SouthernIowa
PMA Member
I have had kind of a rough deer season this year. I just couldn’t seem to see any mature bucks in areas that have produced for me before. So I decided to switch things up a bit the morning of the 14th.
Usually I hate hunting by standing corn during the rut but since I had only seen one shooter after many hours in the stand I figured it couldn’t hurt. I went to a stand located in a draw that had corn to the South and East, with pasture to the North and West. Right at first light I had a 125 inch buck chasing a doe right under my stand and the rest of the morning was filled with more action.
At about 8:30a small doe came in and since I had a doe tag and was getting an itchy trigger finger I went ahead and shot her. I put a great hit on her and she only went about 15 yards and expired. I was happy to kill a doe but I hoped it wouldn’t screw up the rest of my hunt with her being so close. Behind me in the corn I could hear bucks chasing in the corn so I still had high hopes. But the action died at about 9:30 and I didn’t see or hear anything till 10:45 when I heard a deep grunt to the South of me. I stood up and got my bow ready. The time between when you know a buck is close and the first time you see him is the most exciting to me. My heart always starts racing hoping a Southern Iowa slob is going to walk around the creek bend. And this time that was exactly what happened. He started cruise down the far side of the draw about 50 yards away but when he got down wind of the doe I just shot his demeanor totally changed. He started thrashing small trees and make scrapes as he slowly circled the doe. The whole time he was coming closer and closer to me!
I waited till he was broad side at 35 yards when I stopped him with a mouth grunt. I put my 30 yard pin a little high and squeezed off a shot and my faithful Ol Mathews did the rest. He turned and jumped the fence and ran into the pasture, he stopped on top of the hill about 100 yards away, stumbled a little and fell over. I immediately started shaking, fist pumping, and calling anyone in my phone that would answer.
When I got down to check both my deer out I was very surprised to find my "doe" was actually a button buck!! That explained why the big buck got so dang mad and started marking his territory! Just shows u how crazy bow hunting really can be!
Good luck to all of you out there who still have tags to fill. I’m debating on whether or not to buy my tenant bow tag or save my tenant tag for late muzz season. There is just nothing like shooting a mature buck with your bow so I guess we’ll see.
Usually I hate hunting by standing corn during the rut but since I had only seen one shooter after many hours in the stand I figured it couldn’t hurt. I went to a stand located in a draw that had corn to the South and East, with pasture to the North and West. Right at first light I had a 125 inch buck chasing a doe right under my stand and the rest of the morning was filled with more action.
At about 8:30a small doe came in and since I had a doe tag and was getting an itchy trigger finger I went ahead and shot her. I put a great hit on her and she only went about 15 yards and expired. I was happy to kill a doe but I hoped it wouldn’t screw up the rest of my hunt with her being so close. Behind me in the corn I could hear bucks chasing in the corn so I still had high hopes. But the action died at about 9:30 and I didn’t see or hear anything till 10:45 when I heard a deep grunt to the South of me. I stood up and got my bow ready. The time between when you know a buck is close and the first time you see him is the most exciting to me. My heart always starts racing hoping a Southern Iowa slob is going to walk around the creek bend. And this time that was exactly what happened. He started cruise down the far side of the draw about 50 yards away but when he got down wind of the doe I just shot his demeanor totally changed. He started thrashing small trees and make scrapes as he slowly circled the doe. The whole time he was coming closer and closer to me!
I waited till he was broad side at 35 yards when I stopped him with a mouth grunt. I put my 30 yard pin a little high and squeezed off a shot and my faithful Ol Mathews did the rest. He turned and jumped the fence and ran into the pasture, he stopped on top of the hill about 100 yards away, stumbled a little and fell over. I immediately started shaking, fist pumping, and calling anyone in my phone that would answer.
When I got down to check both my deer out I was very surprised to find my "doe" was actually a button buck!! That explained why the big buck got so dang mad and started marking his territory! Just shows u how crazy bow hunting really can be!
Good luck to all of you out there who still have tags to fill. I’m debating on whether or not to buy my tenant bow tag or save my tenant tag for late muzz season. There is just nothing like shooting a mature buck with your bow so I guess we’ll see.
