November 12, 2012
Veterans Day hunts are almost always a phenomenal time to be
in the woods. Unless of course you don’t enjoy full on peak rut activity, full
sprint chases, and don’t like seeing multiple bucks that just seem to sprout
out of the ground like unwanted weeds through fresh mulch. This Veterans Day was no different for me at
my northern Montgomery County site. On
Halloween this year I shot a buck of a lifetime. I’ve had him on motion detector cameras for the
last two seasons but had not seen him since last September. It’s been well over a year since a sighting
even on camera but he showed up on Halloween looking for a fight and I capitalized
with a perfect but lucky high shoulder/spine shot dropping him instantly. There’s no way I could ever duplicate that
kind of hunt right? Well… even though I
didn’t score, this Veterans Day saw some of the most exciting rutting activity
imaginable.
I slept on the couch that night after a late night
performing finishing touches to my bow, sighting in new arrows and adding fresh
Broadhead blades, a few beers maybe and the inevitable anticipation of a peak
rut hunt that only comes a few times a year…. If you’re lucky. I may not have shut my eyes until well after
midnight with an alarm set for 4 something. When the alarm finally went off I
was quick to respond…except HBO was still on and a hilarious movie was playing
at the time. Never in all my life could I
care less about what was left on the TV when I first wake up in the morning but
I just couldn’t help myself and zoned off into the TV for maybe a half an
hour. Good thing was that the coffee
alarm was set and brewing, my SUV was packed and all I had to do was get
dressed. I think I may have showered
that morning but can’t remember. I do remember it had been a couple days before
my last shower and any good hunter knows that scent is their worst enemy in the
woods and the deer’s best alley. I got
lucky with a south something wind when I first arrived. It’s basically the best
wind I can hope for on this site because I have to walk south to get to my
favorite tree. Except most of the deer
feed in the corn field at night located to the north and return to bed
traveling through my site in the morning. I’ve always done well here in the
evening but have had more than a couple complete skunks in the AM. I also was well aware there was a giant
lurking in these woods. Three days
before I got a call from the land owner that he saw “him”. He was walking his
young labradoodle in the evening and this horse of a deer stood motionless not
40 yards from him out in the open. He
described it as two Christmas trees hanging off his head and I knew who he was
talking about from previous glassing trips. Then the next day I hear a frantic
story from a good friend who owns the property to the north that he saw a
monster. But the day after that a friend
had hunted that farm on an all day hunt without so much as a fawn
sighting. Who knows right?
Well I finally set up just before sunrise from stupid rookie
mistakes of inevitably forgetting something behind. The late set up had me baffled and overly
flustered. I had to climb the tree twice
as I forgot my safety harness and by now had worked up a hefty sweat. I thought about just throwing in the towel
but remembered to rattle just at sunrise to maximize my best chances at
intercepting the ears of a buck traveling through the area. Sure enough, not ten minutes after setting up
and rattling maybe for the second time here comes a buck crashing through the site
to investigate the sound. Except it was a 6 inch spike, maybe 4 point, thin
bodied adolescent I’d suspect. He surprised the heck out of me and I remembered
thinking he sure had some balls. I could
have pinned him to my tree but gave him a pass.
It would be three or four years until he was anywhere near the size of
Mr. Halloween or any of the four giants I knew were in the area. Some time passed and a few does crossed the
same low spot in the fence they always do, off site on the forbidden property
but just close enough to tease me. It’s
maybe 8am now and I see chasing in the old pasture field. The same field where I’ve seen 4 shooter
bucks at the same time in a swale leading to the woods I’m set up in. It’s that same ballsy 4 pointer running full
tilt behind a doe. Then I see him, the
horse of a deer, the true giant and top boss of these woods trying to keep up
with the youngster hot on a doe’s rump.
It was kind of funny watching this old fat guy chasing a lean teenager
after a fine model. He just couldn’t
keep up but the doe and youngin were tearing through the field running laps
like gray hounds after a rabbit. They
circle this enormous grass field and then run out offsite for ten minutes or so but later return. Then finally I see the doe that has been
causing all this fuss as she’s distinguished by her white pigment on her legs
as if she’s wearing white socks up to her knees. She
has the proper suitor behind her this time too.
They stay on the edge of the pasture, where shrubs and patches of dense
thickets transition into a hardwood forest. The boss man has finally caught up with his
choice female and she’s acting rather persuasive. They proceed to mate right there infront of
me,maybe 80 yards out, well out of bow range and well offsite. With my cheapo binos I can count hairs and
even see his “lip stick” pop out as he mounts her numerous times, albeit very briefly. After one of their quicky sessions he even
sticks his nose almost inside her, I watch him perform oral sex for crying out
loud and she was loving it. I kid you not. And would you believe it that testy
annoying 4 pointer shows back up. He
even comes in snorting and blowing, almost looking to purposely pick a fight he
most certainly would lose. The big guy
chases him off in short order. But he
just kept coming back, time after time again.
