Saturday 11/17/12

It was chilly this morning but not as cold as it has been. At 33 degrees is seemed damp for some reason. We got a late start but I was still in the tree before daylight. It was clear and crunchy with a south wind, so I sat in the Graveyard Flat again. I saw a really big deer in the distance at 7:30. I thought he would hit the drainage after coming out of the pasture and make his way past me but that was the last I saw of him.

It was quiet until around 10 o’clock when a big doe made her way across the flat. After she got past me I heard something off to my left. When I glanced in that direction I saw a buck standing there. He appeared almost like a ghost. He was a miniature version of the freak deer I saw on this same flat a few days ago. He had a spike on one side and four points on the other. He was only a year and a half old deer. It appears that the gene is definitely passed around from one generation to the next in this area.

Fifteen minutes after the buck disappeared I saw 4 does work there way across the pasture above me. They hung tight right next to the woods. When I got out of my stand to leave I kicked them out of their beds about a hundred yards from where I was sitting. It was about 11:30.

Dad sat at the top of the South Bowl this morning. He saw a few does and three small bucks. My buddy Kevin pulled a card from a trail camera and brought it back to the tent around noon. As I made my way through the pictures I saw a lot of does and a few small bucks and then WHAMMO! I really nice shooter buck from last night at 5pm. We looked at the pictures and decided to go back there this evening even with a marginal wind for the food plot. It’s the first time this buck has shown up on camera.

When I arrived at the plot around 3pm it was sunny and warm. There were cows all over the place. As the evening wore on I figured I’d be lucky to see a deer with that much cattle activity going on around me. As darkness was quickly creeping up on me I had 11 cows under my stand feeding. Some of them were cute little calves even though they were annoying the living heck out of me.

As I started bitching and moaning to myself while looking at the sky I caught some movement on the horizon at the top of the hill across the plot from me. Instantly I knew it was the same buck from the trail cam picture. He made his way down the hill and hopped the fence to get into the plot. When he cleared the fence a few of the cows below me began to moo. When they did this he stopped broadside to me at 42 yards. I drew the bow and settled the pin behind the shoulder. I knew I could relax and make a good shot so I took my time. I’ve made a lot of tough shots under pressure and this was no different than one of them. I could feel my heart beating really hard in my chest so I focused on the pin and waited for the shot to break. I felt a little bit of panic creep in when the shot didn’t go and the buck took a few more steps. Then he put his head down and started feeding again. Within seconds the shot broke and the arrow was on its way. I heard that familiar hollow thud of an arrow passing through a deer. He bolted and ran toward the woods. I wasn’t sure where the arrow hit but was pretty certain it should have been within an inch of two of where I last saw the pin which was in the lungs and maybe a little back.

When he got halfway up the hill he ran out of gas and fell backward. Seconds later he was dead. I killed my first Kansas buck. It seems like it has been a long 4 years, but then again such a short 4 years. I’ve seen a lot of really good deer and passed quite a few just waiting to fire a shot at one I wanted. This buck was surely one I wanted. He’s an 11-pointer and has some character. I won’t forget this for as long as I live, especially to share it with my dad and my friends Kevin and Jody in Kansas. I could tell they were both happy for me, which made me feel pretty good. I appreciate everything they’ve done for me. I probably never would have had an opportunity to hunt such good land in Kansas if it wasn’t for them. I’m truly thankful. I’ll post a few pictures of the deer. If you look closely at the trail cam picture it was taken seconds before my arrow wen through the deer. You can see the deer feeding and me sitting in the stand at full draw on the left of the screen in between the two really big trees.

I’d love to see dad get a chance at a big one in the morning, but either way we can’t complain. We’ve had a great hunting trip once again.

 

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