Opening day here in Indiana was a beautifull day. Arrived to my pre-scouted tree stand location about an hour before sunrise. I got all my stuff situated, fastened my Summit climber to the tree and up I went.
For the best visualization of the area, I climbed to about 20-25 feet.
Secured my safety belt, then pulled up my gun and backpack.
It was still dark, so I watched all the stars for the next half hour or so while waiting for daybreak to arrive.I could hear several deer approach through a cedar thicket behind me, but they passed and proceeded towards the bottoms in the dark.
When light started to filter into the dense woods, I could start to make out the clearcut about 90 yards in front of me, the open woods to my left and the cedar thicket to my right and behind me.Fog was gently rolling through the bottoms and on occasion would engulf the clearcut.
Shots started to ring out in the distance, but I did not see my first deer until about 9:30. At that time, I could see a buck working a doe in heat through the clearcut, but only an occasional glimpse due to the thick cover.When I finally saw him, I could immediately tell he was the big 8 point I saw a week earlier fighting a ten point while scouting the area.
This buck never offered a shot due to the cover density and disappeared with the doe.
I ate my lunch about 11:00 while intermittantly listening at odd sounds for a possible approaching buck. Finnished my lunch and was getting sleepy due to the comfort of my Summit stand. I was startled by a twig snap and turned my head only to barely catch a nice buck entering the clearcut from the open woods to my left. He proceeded towards the bottoms through the clearcut and was gone as quickly as I saw him.
Throughout the morning I would randomly call with my M.A.D. growl call, rattle bag and toss in an occasional doe bleet from the "can".In the past I have been quite successfull at calling in big bucks by being conservative in my calling.About halfway into my doe bleet sequence and around 1:00pm, I could make out an approaching deer coming through the clearcut angling towards me.
I could tell it was a buck and when he stepped out, I got a good glimpse of his left antler and his width. Looked a like a heavy bodied deer also.
When he took two more steps his shoulder would be in the clear.
Come on, come on I thought. Then my crosshairs were finally lined up and I slowly squeezed the trigger.
Well here is what I got.
The deer dropped in his tracks after being on the receiving end of 44 gr of N110 and the Barnes 250 expander MZ. Shot was approx. 90 yards.After approaching the deer, I saw that his right antler was much smaller than the left side which I could see clearly when I shot him. Oh well, still a trophy to me!!
My taxidermist has him now.
p.s. There are still two much larger bucks in the area and this was not the "big 8".
For the best visualization of the area, I climbed to about 20-25 feet.
Secured my safety belt, then pulled up my gun and backpack.
It was still dark, so I watched all the stars for the next half hour or so while waiting for daybreak to arrive.I could hear several deer approach through a cedar thicket behind me, but they passed and proceeded towards the bottoms in the dark.
When light started to filter into the dense woods, I could start to make out the clearcut about 90 yards in front of me, the open woods to my left and the cedar thicket to my right and behind me.Fog was gently rolling through the bottoms and on occasion would engulf the clearcut.
Shots started to ring out in the distance, but I did not see my first deer until about 9:30. At that time, I could see a buck working a doe in heat through the clearcut, but only an occasional glimpse due to the thick cover.When I finally saw him, I could immediately tell he was the big 8 point I saw a week earlier fighting a ten point while scouting the area.
This buck never offered a shot due to the cover density and disappeared with the doe.
I ate my lunch about 11:00 while intermittantly listening at odd sounds for a possible approaching buck. Finnished my lunch and was getting sleepy due to the comfort of my Summit stand. I was startled by a twig snap and turned my head only to barely catch a nice buck entering the clearcut from the open woods to my left. He proceeded towards the bottoms through the clearcut and was gone as quickly as I saw him.
Throughout the morning I would randomly call with my M.A.D. growl call, rattle bag and toss in an occasional doe bleet from the "can".In the past I have been quite successfull at calling in big bucks by being conservative in my calling.About halfway into my doe bleet sequence and around 1:00pm, I could make out an approaching deer coming through the clearcut angling towards me.
I could tell it was a buck and when he stepped out, I got a good glimpse of his left antler and his width. Looked a like a heavy bodied deer also.
When he took two more steps his shoulder would be in the clear.
Come on, come on I thought. Then my crosshairs were finally lined up and I slowly squeezed the trigger.
Well here is what I got.
The deer dropped in his tracks after being on the receiving end of 44 gr of N110 and the Barnes 250 expander MZ. Shot was approx. 90 yards.After approaching the deer, I saw that his right antler was much smaller than the left side which I could see clearly when I shot him. Oh well, still a trophy to me!!
My taxidermist has him now.p.s. There are still two much larger bucks in the area and this was not the "big 8".
