Whitetail Deer Hunting

Whitetail Hunting Thoughts and Recollections. Deer hunting pictures, stories, tips, advice.

Name:
Location: Michigan, United States

Thursday, September 15, 2005

2004 Recollections
















I didn't have much time to hunt in Fall of 2004. I had a project at work that kept me getting any days off until December. Michigan bow season starts October 1, Michigan regular gun season runs November 15- 30, and muzzleloader season started December 11. I figured I would hunt mostly with a muzzleloader.

I managed to get out with a bow one Saturday afternoon in early October. I sat where I could observe any deer leaving a preferred bedding area and entering an adjacent soybean field. I was in a spot in the woods where it was possible I would get a shot at something, but not really likely. I was more interested in seeing what kind of bucks were around without spooking them, so I didn't try to get too close.

A bunch of bald deer entered the field from a few different directions and were feeding by about an hour and a half of sunset. At about an hour before dark, I looked up and a decent buck was standing on the edge of the bedding area looking around before entering the beans. He was about 75 yards from me. I checked him out with my binoculars and noticed a couple of things: his rack was about as wide as his ears and his tines seemed to lean forward toward his face rather than shooting straight up from his main beams. Then he turned and I got a good look at the right hand side of his rack. His G3 and the end of his main beam looked like a crab claw, and his G2 had a serious lean to it. He looked to have pretty good mass. I liked the looks of him, and I was hoping I would get a shot at him.

But not that night. He fed out into the beans until dark. I tried my best not to spook the deer when I left the woods, but I still spooked them mildly.

I didn't get to bow hunt again until the first week in November. The rut was on. Specifically, bucks were seeking does. I decided to hunt a Saturday morning. I got into the woods about an hour and a half before first light. I dragged a scent pad soaked in estrous deer urine behind me, applying more urine every 50 yards or so. I wanted to be sure that a buck wouldn't follow the trail in the wrong direction. I circled my stand at about 20 yards and then hung the scent pad in a tree about 40 yards upwind of my ladder stand. Funny, but it makes me nervous dragging a scent trail in the dark. I am afraid a buck will follow the trail while I am making it and run up on me in the dark. I guess the idea of anything running up on me in the dark makes me nervous.

It soon got light and a smallish 4 point buck followed the scent trail and then continued on his way. A little while later an immature 6 point came in from directly downwind of my tree stand. He was not following the scent trail, but he was picking up on the scent pad hanging in the tree, which was blowing scent in his direction. He was extremely curious and nervous at the same time. It seemed like he was smelling the doe urine and me both. He was taking a step about every minute or so, several times turning around as if to leave, then smelling the doe urine again and coming back. Eventually he got directly beneath me. He actually licked one of the steps of my ladder stand. It was at that point that I decided to shoot at him if he gave me a good shot angle. Eventually he was about 20 yards distant, quartering away. I drew, put my pin on him, and slapped my release trigger. My shot was lousy, but I managed to sever a major artery anyway. He went about 45 yards, stopped, looked back, and then fell over dead in plain view. I had managed to fill one of my 2 buck tags. (side note: in Michigan, if you shoot 2 bucks, one of them must have at lease 4 points on one side) Looking back, I regret shooting that buck. He was young, and would have been a really nice buck given another year or two. But, at the time I didn't expect to get much hunting time in, and I didn't know if I would get any more decent shot opportunies. I forgot my camera, and so I didn't get any pictures of him either. But I do have his rack. I will take a picture of it and post it later on.

As fate would have it, about 30 minutes after I shot that buck, another buck followed my scent trail directly through my shooting lanes. He was also a 6 pointer, but mature with long main beams. A really pretty buck. But I needed 4 points on a side to be legal with my second tag, so he got to walk. Maybe I will see him again in 2005.

I didnt' get to hunt the gun opener (Nov. 15) due to work, but I did manage to get out on the weekend thereafter. I saw a bunch of does, but no bucks. I tried several different spots, saw lots of does and no bucks. It looked like the combination of the rut winding down and hunting pressure had made the bucks nocturnal. I thought maybe muzzleloader hunting in December would be more fruitful. By that time, I hoped the bucks would have calmed down and would start feeding again with some daylight left.

So I hunted December 11 with a muzzleloader in the same tree stand I shot the 6 point from with a bow. Hunted the morning and didn't see much. I went in about noon and ate lunch. I was back in the woods about 3:30. At about 5:00 a bunch of deer (6 or so) came in directly downwind of me. They were heading toward an inside corner of a cut bean field. I noticed a decent buck in the rear. I was seated in the stand and there was a tree branch partially obscuring my view of his rack. It looked a little unbalanced, but had decent mass. I wasn't sure he had 4 points on one side. He was really close (about 15 yards away), but I needed to move to see past that tree branch. I decided to stand up. I waited until I didn't think any of the deer were looking and I stood up. I didn't notice a deer that was directly beneath me. It must have come in from behind me to meet up with the others. It spooked when I stood. (heard me, saw me, or both) A couple of seconds later and the other does started to run. They didn't know what was happening, but they started to run anyway. The buck looked confused. He didn't want to run without knowing what was going on. He was looking for the cause of the alarm. He turned and looked behind himself, which presented me with a beautiful quartering away shot. He was looking completely away from me also. I decided that he had at least 4 points on one side, put my crosshairs on his lungs, and fired. He bolted about 45 yards, stumbled, and then fell for good. He piled up no more than 10 yards from where the 6 pointer had fallen earlier in the year.

When I got down and checked him out, to my surprise I recognized him. I hadn't been able to tell from my tree stand, but he was the same buck I had seen in early October. Only he had broken his left main beam. That is why his rack looked so funny from above. He had 4 points plus a kicker on his pedicle on the right side, and 2 points plus a broken main beam on the left. He was a great looking buck, and the rack had character. I was very pleased. I don't care about the broken main beam. Good for him for not backing down from a fight. To me, the challenge and reward is tagging a mature buck. A magnificent rack is neat, but not critical.

So, in spite of limited hunting time in 2004, I managed to tag 2 bucks.

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