A Hunt to Remember

[Life by the Horns]

This past fall I had one of the most memorable evenings I've ever had in the tree. I received permission on a new piece of property after season had already opened and had to learn it on the fly. A few days of scouting, some hard work putting stands, and then hunting the fringes, and I was super fortunate to harvest a great buck along with a beauty of a Merriam's tom turkey.

I don't often get the feeling I had as a kid when buck fever hits and you turn into a quivering mess in the stand, but this buck caught me off guard and I did just that. Thankfully my killer instincts won out, but it was a rush that even bigger bucks I've killed haven't caused me.
Hope you enjoy!

 

[pabearhunter]

Congratulations on a KING buck and a great tom.

 

[WNC2500]

Great buck! Thanks for sharing. I wouldn’t have hesitated with that one either.

 

[Lmartin5]

Very nice...congratulations!

 

[Lou2025!]

This past spring I hunted in California for Rio turkeys and had the opportunity to once again do something completely new and exciting. The hunt involved use of a John boat from a marina and traveling onto a secured area where myself and my fellow hunter had access to this incredible beautiful area. The area had rolling hills with both sycamore and oak stands and was inundated with wild horses. Entering at 4 am we set up after stricking a gobbler on the roost only to have him pitch down and chase a hen in another direction. Fortunately, being almost on private land as you can get, we had the area to ourselves and able locate a hen being pursued by a Tom, some two hundred yards away. Being able to stay concealed we stalked the two birds into an open meadow and they both accommodated by turning and walking back to my soft yelps. I was behind a large rock and the two came right into my ambush within thirty yards and I drilled the Tom with TSS #9. Coolest part was once harvested I walked back down that meadow to the boat with him hanging over my back. Great time and great photo, that to this day when I look at that photo I so great full.