First off let me say this is only my second time in the woods this year. I decided to go back to school in September and between that 24hrs-week and 48hr work weeks I don't have time for anything. I decided to cut back on a few Sunday so i could hunt a little bit and my buddy was nice enough to invite me to his farm to hunt.
The first hunt was 2 Sundays ago I saw 2 fawn doe and gave them a pass. Last night we arrived at the farm and they just finished cutting the beans. My buddy says he wants to sit on the edge of the beans and me in the woods surrounded by oaks and hickories. I climbed in around 230pm and around 330pm here comes a deer running through the woods and into the hickory bedding area. My buddy and I being 150yards apart we agreed that he would shoot the field and when they ran into the woods I would shoot. We usually send a few texts back and forth for safety issues cause he fell a few years back and I didn't hear anything for awhile. I text him and he says something about leaving and then I spot 3 doe feeding towards me. I said I have 3 doe just came in I'm shooting. They began feeding to the north and out of range so i didn't shoot. I then look to my left and here comes 2 more deer. I glassed them and one was a 4pt with the body of a moose followed by a fawn doe. Man that little buck had me shaking like a leaf as he got within 30yards of me. The wind was NW last night and he hit my scent and took off with the fawn in tow.
About 10min goes by and its 450pm now. I catch more movement and glass 3-4 doe and all of a sudden a 100-110'' 8pt comes in chasing them around. The doe scatter across the ATV trail and into the hickories. Behind the 8pt comes a small 6pt and then an absolute brute!! We think its the deer in the attached picture. I glass him 100yards out and call my buddy asking if I'm allowed to shoot this deer? He says of course get em! I always ask because i don't want to kill his target buck and cause issues. The deer walks through some brush and into a patch of sapling and then stops in the open. I crank the Leupold up to 7x and lean against the tree and let a round rip. Man deer scattered everywhere!! I tried watching which way he went but it was hard! I call my buddy and say i just shot him. I'm going to get down. I make my way to where he was standing and daylight is fading. I cant see much past 50yards and I hear something walking around. I'm sure its the buck because what healthy deer would let me walk within 50yards of it? I stop moving and it wanders away. I then hear my buddy shoot 10min before legal light. He shot a doe that dropped in her tracks with his new CVA 44mag rifle. I search for blood and hair and come up empty. We found a few spots with leaves kicked around so decided to back out until this morning.
Today he arrives at the farm with his mountain cur dog and begins searching. He searched the whole side of the farm for 3hrs and calls me asking if I want bad news or good news? He says good news is he's not wounded! Bad news is you missed! No hair, blood, or deer in 3hrs of grid searching. He's had this deer on camera for about 3yrs now so I'm hoping he hangs around.
The first hunt was 2 Sundays ago I saw 2 fawn doe and gave them a pass. Last night we arrived at the farm and they just finished cutting the beans. My buddy says he wants to sit on the edge of the beans and me in the woods surrounded by oaks and hickories. I climbed in around 230pm and around 330pm here comes a deer running through the woods and into the hickory bedding area. My buddy and I being 150yards apart we agreed that he would shoot the field and when they ran into the woods I would shoot. We usually send a few texts back and forth for safety issues cause he fell a few years back and I didn't hear anything for awhile. I text him and he says something about leaving and then I spot 3 doe feeding towards me. I said I have 3 doe just came in I'm shooting. They began feeding to the north and out of range so i didn't shoot. I then look to my left and here comes 2 more deer. I glassed them and one was a 4pt with the body of a moose followed by a fawn doe. Man that little buck had me shaking like a leaf as he got within 30yards of me. The wind was NW last night and he hit my scent and took off with the fawn in tow.
About 10min goes by and its 450pm now. I catch more movement and glass 3-4 doe and all of a sudden a 100-110'' 8pt comes in chasing them around. The doe scatter across the ATV trail and into the hickories. Behind the 8pt comes a small 6pt and then an absolute brute!! We think its the deer in the attached picture. I glass him 100yards out and call my buddy asking if I'm allowed to shoot this deer? He says of course get em! I always ask because i don't want to kill his target buck and cause issues. The deer walks through some brush and into a patch of sapling and then stops in the open. I crank the Leupold up to 7x and lean against the tree and let a round rip. Man deer scattered everywhere!! I tried watching which way he went but it was hard! I call my buddy and say i just shot him. I'm going to get down. I make my way to where he was standing and daylight is fading. I cant see much past 50yards and I hear something walking around. I'm sure its the buck because what healthy deer would let me walk within 50yards of it? I stop moving and it wanders away. I then hear my buddy shoot 10min before legal light. He shot a doe that dropped in her tracks with his new CVA 44mag rifle. I search for blood and hair and come up empty. We found a few spots with leaves kicked around so decided to back out until this morning.
Today he arrives at the farm with his mountain cur dog and begins searching. He searched the whole side of the farm for 3hrs and calls me asking if I want bad news or good news? He says good news is he's not wounded! Bad news is you missed! No hair, blood, or deer in 3hrs of grid searching. He's had this deer on camera for about 3yrs now so I'm hoping he hangs around.
