gear to the forest floor.
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He wasn’t huge but very symmetrical and clean. My second whitetail buck.

Fast forward to Dec. 30, 2016. This year I had seen some great bucks during the rut in November, but couldn’t get them into range. I had one good buck sneak up on me at 15 yards, but just as I turned, the swirling wind sent him scampering off.

So now I turned to the late muzzy. I had one sit on my food plot the day before Christmas and didn’t see much of anything. Sadly, the camera card pull showed that a medium sized eight point had walked by my stand on the back 40 while I was on the food plot. So on Dec. 30, I took the day off from work and went to the back 40. Now the erosion at the ravine had put my former stand at risk of tumbling into the void, so I had moved it 20 yards uphill. Even so, I also set up my climber another 30 yards uphill for the archery season and it was still there. I elected to use the climber on this day and proceeded to curse the rodent population as they had removed much of the fabric from the seat. This stand was about 30 yards from where I shot the buck in 2015.

Got out a bit later than I’d hoped and didn’t get set up in the tree until 7:30. It was a very nice morning; about 25 degrees with little wind and again my Heater Body Suit served me well. At 8:30, I had a doe and yearling downhill at 60 yards. My gun was hanging from a branch I had trimmed on my left side. I practiced getting the gun down but was troubled to find that the strap tended to get hung up on the bark.

I watched the doe and yearling browse for about 10 minutes until they disappeared to the south. Nothing much was happening in the woods other than woodpeckers banging on trees.

Suddenly, I heard serious crashing through the trees and knew that deer were headed my way. I quickly turned to pull my gun off the branch behind me and had it off momentarily. I was shocked and amazed as I turned to face forward and there was a decent buck standing 40 yards in front of me, in full view looking away from me into the woods. I caught sight of a doe that this buck was apparently watching, again it appeared that much like the deer from 2015, he had romance on his mind. Unfortunately for him, I had other plans. He was mostly broadside, quartering away just a bit. I took the safety off and settled behind his right leg, a bit farther back than I had wanted. Boom!

After the smoke had cleared, I saw that he had trotted off only about 15 yards and was still watching that doe who was now running up the hill. I started to reload while he decided to take a stroll around the hill, offering no shot. He was obviously hit and laid down in some roses for a minute, then got back up and wandered downhill. He was now about 100 yards away and I could just barely see him as he toppled to the ground. Yes! A small six point ran right under me before I could get down.

My deer was a nine point and was obviously a fighter. About six of his points were significantly worn but none completely broken. I would have liked to have arrowed a trophy buck these last three years, but I’m happy with the animals I’ve taken during the late muzzleloader season.
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