Deer Season 2012 Part 2

 

This deer season seemed to be the best one yet. I struggled through an all day set in the stand because it looked as if the weather was going to be the best for hunting on the first day and then go down hill from there with warm full moon nights. I managed to get to the stand a little earlier than usual but that didn't seem to make much difference because I didn't see a deer all morning. I got down from the stand and headed down to the South East corner of the property to see if there were any activity at all. I heard a few shots in the distance but after a couple of hours, I made my way back to the stand arriving right after noon. I sat and struggled through the warm afternoon thinking I should have just got down and made my way back to the house until later. The warm breeze and over dressing made it difficult to stay focused and my eyes would drift closed occasionally. I would hear a noise in the distance that would make my eyes snap open only to see that it was a squirrel or a bird rustling in the dry fallen leaves. I remained at my post until just after 2:30pm when I was suddenly startled by a noise to my right and behind me. When I swiveled my head to see what made the noise I was astonished that about 45 yards out, it was deer, the first one I had see all day and second that it was a buck. But not only a buck, a nice buck. I spun around leaning to my left as the deer started to move around the back side of the tree and head away from me. I placed the dot from my red dot scope just behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger just before he turned and got behind a bunch of brush. The buck backed up after the shot and turned to run toward me to my surprise. The buck ran to my right about 25 yards before he struggled and collapse. I was confident that I had made a good shot and that the buck was a shooter but wasn't sure how many points he may have had. After waiting a few minutes I made my way down to the ground with shaky legs and maneuvered over to the trail. I walked up the buck with my heart pounding in my chest and after a little bit of craning and peeking through the tall brush could tell the buck was down for the count. I quickly counted the rack that was sticking up and ended at 5 points. I then after confirming the animal was down reached to lift the head to see what the rack down in the leaves would yield. The buck was a very nice symmetrical 10 point. The largest deer I had ever been lucky to harvest to this day. I was elated to finally get the chance and be able to harvest such a nice buck. I hit the deer a little back with my shot taking both lungs, the liver and the stomach. Hope you were able to enjoy the hunting season.