Well it's almost time to reflect back on the past deer seasons and ponder on the shoulda woulda coulda's. I hunted Eastern Kansas (Linn CO)Nov12-19th. Here is how it went down...or didn't go down I suppose.
Last year my buddy who makes the trip with me arrowed a good buck but never got good penetration in the shoulder. We followed the blood close to 600yds throught this narrow sliver of trees and light brush. As we were moving through this 200yd x quarter mile stripe we couldn't help but notice all the large rubs that were there. So we later in the hunt went back and hung a stand near the end for easy access and the closest spot to what we thought was the travel corridor. We never had the time to make more than one good shooting lane though.
Well fast forward to this year. It was not until about the 4th day of our week long hunt until we were drawn to hunt this stand. We both knew we never left it in that good of shape the prior year, but we just were not seeing the deer we typically see in our other sets. My buddy made the decision to go hunt it first. Well lo and behold he gets settled in that evening and the sliver comes alive. He seen several younger bucks and a few does being pushed and ended up grunting in a nice upper mid 140's buck and arrowed him in the middle of this shooting lane we established last year. He made a great shot and it never made it more than 40yds. He seen it fall and no more than 5 minutes later a nice buck he called it, began sparring with the dead deer. Well I have been getting near skunked on the stand for the most of the very warm days we were there so far so I decided to go to the same spot he shot his buck the evening before. Well the woods never came alive like they did for him but right before dark I did see a respectable buck moving through the scatterd cedars. I gave him a few very soft grunts and that was enough to get him turned and get him coming in my direction. He was thirty yards in front of me making his way south which was parrallel to the clearing. He made it down 38 yrds and began thrashing a cedar sappling. I hit him with another couple of soft grunts and he suddenly froze for about 15 seconds looked my way(downwind) and came trotting right at me. This was the same way my buddy shot his buck. How crazy! I drew my bow and anchored. He never gave me a shot at his vitals and I did not want to try to stop him until I thought I would be offered a shot. I had my 20 yrd pin on him and suddely he decided to veer back to the east of me(back up the trail he came from). I quickly began desperately searching for another opening he would eventually come through and only found about a 5ft hole between two cedars around 17yds out. At this point all I could think about was am I going to try and stop him or try shooting him while moving. If I was going to try and stop him I had to get the timing down absolutely perfectly. As he made his way around one side of the tree to the other(which obviously was just a blur) I tried making a verbal grunt to stop him and I'll be damned he did not stop. I then frantically made another grunt but louder and I had to shoot at the same time cause 5ft is covered quickly at his pace. I should have never tried the second time but just made a the shot instead. I think it would have been a better attemp for sure. And of course when we heard the arrow hit the dirt over his back he stopped immediately and stared right at me. I'm pretty sure he shot me the finger as well then trotted directly down wind of me. He milled around a while still trying to find that deer that was grunting but never came back around. All I can remember while marveling at his head gear was the kickers it had. We had this same buck on another trail came and noticed the huge brow tines but never picked up on all the kickers. Here is the buck I missed. Not a giant, but I have a personal goal of 160" or better is why I don't shoot many on this property. I am not sure if he makes the cut but don't guess it matters at this point anyway. I think I may lower my standards because I think my skills are getting a little rusty. If you get the chance to bow hunt the Kansas rut you better jump all over it. It's just too bad the weather is so unpredictable there. Seriously it blew 20-30 and gusts over 40mph on multiple days out of the south. I am very fortunate to have the friends I have up there, the wife(pregnant one at that), a good hunting buddy, and also a job that allows me the opportunity.
http://s1081.photobucket.com/albums/j344/KerDog77/?action=view¤t=PRMS0628.mp4and here is my buddies buck. Excuse the retard documenting the footage we had a few stout ones prior
http://s1081.photobucket.com/albums/j344/KerDog77/?action=view¤t=581b0a5e.mp4
