Just clarifying that this trail cam pic is not the same one as the pic on the 1st page that scored 175 6/8". It may have been of the one hanging up. Either way he is a brute!
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Giant 8 - 170"
- Thread starter iowahunter222
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Just clarifying that this trail cam pic is not the same one as the pic on the 1st page that scored 175 6/8". It may have been of the one hanging up. Either way he is a brute!
Haven't had a chance to tell the story about this buck yet. I went out the night of the 30th and set up in a stand that favors a NW wind. This stand is on a fairly steep side hill of a river bottom. The stand faces west. I have the river 30 yards (I'm facing west in my stand) at my 10 o'clock and a dried up river bed in front of me. My stand is placed at the intersection of 2 trails. One that runs East West and one that runs NW SW. I also have a trail that comes down in this bowl 40 yards south of me. This stand works particularly well for rut as it is somewhat a pinch point around the river. This stand is also set up fairly close the edge of my woods. I can not see immediately around the river bend, but have CRP NW of me and can see for a few hundred yards starting ~150 yards from my stand (thicket blocks the immediate 150 yards). The night of the 30th, it was windy. Gusts were somewhere 30 mph. I snuck out of work early and was in the stand by 4:45 (late) but wanted to see if there was any rut traffic as I had planned on sitting that whole next weekend. The wind was making things difficult. It was chilly, and you couldn't hear (which is essential in this stand location). By 5:30, I hadn't seen as deer. I happen to glance to the north CRP and saw the butt of a deer disappear out of sight. I knew he must be coming in rather quickly, as it had not been long since I had glassed it, meaning he moved in a couple hundred yards in a matter of a couple 2-3 minutes. Essentially every deer I have had come by that stand in the last 2 years either follows the river (both ways) or uses the trail that runs East West under my stand. Knowing this, I was all set and ready for him to come around the river at 25 yards. As I'm waiting, I hear a noise to my left. I look over, and here he pops out of the thicket at 30 yards. Luckil,y he had his head down, as how the trail slopes and lack of cover from that angle, I wouldn't have had much of a chance with him. I knew he was a shooter and luckily didn't really have time to get nervous. As I drew on him, he slowly raised his head at 22 yards. The only shot I had on him was through the chest. If I wouldn't have taken it, there is a good chance I wouldn't have gotten any other shot at him. Entrance point was upper chest, exactly where I wanted. I am shooting Trophy Ridge 2.25" expandables, and figured that was long as the blades deployed, it should be a clean kill. He took off like a bat out of hell running where he came from. I watched him run 200 hundred yards with the veins of my arrow sticking out of him. I backed out and let him sit a couple hours even though I felt very confident. I went in after him and sure enough found my arrow broken off and bloody-with basically only the veins remaining. I had a modest blood trail, as there was no exit hole, that stayed very consistent for a few hundred yards. It was tough to say if we bumped him, but he ended up crossing the river at another spot (which alot of deer in our area do). We backed out and decided to wait until morning. I was somewhat nervous as at no point up until then did I question my shot, but was starting to. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep that night, and was up at 7 am the next morning to go look for him. Luckily there was a trail on the other side of the river and I was able to basically ride to the exact spot he crossed. I spent the next hour trying to pick up blood. As my confidence weakened, by pure luck I picked up blood in the CRP some 40 yards from the river. I tracked him the next 2 hours with the same modest blood trail. Because of this, I was not expecting to look up and see him lying in an opening. He ran roughly 200 yards after he crossed the river. The shot was good where I thought, and it just goes to prove how tough these animals are. He was a very symmetrical 8 pointer that green scored 175 6/8". It still hasn't completely sunk in that I had the opportunity to harvest such a great animal. He was ~ 7 years old, so it was his time. Definitely the hunt of a lifetime and the buck of a lifetime!
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VictoryOutdoor
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WOW Monster 8, cool!