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Legacy- 2016 Deer Season

Legacy

Legacy
in Big / Small Game

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PeltHunter

PeltHunter

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Posted

Awesome buck Rob! Nothing like sticking it out after a long, hard season and getting it done in crunch time.

 

I wanted to get out one last ditch effort to fill some sort of tag but I had finals at school the last two days and I'm leaving for Antarctica in the morning for the Air Force. When I get back in February it'll be count down to boat buffing season which leads to the countdown for brown trout, which starts the countdown for salmon season which inevitably starts the countdown to bow season and then the cycle starts all over again. Once again it was awesome following along with all you guys from October 1st until now, congrats again to everyone who had the chance to harvest a deer this year and good luck to those still putting the work in for one. They're moving still for sure, on my way home from Oswego tonight I saw 1 probable shooter and 1 nice big shooter buck cruising fields just at dark. Paul

Legacy

Legacy

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So lets see if we can make a long story even longer… Two seasons ago I accidentally fell into a great late season deer setup as I bumped a dozen deer including a shooter buck on my way out one night. The very next night I built a makeshift ground blind and setup on the field edge and had a train of does come by. They fed in the field and I gave them a pass hoping to see antlers. On the second night I missed a big buck due to the disturbing fact that I clipped a tree branch. It just happen to also be the last day of the muzzleloader season. It was a tough year and an even tougher way to end the season. I knew the setup, I just needed the right conditions to fall into place. Last year the DEC wouldn’t allow us to shoot bucks during the muzzleloader season so I never had a chance at redemption. Bummer. Almost two years but the setup for this season was beyond perfect. My plan was to hunt this spot every night of the muzzleloader season. Every single damn night. Yesterday was the first day of the season and in my first sit I saw 5 does and fawns along with one unknown deer that hung in the woods and never made its way to the field. Today was day 2 of the season and this afternoon I showed up at 3:00 and there were already deer in the field. I bumped a Doe, fawn, and a buck (never got a great look at it) back into the woods on my way in. I climbed in my poor excuse for a ground blind and did some more trimming. Honestly it’s not a ground blind, it’s a bush or maybe three bushes and I’m sitting in the middle of that mess. I always expect deer to enter the field from my left. At four o’clock I slide my phone into my pocket, told myself to stay away from it, and I began to stare in that direction. A few moments later, I catch movement in my peripheral vision and it takes me a moment to a stud buck entering the field on my far right. 90 yards maybe? I fumble for my binocs and by the time I get my head back up he’s gone. I figure he’s just blending into the background really well but after a couple of scans with the binoculars, he disappeared. My guess is he cut into the woods and he will pop out in the middle and make his way a crossed. I stand up and glass all of it. Nope. I can’t find him. I put the binocs down and out of thin air, there’s a buck standing to my right 50 yards. I’m not sure if it’s the same buck or not but it’s a shooter. I’m hoping that he continues in the direction that he’s facing so I can slowly get into position to shoot. After a handful of steps, a mouth grunt stops him in his tracks at about 50 yards and with the cross hairs center mass the muzzleloader ignites. After the smoke cleared I can see the buck turned 90 degrees and is trotting towards the woods. He stops just inside the woods and I see him go down! I was pretty confident in the shot. It felt good. After a bunch of LOU members suggested shooting TC shockwaves, the gun was shooting the best it ever has. I give it time. Probably not enough but my thought is to leave and let him die. Unfortunately I have to go that direction in order to leave. I grab my gear and head to the point of impact. No blood. I get on his tracks and walk it to the tractor path (which is my way in) and still no blood. I began second guessing everything. Maybe I hit a branch, maybe I rushed the shot, maybe I never saw him go down. As I’m drowning in a pool of my own disappointment, he stands up, and runs deeper in the woods. He looked to be hurting and I thought I saw him go down again. 65 yards or so in the woods. I look to my feet and there it is… blood! I stuck a stick into the ground to mark the spot and walked out. I wasn’t planning on putting anything on LOU. I was picking my kid up and while I was waiting I was surfing LOU and I decided to put the text we all love to see “BBDâ€. It was great to see lots of supportive texts from friends looking to help if needed. My mind was made up to go first thing in the morning until JakeyBaby texts me “Let’s go get it†and that’s all the encouragement I needed. The snow tells the story and thanks to Mother Nature for putting that snow on the ground because otherwise we would probably still be looking for it. He was bedded just inside the face of the woods before I bumped him. From that bed he made it at least another 100 yards. He stumbled a few times, he bedded a few times, he went left then he went right. He crossed the creek and ended up dead in the thick mess on the other side of the ravine. Not a whole lot of blood until the last half of the trailing. Shot was back but still double lung (lower part of the lobes) and the esophagus. Amazing he made it that far. Overall 150 yards or so. Thanks to JakeyBaby and my kid Hunter with all the help tracking, retrieving, and picture taking. Pictures might not show me smiling but I am. Zero hour 10 point! First deer with the muzzleloader! He’s a buck I have on camera, he may be the buck that I had two encounters with bow season and he may also be the buck that was responsible for me moving a stand during the last week of bow season. He's a great buck and I am glad to share the stories of my season with all of you. No doubt the season has been a long emotional roller coaster and a there’s a lot of you that have followed the thread and witnessed it. You have also lived it and shared it yourselves. Doesn’t get much better than the pursuit of the Whitetail!

 

 

 

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dvdegeorge

dvdegeorge

Posted
Posted (edited)

BTW Rob I've had less than favorable performance and expansion as well as sparse blood trails with shockwaves/SST bullets...I ditched them years ago and shoot the Barnes TEZ bullets and they are a vast improvement as well as accurate.

Edited by dvdegeorge
HOLY DIVER

HOLY DIVER

Posted
Posted

Check this guy out, big body with triangular head.. he looks like he should have a lot more bone on his head.

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Clover is still drawing deer they are digging for it. I had 3 small bucks and a pile of doe feeding by 3:30pm.

I have seen two limppers hobbling around most likely from my careless neighbors that shoot at tails. I will never understand that strategy.

Hope I can capitalize on this cold snap coming up.

Gator

Gator

Posted
Posted

Rob, I want you on my team when we're down by six with less than a minute remaining! You the man!

JakeyBaby

JakeyBaby

Posted
Posted

It was a pleasure to be there with both you and Hunter to recover him! Beutifull Buck for sure and no one deserves it as much as you! Congrats again Robert! Also I can confirm that not only did Rob have a big smile on his face I'm pretty sure he even took his shirt off at some point, and it was cold! The things a deer will make you do.......

Xxx

Xxx

Posted
Posted (edited)

It was a pleasure to be there with both you and Hunter to recover him! Beutifull Buck for sure and no one deserves it as much as you! Congrats again Robert! Also I can confirm that not only did Rob have a big smile on his face I'm pretty sure he even took his shirt off at some point, and it was cold! The things a deer will make you do.......

Awesome job!! I bet that trip was a adrenaline rush from the time you guys decided to say "let's go get this hombre" I would have liked to be in your shoes JakeyBaby, great job, also I bet the jaw dropping face on Hunter was priceless also!! I bet he marched out of the woods proud of his dad!! I still remember the exact way it happened when my brother and I got to see dad shoot a buck with my Whelen, because dad shot left handed, so my 7600 pump was the only gun we had, that wasn't a bolt. Great job!! Guys.

Edited by pap
Guppy35

Guppy35

Posted
Posted

Congrats Legacy on a great buck!  Thanks again for this thread the last two years, it's been a real pleasure being able to follow everybody's hunting season.

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