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Legacy- 2016 Deer Season

Legacy

Legacy
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BSmaster

BSmaster

Posted
Posted

Rob, Congratulations on a very nice deer!   I love the story and adaptation for the conditions.  It is a chess match that most hunters never experience.   

 

BTW - I love this thread.

Gene Shenk

Gene Shenk

Posted
Posted

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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Great Job Rob nobody deserves it more than you, you have worked your butt off for that one Congrats!!

Legacy

Legacy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks everyone! Ill be watching the game from the sidelines for the next couple of days but Ill be back at it on Friday. All tags are valid for the late season so the game continues! The pressure is off but id still love to end the season punching tags.

skipper19

skipper19

Posted
Posted

8A has been tough. A lot of nocturnal deer this year. You did well Rob! Hundreds of hours in the making! Perseverance and endeavor pays in spades!

Matt said you pulled your shirt off???

We are gonna hafta come up with an Indian name fir you like Ray has.....

Omganothershortfatbaldone! ...now work on your bad spelling and you will be close!

Congratulations to you!

Mark

Sent from my SM-N900P using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Hop

Hop

Posted
Posted

Aw no, please don't take it wrong. I've had a good season. Just haven't put it together. Have not seen a buck in gun season, just the way it is where I hunt

. Had one sneak out tonight, just couldn't see it good enough to shoot. Not giving up. Back at it tomorrow, working till the end.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

BigWilly

BigWilly

Posted
Posted

Good deal Hop.

Stick with it. One year I killed a big 8 point the last day last 15 min of legal lite. You never know what the next deer to walk in to your life could be. I to am up to current with my tags and freezers are full!!

I have a wounded doe on this particular property that one of my neighbors shot and has a very bad leg!!

I would like to take that deer out of its misery before the coyotes do.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

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