We were trout fishing one day when these deer, potentially all young bucks, approached within casting distance.
Back when BigTen showed up with a doe on a warm autumn afternoon, I had to scramble to find the video camera. After finding the camera, I shot this video from inside the lodge.
I was outside the lodge, in a t-shirt, when I spotted a doe running up the savanna, followed by a sizable buck. Didn’t think it was BigTen until I found the binoculars and verified that it actually was. Then I had to locate the video camera downstairs in one of many pockets of hunting gear. You know how that goes.
Both the buck and doe bed down for half an hour. Then as BigTen was browsing, the doe slowly wandered off. I believe this video shows when BigTen realized he lost the doe. The trophy buck then clears out of the brush into the goldenrod, then picks up her scent, and takes a hard right to follow the doe.
“It’s not bragging if you can do it”. This quote by Dizzy Dean, the great St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, who was part of the Gas House Gang of 1934, seems appropriate for this archery shot.
I believe Jeremy only hunted this stand once before, and that was a couple years ago. Since his last sit, we rotated the stand to face a different direction, but still on the same set of trees.
This buck, which he passed up two days earlier, looked heavier this time around. The buck was on the atv trail, trolling at a constant pace with his head down. The first shooting lane at 20 yards would’ve been nice…. if the buck stopped, but the archers mouth grunt didn’t stop him. He didn’t stop at the next lane either. Finally at the last narrow shooting lane, at 30 yards quartering away, Jeremy swings through and releases the arrow. Like a duck hunter shooting a flying duck, you need to lead the animal. The arrow flew through the narrow shooting lane, hit one lung, and the top of the heart. Seventy yards and down. And dead. Unbelievable shot! 19 1/4″ inside spread.
Jeremy shoots most of the year and practices shooting at moving targets, so his instincts take over. He says he doesn’t really think about it, about when to shoot, it just happens. That’s what plenty of practice can do for you.
It’s not bragging if you can do it.
.jpg "Trophy Archery Buck at Turtle Creek Outfitters")
Some days, some years the view from the lodge is alive with rut action. However, the lodge view had been slow shortly before this buck was harvested. The action in the woods was quite active compared to the lodge view. Shortly before this buck followed a doe within archery range, a larger buck had trolled by, slightly out of range. That’s the way it goes. We never know how the day will play out. This buck was down 40 yards after the shot. Congrats on a great shot!
.jpg "Trophy Archery Buck at Turtle Creek Outfitters")
.jpg "Buckus Major: A Newly Discovered Constellation")