After being washed out by the thunderstorms passing through the area most of the mid-week, I knew the deer would be moving after the weather front had passed. My dad made the trip up to the great state of Ohio late Thursday with high hopes of having some success on the property he had hunted in years past. I was able to kick out of work a little past 1 o’clock in the afternoon on Friday and headed out with “Fred” my DSD posturing buck decoy.
It was windy that evening, and with good visibility for several hundred yards to my south and to my east I was hoping something would see my decoy and come in to investigate. To my dismay, nothing showed up that evening with the exception of a couple of squirrels.
The next morning, with a steady wind coming out of the west and with temperatures a little cooler than the previous days, I had decided to hunt out of the stand I had hung near where I had killed my Ohio buck last fall. With high expectations I waited in my stand until after daybreak. Shortly after first light, I broke out the rattling antlers to try to stir up the woods.
With no response, I waited patiently for something to move. About an hour had passed when all of a sudden I look down and notice a large brown object on the trail I had walked in on earlier that morning. The invasive honeysuckle growing along the trail had hidden the approach of two does until they had already made it to within 15 yards of my stand. I slowly reached up to turn on my Canon XA10 camera, and stood to see what their next move would be. As they passed behind a large tree I grabbed my bow and awaited an opportunity for a shot.
They made within 5 yards when something spooked the lead doe causing them to jump back to the opening where I had first caught a glimpse of them. It was now or never. After I adjusted the camera to keep my bowstring from catching the flip out LCD screen, I yanked my bow back to full draw. I set the top pin of my Hunter Hoggit high on her chest and released.
The red Firenock showed I had made a good hit as the doe erupted through the thick undergrowth before crashing a few seconds later in an unharvested soybean field less than 120 yards away. Knowing she was down for the count, I started filling out my tag before climbing out of my stand when all of a sudden I hear a branch break.
I look up just in time to see a small broken rack 8-point getting ready to cross a shooting lane at 30 yards. I was immediately relieved to see it was a small buck as you are required to physically tag your first deer before you are able to start hunting another for the day.
He let out a loud roaring grunt and chased off the 2nd doe. After he had checked the surrounding area where she once stood, he wandered off out of sight to my east. I waited a few more minutes to confirm the coast was clear, them began my descent from my stand to tend to my doe.
The weather turned more favorable throughout the evening as the wind shifted to the north bringing on slightly cooler temperatures. The next morning was brisk with a very subtle north/northeast wind. Before legal light, a doe and her yearling made their way from the south (directly down wind) and passed right under my tree-stand before moving off to the wood lot to my east. My presence going unnoticed stands as a true testament to the effectiveness of Carbon Synergy products.
About 20 minutes after catching a glimpse of a deer cross the field to the north of me, another buck pops out of the brush line and cruises the field edge in search of a hot doe. The 2 1/2 year-old 8 point passed by at roughly 85 yards before continuing on his way and disappearing in the corn field to my south.
Things were slow for about an hour or so when all of a sudden I look up and see three does pop out of the corner of the field to my south. Cautiously they crossed the bottom field I was situated in and headed into the wood lot to my east. By this time, the sun was creeping up over the tree tops of the wood lot across from me which made seeing in that direction near impossible.
Figuring my morning was just about over, I pulled out my cellphone and started playing Angry Birds for a couple of minutes when all of a sudden I hear a loud crash in the woods to my east. A couple of seconds later a doe pops out near where the 3 does had previously entered. I started filming her as she cautiously headed in my direction looking back over her shoulder nearly every step of the way. She continued my direction until she reached the field edge just 15 yards from my setup. Slowly she made her way into the strip of woods I was in until she stopped at about 20 yards. She stood still for what seemed like eternity until I hear what I thought was a grunt.
Looking over my shoulder to see where it was coming from, then I hear another grunt…then another…and then another. Finally I was able to see where the grunting was coming from as I look up in the direction she had come and see a big bodied deer heading directly for me. Within a matter of seconds he closed the distance from 100 yards to less than 50. By this time I had decided he was a shooter and grabbed my bow from my bow hanger. He stopped quartering towards me at about 35 yards for a couple of seconds before turning and crossing my shooting lane at about 25 yards. I “baaa’d” to stop him and quickly drew back my bow.
I quickly settled my pin, and executed the shot like I had practiced hundreds and hundreds of times before. It looked to be a good hit as he bolted off to my south with his head down, almost falling forward with every step. I watched him take off and in seconds was out of sight. I turned the camera back to catch my excitement and heard a loud crash! I stood there for a few minutes in disbelief of what had just happened. One minute I am sitting there thinking my morning hunt is just about over, and before I knew it I had again filled my tag on another great Ohio buck. Things can happen quickly during the rut, and this hunt proved it. Knowing the buck had crashed not too far away, I began packing up my Full Rut pack and climbed down to examine the location of the shot.
I immediately found blood, and a couple of yards away laid the broken off business end of my arrow. The 2″ cut Grim Reaper had done the job as I made quick work of the blood trail before finding my buck laying at the field edge.
With my buck tag filled in Ohio, I’m off to our family farm in southern Indiana to try my luck there. It has been several years since I had been able to connect with a buck in Indiana. With any luck, this year will be my year.
Brett’s Gear List:
- Hoyt Spyder 34
- Gold Tip – Velocity Pro 300
- Grim Reaper – Razorcut Extra 1 3/4″ w/ expander cups (2″ total cut)
- Firenock – Aerovane II’s and red Firenocks
- Carter – Too Simple 3 finger
- GamePlan Gear – Full Rut, snapshot bow sling, sightskin 2, BaseCamp
- Spot Hogg – Hunter Hoggit wrapped 7 pin
- HECS Stealthscreen
- Sitka Gear – Stratus suit, Kelvin vest
- Lone Wolf Knives – Landslide
- Leupold – RX1000TBR and Gold Ring 10×42 binos
- Carbon Synergy
- DSD posturing buck decoy
- ClipShot
- Canon XA10
- GoPro Hero 3 black editions
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