hunt1up
Active member
I hunt ALOT every season and this year was no different. Up until the day I shot this deer, I'd had a rough go of it with regard to bucks. I'd seen alot of deer during bow season, but nothing mature. Although in Illinois, the area I hunt doesn't have a monster behind every tree. Well, a friend and I got received permission to hunt another friend's grandparent's property about 2-3hours away. We'd hunted it a little in the past and I sort of had a lay of the land. I applied for my either-sex gun tag and was drawn. In IL, we can also buy leftover tags OTC, so I decided I'd pick up another either-sex tag, just in case. I wasn't going to get two shooter bucks in a weekend, right? But, nevertheless, I'd rather be prepared.
The opening morning, I was in my stand that I'd put up earlier in the year. It looked like a good spot, but I'd only sat in it one time. At around 8 in the morning, I see a nice 9 pointer cruising the woods. I put my scope on him and decided I wanted to shoot him. He wouldn't be my biggest deer, but he was the largest I'd seen all year and he looked pretty mature. I took my shot, and through the smoke, I saw him go down. He ended up officially grossing 128 and netting in the low 120's.
I was excited. I'd finally got the monkey off my back and killed a nice buck. My friend and I dressed him and got him loaded up. We went to town for some food and ice and planned to get in the woods around noon. There was a place we were thinking was a good travel route, and my plan was to ground hunt a hillside overlooking the area. There were two chunks of woods, separated by a bean field. There were hills heading downward on each side. The deer would, in theory, travel across this area from bed to food.
As I walked out for my afternoon sit, I spot this large buck coming out of the woods, like we'd hoped. I could tell he was on the trail of a hot doe. At this point, I'm in the middle of a bean field with my pack, bi-pod, gun, etc. I was probably 150-200 yards from the buck. I quickly dropped to my belly and laid flat, trying to hide myself. Sure enough, he didn't see me and entered the woods. As soon as he entered the woods and was out of sight, I grabbed my gun, left my other gear and started running. I had the right wind and he couldn't see me. I was able to run to the woodline about 100 yards from where he had went into the ravines. I had an idea of where he should be, and I crept into place. I found the best tree I could to act as a rest and started looking. Sure enough, here he came. He was about 80 yards below me on the other side of the ravine. I took aim and shot. Once the smoke cleared, he was nowhere to be seen.
I headed down to where he stood and found nothing. I proceeded down the ravine and saw blood. Lots of blood. It must have been a good shot. Just then, I see a deer get up and lumber off slowly. He wasn't going far. I backed out and headed back to the house where we were staying. I called my friend, who was still hunting and explained what had happened. It was only about 1 PM at this point. I decided I'd have a beer and clean up my hunting gear and my other buck. I was a slow afternoon for sure.
Continued....
The opening morning, I was in my stand that I'd put up earlier in the year. It looked like a good spot, but I'd only sat in it one time. At around 8 in the morning, I see a nice 9 pointer cruising the woods. I put my scope on him and decided I wanted to shoot him. He wouldn't be my biggest deer, but he was the largest I'd seen all year and he looked pretty mature. I took my shot, and through the smoke, I saw him go down. He ended up officially grossing 128 and netting in the low 120's.
I was excited. I'd finally got the monkey off my back and killed a nice buck. My friend and I dressed him and got him loaded up. We went to town for some food and ice and planned to get in the woods around noon. There was a place we were thinking was a good travel route, and my plan was to ground hunt a hillside overlooking the area. There were two chunks of woods, separated by a bean field. There were hills heading downward on each side. The deer would, in theory, travel across this area from bed to food.
As I walked out for my afternoon sit, I spot this large buck coming out of the woods, like we'd hoped. I could tell he was on the trail of a hot doe. At this point, I'm in the middle of a bean field with my pack, bi-pod, gun, etc. I was probably 150-200 yards from the buck. I quickly dropped to my belly and laid flat, trying to hide myself. Sure enough, he didn't see me and entered the woods. As soon as he entered the woods and was out of sight, I grabbed my gun, left my other gear and started running. I had the right wind and he couldn't see me. I was able to run to the woodline about 100 yards from where he had went into the ravines. I had an idea of where he should be, and I crept into place. I found the best tree I could to act as a rest and started looking. Sure enough, here he came. He was about 80 yards below me on the other side of the ravine. I took aim and shot. Once the smoke cleared, he was nowhere to be seen.
I headed down to where he stood and found nothing. I proceeded down the ravine and saw blood. Lots of blood. It must have been a good shot. Just then, I see a deer get up and lumber off slowly. He wasn't going far. I backed out and headed back to the house where we were staying. I called my friend, who was still hunting and explained what had happened. It was only about 1 PM at this point. I decided I'd have a beer and clean up my hunting gear and my other buck. I was a slow afternoon for sure.
Continued....