Finally he’s got some time alone again and this time the doe follows
him. She travels the exact ground he did, she defecates exactly where he does,
half the time she’s got her tail wagging too and he finally returns from
scraping and licking branches to tend her again. I couldn’t believe the show I was watching, all
within ten minutes of home and just miles from an interstate and a massive
shopping center.
All while this was going on of course I’m excited and a
little distracted. I try grunting,
rattling anything to get their attention. A couple times I got them both to
look my direction briefly but more than a couple times they were just too into
each other… literally. But I was preoccupied and wasn’t paying any attention to
my down wind. This buck came from behind
me quieter than any mouse could ever sneak past a house cat. I just happened to look over my right
shoulder, straight downwind to catch a glimpse of him hugging the edge of this
wetland. He’s a 7 point, almost a twin
to the deer I shot out of this tree on the last day of the season last
year. Maybe 2.5 year old, maybe even a
well fed 1.5 with a small basket rack and a body of a youngin. He never once looked up, even with me barely
20 feet high. He literally was directly
below me, showing some interest in the two love birds which I didn’t think he
could see yet because of the steep hill he had to climb first. He walked straight
in front of me offering the perfect quartering away shot at 10, 15 and 20
yards. I gave a grunt just because and
he quickly tucked in his tail deep between his legs and gave a quick kick and
jump a few yards and then turned towards me, again, never looking up. They never do that from my past experience. I almost always get busted. He got a walk.
Back to the love birds.
They had vanished into a small thicket on the edge of the field to do
their thing in peace. I guess they
needed some downtime because they had just previously mated a half dozen times
out in the open, well past sunrise I might add.
Then a nice large red fox showed up.
I had purchased a furbearers permit just for this occasion as his coat was
beautiful. I drew on him at a previously ranged stump with 31 yards to the kill
zone. But he moved at the last second to
of all things to pounce on a mouse. I
got to watch him hunt, kill and feed directly in front of me. After his kill I couldn’t bring myself to
follow through. Instead, just enjoy
nature for a while in my home urban County of Montgomery. I felt blessed at that moment to be so fortunate.
The woods were quiet for some time now. Maybe an hour passed
with nothing brewing, but it was an action packed morning for sure. A deer would just be gravy at this
point. Then that ballsy 4 pointer shows
up again and shakes things up. Gotta
love him I thought. Maybe I’ll catch him
slipping now. If only Mr. Big chases the
little guy to the north, downwind towards me I thought. It could happen, I was on a well traveled
trail. Anytime now. He quickly chased
him off for the umpteenth time but the little guy never ran too far and always
returned on the exact path the two honeymooners traveled. Amazing they can do that all by scent. It was now near 11am and the spike hadn’t
showed for another 20 minutes and the two were back in the thicket. I thought I might as well climb down as
things were not going to change. Maybe I
could sneak up on them as the winds were picking up adding to the cover and I
was dead down wind. Sure I thought. I had to pick my son up at the bus stop at
1pm so might as well shake things up a little.
I get down, gather my gear and thought about just going home with a feeling
of content and a job well done from an amazing hunt. But then thought I might as well try to put a
stalk on them. This was probably my last
hunt of the 2012 rut as I was leaving town for week on a family cruise vacation
the following Saturday. It’s now or
never to double up on two trophy bucks, both life time kills and to think it
could happen during the same season, in the same county as my home. I managed to cut 100 yards to 40. I was within range if he gave me that perfect
shot. Anytime now… I set my goal on a perfect natural ground
blind of entangled grape vines to my right slightly covering their bed, if I
could just somehow make it there without getting busted I’d have a chance. Miraculously I made it unscathed and
undetected. I was motionless and my
heart was throbbing. I stood ever so
still for a good long while. I didn’t
move, didn’t snap a stick, I did nothing wrong when all of a sudden they
sounded and blew out of there together.
Stupid me thinking I could pull that off from the ground. But they didn’t run far. They even ran in a direction giving me even
more cover. There was no way they could
see me now. Maybe 60 yards out. Both were on high alert for a short while but
then the doe started doing her tail wag thing and walking around Mr. Big. Then another group of does show up, a HUGE
doe (I shot a 120 pound field dressed doe here last year and this doe dwarfed
her) and two good size fawns were working directly towards me. That will do I thought. Well, Mr. Dink, the 4 pointer had other
thoughts and came out of now where and chased the doe and fawns out of reach. I remember seeing the big doe run past me
with her mouth open, tongue out with this look of desperation and exhaustion on
her. Her fawns looked about as clueless
as can be. They were within range but
never stopped even for a second. Oh
well, any deer from the ground would have been spectacular. By now Mr. Big and the hot doe were long
gone. I thought about an all day hunt at
that point. I had water and food in the truck,
I could call a baby sitter. It’s now or never.
Don’t push it Jon… you already
can’t top this hunt. Get home to your
son. There’s always next year. Damn that was fun.
