My Late October North Dakota Archery Hunt

Well here is the remainder of my late October North Dakota Archery Hunt. After that first night of Paul harvesting “36” it was going to be hard pressed to find something to top that, but I was not up here to sit around. so the next morning with a headache from the I got back in the stand. I hunted a different farm that next morning and found a theme that would hold true for the rest of my trip. The big boys and bucks in general were in their beds well before day light and with all the corn still standing deer sightings in general were very minimal in the mornings. No rut activity was witnessed on my 6 sits up there. Not even the 1.5 and 2.5 year olds were chasing or following does. The bucks would get on their feet for that last 45 minutes or so of shooting light in the evenings and you had to be in the right position. The bucks were busy establishing their pecking order and making claims to their turf but no chasing was witnessed by anyone we hunted with.

The wind never came out of the West again allowing me to Hunt our good stands but our friend Steve harvested a real cool buck the 2nd night by mistake, as we all wished we could have seen another year on it. He sat in a clump of woods in the middle of a corn field at the Pines and was rewarded by encountering 8 different bucks and got to witness the two big boys of the farm going at it right at last light. A big 6×5 and big ol 4×4 were battling in the corn and at last light he saw the bucks working his way and saw one that had a 5 point side and drilled it. It was not the big 6×5 he thought it was but one he wished he would have let go and seen what he would have looked like next year. Congrats on a good buck Steve!
The next evening the wind was out of the North and we used to have a stand set up on the South end close to the bedding area on Paul’s farm. However, the flood claimed the tree we had the ladder stand in. So I made due, snuck in along the River and got set up in a tree with a ladder stand that was laying on the ground. Not the best set up but I wanted to hunt back there and had the right wind. I just sat down after getting ready and the flood gates opened as waves of deer were running by me coming from the NW. I saw two bucks but no shooters along with 20 or so does and fawns. It seemed to settle down and not sure what caused the commotion but I saw a few deer filter back to the North as the sun was starting to set.

Well just when I thought the night was over I caught movement after sunset to the North of me. I saw some pretty good horns through the thick cover with my Nikons working away from me, so I let out a few soft grunts and he turned back my direction. Time was definitely going against me as every minute I was losing light fast. He was taking his sweet time but he was definitely coming in. Trying to scramble and do everything I could to get a better look at this guy, the thick cover and fading light was making it very difficult and he was just about to come out of the thick cover and into my shooting lane at about 27 yards. So I was forced to come to full draw before he cleared the brush and assess him at full draw as he came in and paused in the opening form my mouth grunt. Many things were racing through my head but I just couldn’t quite make out his rack and knew he was not a no doubter, so I elected to pass. He could have been 120 he could have been 140 or somewhere in between. He finally moved through after a long standoff and went behind a tree and I was finally able to let down. I grabbed my binocs and still could not tell who or how big he was. I know I made the right decision and still feel that way today.

As I stated earlier I missed out on the Rut activity and my schedule is pretty full the next few weeks hunting with my Dad and Family. So I will miss the Chasing and Breeding phase of the rut up there and that really disappoints me as these are the farms I first witnessed and experienced these crazy whitetail activities and often dream about all year long, but I was so glad to be part of the Hunt and watch “36” be harvested by my buddy and mentor Paul. Paul was the one that got me hooked in this great sport of whitetail hunting with archery equipment and who I learned a lot of my initial whitetail knowledge from. Thanks again buddy for a hunt that I will soon not forget!

Everyone have a safe Rifle/Slug season and remember to know your target and beyond and use extra caution when out in the woods! Good Luck IDO Nation and may the big boy show up on your door!

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