It was 18 degrees this morning. I thought today was going to be the day and it almost was. I hunted the big timber again on the inside corner of the same meadow where I saw the good 9-pointer. Although I couldn’t tell how many points it had I saw a shooter buck chase a doe across the meadow at first light. Then I saw a doe sneak down the fence-line as it was getting light. Around 8 o’clock I had a doe come down the main runway behind me that runs through some big oaks. She fed along the way but didn’t stay in one place for very long. Shortly after a shooter 9-pointer (different one than the night before) hit her trail but for some reason he followed it in the wrong direction. I laughed to myself when I saw him go the wrong way. I think he might be a little disappointed to know his lady went the other way.
About a half hour after that happened I could hear a few deer coming out of the bottom. I got a glimpse of a very large buck following a doe. Unfortunately they winded me and got the hell out of there in a hurry.
Around 9:30am a small 8-pointer chased three does past my stand. After the does went by he stopped about 20 yards in front of me. It appeared that he was really nervous, but I couldn’t understand why. Then I saw a shooter buck coming. As it got closer I could see that it had one really good side with four points on it. Unfortunately the other side had only one six inch spike. There was no doubt that he was a mature deer. As he stood broadside to me at 15 yards I decided I didn’t want to take him. It was awesome to watch him walk past me. When he got behind a bush ten yards to my left I changed my mind. I decided I wanted him because he was so unique and it’s near the end of the week. I drew my bow and waited for him to come out the other side. For some unknown reason he stopped and never came out the other side. Instead, he turned directly away from me and walked straight toward the fence. When he got to the fence he hopped it and went on his way. I saw two more does after that but nothing this evening.
Dad sat below the grunt stand this morning. He saw five bucks, two of which he thought could have been shooters, but they never came close enough to be sure. He didn’t know where to go tonight so he sat in the tube stand. He saw 3 bucks, one of which was the buck we named Ol’ Captain Hook. He has a giant forked tine on one side and a really heavy set of five long tines on the other side. He also has a small hook coming out of the base of his antler. Dad drew the bow on him, but never had a clear shot.
Today was good. We both drew our bows on a couple of truly unique bucks. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Another picture of the broken G-2 buck.
This buck's hard to see. He's in the top of the photo a hair to the right of center. There's a doe to his left.
