How many times have you rolled around in your bed in the am, not wanting to get up, get dressed, and head into the cold morning? Well, I usually give in since mornings are my favorite time to hunt. It gets more and more difficult as the year wears on and gun hunters are blasting from sun up to sun down.
This morning was not much different, but I just did not have much anticipation as I was hunting a stand where I have seen two deer (counting today) in the last two years. I have lots of pictures in this area of stud bucks, but never once during shooting hours. The area hardly gets pressured (300+ acres), so I have no idea why the deer are so nocturnal..but that is a topic for another day.
I crawled into the stand late which is unusual for me, and on the way in I bumped some deer that were hanging out very near my stand. I trudged the rest of the way to the tree and climbed up. The wind began to swirl almost immediately as the shadows began to disappear and light appeared, adding to my low anticipation for today.
I wish I could say that the next few minutes would create a more interesting story, but as it goes; it was interesting enough.
I heard a deer coming off of my left, following the ravine right to me. At first, I spotted some antler but was unsure of size. I have passed countless deer this year in anticipation for next year, but this guy had all that I was looking for. Although I had never seen this deer before, nor had I any pictures of him, I was certain he was a shooter. He crept to within 20 yards, as I drew back he passed a tree and exposed his vitals. I made a great shot and he was hit hard! But there was bad news..he rolled right into a ravine about 60 yards deep and surrounded by boulders. I waited a half hour and followed the massive blood trail right to him. My fears were confirmed as there was no way to drag him, or use any kind of ATV to move him.
My dad,a close friend, and I spent half the morning quartering him and caping him in the ravine before making a grueling hike out! He is a beautiful deer, and I am very fortunate to have made such a clean harvest. I feel even more fortunate to have my third shooter buck in three years! This hunting thing is getting expensive 
Pics are all from my phone, so nothing spectacular and as always- do not do him justice.
I am also not crazy about measurements, but alas, he is a buck and that is why we shoot them.
19″ inside,5.5″ bases, tallest tine was only 9.5 inches, good mass throughout. Rough net score was in the low 140’s.
I am very excited to sleep in tomorrow and enjoy my half day that I took of off work!
November 14, 2011 at 12:45 am
#202895
If you happen to figure out the nocturnal problem let me know.
