dedgeez
death from above
First of all I have to apologize for the delay. The last 11 days have been a whirlwind at work to put it lightly. This is the first chance I have had to sit down and write this up. So bear with me, and thanks for reading.
The story of Chubs started in 2012 when I started documenting a beautiful 3 year old that I thought had a world of potential. This buck was showing himself regularly on camera and that fall he walked under my stands 4 different times. I generally don't name deer until I get some history with them and they turn into deer that I want to target. So he remained nameless that fall and got stored into the memory bank.
Pic from 2012
2013 rolled around and I set my cams looking for a few different bucks with Chubs being one of them. It didn't take long to find him, and I was bummed to see that he had damaged his G2, and instantly knew that he would likely break it off when he stripped his velvet. So I kept the cameras rolling and sure enough he not only broke the G2 off but also his 3. This is where the name Chubs originated. His left side looked like Chubs McGee's wooden hand in the movie Happy Gilmore when he breaks his fingers off
pics from 2013
So I hunted the rest of the fall and end up tagging 2 other 5 year old bucks (1 with bow, 1 with muzzy) that I had been keeping tabs on. The whole time I kept Chubs in the back of mind and continued getting pics of him all through late muzz season. I knew he had made it and was looking forward to finding him again this summer.
2014.. I started running cams in early August in the same places I usually do including the one where I always had summer pics of him. It only took one pull to find him, and I was pleasantly surprised at what he had turned in to.
Pics 2014
To say he was a daylight walker would be an understatement. Literally every card pull I would have over a hundred pics of him at all hours of the day. So I started formulating a game plan, knowing that I could kill him early if I played my cards right. In early September I really started to hone in on him. I placed 7 cameras on 220 acres on what I thought was his travel route. Sure enough I began getting him on 4 out of the 7 and this led me to know where he was bedding based on time and direction of travel. I already have stands all over this farm for different wind directions. One just happened to be a stand that I had the foresight to hang in 2013 just for this deer. It was knocking on the door of his bedroom, out in the middle of nowhere. There is one fence line with a few trees in it surrounded by head high switchgrass, a cornfield, and a grove of trees that is just a pocket in the middle of all of the fields. He was bedded there in the day, and would make his way down the fencerow in the evening and eventually end up on the main farm where all the timber and all of my plots are. He would make it to the plots well after dark, so I knew my chance would be to move in the first 10 days with a N, NW winds and crawl into bed with him.
Pic on the foodplot
Fast forward to October 5th (Sunday). Perfect conditions, NW wind and very cool for that time of year. Barometric pressure was 29.97 and falling in the evening. High pressure falling slightly in the evening always makes for action packed sits in early October. Sure enough at 6:15 I glanced to the West to see Chubs working a scrape and watching some does that were filing by. I ranged the last doe at 36 and waited for him to follow suit. Well, he did, but unfortunately He came by at 38.5 and offered no shot in the tall grass. I probably could have snuck one through, but I didn't want to "murp" at him and give up my location that early in the year. I really figured I would have another chance even though it killed me to watch him walk out of sight.
October 9th.
High pressure once again with a straight N wind. Barometric pressure was at 30.1 when I got in the stand and the temps were dropping fast. It didn't take long to start seeing deer, and sure enough at 6:20, here he comes again. Round 2
He did almost the exact same thing, except this time he made his way to a scrape at 46. He was facing me and I hoped that after he did his thing he would continue in the direction he was facing, which would bring him by at 15 yards. This is exactly what happened and I ended up sticking him at 16 yds. I watched him run in a half circle out into the grass, flick his tail and over he went.
The feeling you get when it all comes together will never get old. I made a few calls from the stand before getting down and shared the news. After I made it to him I sat down and said a prayer like I always do, truly giving thanks for the opportunity to get to do what I absolutely love.
first pic
Once everyone arrived, we snapped a few pics and may or may not have had a few cold beers
The work that goes into killing a mature buck year after year is what drives me. I live for the chase as much as the kill. This is second buck over 170 that I've killed in the first 9 days of October in 4 years, and I always hear the comment "well that was a short season" or what are you going to do the rest of the fall"... Well it kind of makes me laugh, because although season starts on October 1st, It really is never ending for me. Trail cams, food plots, shed hunting, hanging stands, and just playing the game is as much a part of it as sitting in the stand with your bow. I've been following this guy for 3 years, so in my mind it wasn't a short season
We are all blessed to get to do what we love and chase these animals. Whether it's one day a year for some or a year around obsession, it really doesn't matter. It's all about enjoying what you are doing.
Thanks again for reading, and I apologize again for it taking so long to get this up. It's a quick summary of what was a long adventure, He'll be missed.
