herkyguy
Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2009
- Messages
- 1,409
I've spent two years on my land cutting trails, shooting lanes, hanging stands, checking cams, planting food plots that never come out like i hoped.....
i've been skunked more times than i can count. i've been rained on, torn up by skeeters, felt my muscles cramp up working in the summer heat just to have a shot come fall.
i've shot a few does over the last two years. i lost a small buck last year in thick brush after two days of looking for blood....i've gone back and forth on what gun would be right in NC's thick swampy brush.... i've felt that sickness in my stomach knowing i lost a deer.
i've wondered out loud more times than i care to admit if i was doing something wrong because it never seemed to work out like it does on the television shows....
well yesterday, i had my Remington 11-87 super magnum with 3" 00 buck and settled into my stand two hours before sunset. i'd spooked one walking in and was mad that i hadn't gotten to my stand earlier. i was simply hoping to bring in another doe to put some more meat in the freezer... it was looking like another uneventful hunt.
half an hour before sunset, an eastern NC beast of a buck crossed a trail i'd abandoned last year. i'd seem him on camera twice, but never during the day. i used my grunt tube to bleat once, hoping i'd turn him back around. i heard him shuffle a bit then nothing. ten minutes later, he'd reversed back and stopped momentarily in the same clearing. i drew my shotgun and he looked right at me. awkwardly holding my shotgun, and with my arms trembling, he stomped and stared at me for 30 seconds before looking back to his left.
safety off, i lined up my trijicon fiber optic sights on his vitals 30 yards in front of me, and squeezed. i can't recall the recoil of that 3" 00 buck as it cooked off, but i distinctly remember the sound of him running for about 4 seconds then nothing....
with sunset fast approaching, i took a risk and climbed out of my stand 10 minutes later in search of blood. there was none. i pushed into the brush in the direction he'd run, but still no blood. i pushed another 10 yards but still no blood.
then a rub. then another rub. and a clear deer trail led to me rub after rub until i found him 40 yards away from where i shot him. the buckshot was right under his coat on the opposite side where i'd shot him. it had done its job.
finally, the right weather, the right stand, the right gun, and a good clean shot.
who needs drugs when there's a rush like this?
i've been skunked more times than i can count. i've been rained on, torn up by skeeters, felt my muscles cramp up working in the summer heat just to have a shot come fall.
i've shot a few does over the last two years. i lost a small buck last year in thick brush after two days of looking for blood....i've gone back and forth on what gun would be right in NC's thick swampy brush.... i've felt that sickness in my stomach knowing i lost a deer.
i've wondered out loud more times than i care to admit if i was doing something wrong because it never seemed to work out like it does on the television shows....
well yesterday, i had my Remington 11-87 super magnum with 3" 00 buck and settled into my stand two hours before sunset. i'd spooked one walking in and was mad that i hadn't gotten to my stand earlier. i was simply hoping to bring in another doe to put some more meat in the freezer... it was looking like another uneventful hunt.
half an hour before sunset, an eastern NC beast of a buck crossed a trail i'd abandoned last year. i'd seem him on camera twice, but never during the day. i used my grunt tube to bleat once, hoping i'd turn him back around. i heard him shuffle a bit then nothing. ten minutes later, he'd reversed back and stopped momentarily in the same clearing. i drew my shotgun and he looked right at me. awkwardly holding my shotgun, and with my arms trembling, he stomped and stared at me for 30 seconds before looking back to his left.
safety off, i lined up my trijicon fiber optic sights on his vitals 30 yards in front of me, and squeezed. i can't recall the recoil of that 3" 00 buck as it cooked off, but i distinctly remember the sound of him running for about 4 seconds then nothing....
with sunset fast approaching, i took a risk and climbed out of my stand 10 minutes later in search of blood. there was none. i pushed into the brush in the direction he'd run, but still no blood. i pushed another 10 yards but still no blood.
then a rub. then another rub. and a clear deer trail led to me rub after rub until i found him 40 yards away from where i shot him. the buckshot was right under his coat on the opposite side where i'd shot him. it had done its job.
finally, the right weather, the right stand, the right gun, and a good clean shot.
who needs drugs when there's a rush like this?