Time to find the next one
Kill pics
Cant forget the good ol "back of the truck" redneck pic
Good luck the rest of the way fellas.
God Bless
The story of Chubs started in 2012 when I started documenting a beautiful 3 year old that I thought had a world of potential. This buck was showing himself regularly on camera and that fall he walked under my stands 4 different times. I generally don't name deer until I get some history with them and they turn into deer that I want to target. So he remained nameless that fall and got stored into the memory bank.
Pic from 2012
2013 rolled around and I set my cams looking for a few different bucks with Chubs being one of them. It didn't take long to find him, and I was bummed to see that he had damaged his G2, and instantly knew that he would likely break it off when he stripped his velvet. So I kept the cameras rolling and sure enough he not only broke the G2 off but also his 3. This is where the name Chubs originated. His left side looked like Chubs McGee's wooden hand in the movie Happy Gilmore when he breaks his fingers off
pics from 2013
So I hunted the rest of the fall and end up tagging 2 other 5 year old bucks (1 with bow, 1 with muzzy) that I had been keeping tabs on. The whole time I kept Chubs in the back of mind and continued getting pics of him all through late muzz season. I knew he had made it and was looking forward to finding him again this summer.
2014.. I started running cams in early August in the same places I usually do including the one where I always had summer pics of him. It only took one pull to find him, and I was pleasantly surprised at what he had turned in to.
Pics 2014
To say he was a daylight walker would be an understatement. Literally every card pull I would have over a hundred pics of him at all hours of the day. So I started formulating a game plan, knowing that I could kill him early if I played my cards right. In early September I really started to hone in on him. I placed 7 cameras on 220 acres on what I thought was his travel route. Sure enough I began getting him on 4 out of the 7 and this led me to know where he was bedding based on time and direction of travel. I already have stands all over this farm for different wind directions. One just happened to be a stand that I had the foresight to hang in 2013 just for this deer. It was knocking on the door of his bedroom, out in the middle of nowhere. There is one fence line with a few trees in it surrounded by head high switchgrass, a cornfield, and a grove of trees that is just a pocket in the middle of all of the fields. He was bedded there in the day, and would make his way down the fencerow in the evening and eventually end up on the main farm where all the timber and all of my plots are. He would make it to the plots well after dark, so I knew my chance would be to move in the first 10 days with a N, NW winds and crawl into bed with him.
Pic on the foodplot
Fast forward to October 5th (Sunday). Perfect conditions, NW wind and very cool for that time of year. Barometric pressure was 29.97 and falling in the evening. High pressure falling slightly in the evening always makes for action packed sits in early October. Sure enough at 6:15 I glanced to the West to see Chubs working a scrape and watching some does that were filing by. I ranged the last doe at 36 and waited for him to follow suit. Well, he did, but unfortunately He came by at 38.5 and offered no shot in the tall grass. I probably could have snuck one through, but I didn't want to "murp" at him and give up my location that early in the year. I really figured I would have another chance even though it killed me to watch him walk out of sight.
October 9th.
High pressure once again with a straight N wind. Barometric pressure was at 30.1 when I got in the stand and the temps were dropping fast. It didn't take long to start seeing deer, and sure enough at 6:20, here he comes again. Round 2
He did almost the exact same thing, except this time he made his way to a scrape at 46. He was facing me and I hoped that after he did his thing he would continue in the direction he was facing, which would bring him by at 15 yards. This is exactly what happened and I ended up sticking him at 16 yds. I watched him run in a half circle out into the grass, flick his tail and over he went.
The feeling you get when it all comes together will never get old. I made a few calls from the stand before getting down and shared the news. After I made it to him I sat down and said a prayer like I always do, truly giving thanks for the opportunity to get to do what I absolutely love.
first pic
Once everyone arrived, we snapped a few pics and may or may not have had a few cold beers
The work that goes into killing a mature buck year after year is what drives me. I live for the chase as much as the kill. This is second buck over 170 that I've killed in the first 9 days of October in 4 years, and I always hear the comment "well that was a short season" or what are you going to do the rest of the fall"... Well it kind of makes me laugh, because although season starts on October 1st, It really is never ending for me. Trail cams, food plots, shed hunting, hanging stands, and just playing the game is as much a part of it as sitting in the stand with your bow. I've been following this guy for 3 years, so in my mind it wasn't a short season
We are all blessed to get to do what we love and chase these animals. Whether it's one day a year for some or a year around obsession, it really doesn't matter. It's all about enjoying what you are doing.
Thanks again for reading, and I apologize again for it taking so long to get this up. It's a quick summary of what was a long adventure, He'll be missed.
Time to find the next one
Kill pics
Cant forget the good ol "back of the truck" redneck pic
Good luck the rest of the way fellas.
God Bless
