Battle of the B.O.W.-Another Pass on the 9pt. Buck

We have totally regrouped. Washed all of our hunting gear again and going after the big guy. We decided to try going after the split-tine since the wind was right for the stand. We got in around 4:30. It was pretty quiet initially.

All of a sudden I feel a tap on the head. Joe is pointing directly behind me and saying buck. I am looking back to see what, and where, when I realize he is 10 yards from the stand, and looking right at us. We sit like statues. Apparently we passed inspection and he walks around the stand doing a scent check. I turn slowly to my right side to watch as he walks right by the stand. I am struggling to get a good look at his horns.

It is the 9pt I passed on the first week. He is bigger than I remember and my heart is pounding wildly again. He gives me several perfect broadside shots, he is taunting me. I am very tempted to shoot since he is bigger than anything I have on the wall, but I know he is still hanging out with the split-tine. He stays there for 1/2 hour eating. It is getting too dark to video but we can hear another deer coming. This one comes from the left of the bait from across the creek. It is too dark to shoot into the woods but we can see flashes of horn and it is a very big deer.  We know it is Split-tine.

We have coyotes start howling very near and the deer disperse.  This gave us a perfect opportunity to get out. A few rocks out of the Grab-it bag to make sure and we are on our way.

OMG, what an awesome hunt that was. The only thing better would have been better lighting to film a shot at the split-tine. We were well within shooting hours. We checked the trail cam pictures and found that both bucks had both been there at noon. Unbelievable!

See the original article at CampWildGirls.com

Battle of the B.O.W. Opening Weekend

Team HuntingLife.com Date-9/12 and 9/13

Opening Weekend Opening morning and the weather was not what we had hoped for. Temps on Saturday morning were in the 60’s and 100% humidity. Terri Lee was hunting and since Kale was working Joe Sharp took over the filming.

Oma and Opa picked up Tali Friday night, (she was not happy) so we could head out early in the a.m. Tom is working so he can’t watch her. Joe and Amy had supper with us and I took my last shots with the bow from the garage rooftop. Everything is ready. All my clothes have been washed in scent killing laundry soap and placed into a tub with cedar and pine boughs, even my underwear and socks. I am going all out after that big buck.

 4:20 the alarm goes off and I am not ready to get up. 2 nights without sleep, due to excitement, had me dragging. 4:25 I am out of bed and into the shower. We are going to be chasing after a big buck that we have seen on the trail cams, but not this a.m. We are doing a trial run at the apple tree stand. The big buck has been coming in early evening and we do not want to spook him but I do want to get some jitters and bugs worked out. We see two small bucks and a doe as we thought we would.

I head over to pick up Tali and go home for some much needed rest and later a change of babysitters. Auntie Nicky picks up Tali at 4:00 p.m. Tom will get Tali back after work and meet me back at home, after hunting. Into the shower again, as it is so hot and I am so sweaty I have to become scent free again. Joe picks me up at 4:30 so we can head into the stand early. It is so still and muggy.

We take the wheeler in at 5:00 and bait the stand like we did the night before. We have been running the wheeler in every night at 5:00 for 2 weeks picking up trail cam pictures trying to pattern this buck. We are hoping to get the deer used to the wheeler noise also. Joe returns the wheeler to a remote spot while I get set up. We get settled in sweat pouring off of us.

Around 6:00 we have a visit from a pesky bear. We have only seen him in here once on the cameras and he picks tonight to show up. He does not want to leave. It is getting closer to the time we have been patterning our buck and we want him out of there. We start throwing rocks from our Grab-it bag. We put it in the stand earlier just in case something like this would happen. We never hit the bear but Joe almost took me out as his rock ricocheted and nearly hit me in the head! lol. He should have had that on camera.

Joe finally decided he was going to get down and chase the bear out. (I was going to film because I knew this was going to be good!) When he stood up to get out of the stand, the bear finally walked away. He was not happy he huffed and puffed as he sauntered off.

Nothing more came in and we headed out at dark, planning to return the following morning. When I arrived home, supper was waiting for me. I have an awesome husband!

9/13-My husband Tom is home this morning so no need for babysitter. Joe picks me up at 5:15 again. We head into the stand in the dark. Not much happening this morning. We think the bear has changed the dynamics of things. Weather is still very humid and warm. We pull the trail cam pictures and head home to review. We want to know how long it was before the big buck returned last time, after the bear raid. He had been back the following day. That was good news and we were hoping he will make an appearance tonight.

I Head back home for family time, a nap and another shower.

 5:00 p.m. Joe and I head back to the stand again. Same routine. Joe drops me off and ditches the wheeler. We get settled in. It is probably close to 80 degrees just slightly less humid than last night. The air is very still though, no breeze. Around 6:00 we have a small doe come into the bait pile. She hangs around for a short time.

 We can hear something coming in from behind us and circling around. Through the limbs I can see the deer and I get a glimpse of horn. My heart begins to race slightly. If the pattern we have seen is true, the 9 pt will come in, followed by the big buck. He finally steps out head down and I can see it is the 9 pt. He looks up directly at us. We don’t move a muscle.

The mosquitoes are biting my cheek and back of my neck but I know I cannot move. I know I am not going to take this one but if we spook this him, the big one will not show up for sure. He continues to look at us and then moves back into the woods and comes around at a new angle. At one point I thought it was the big buck coming in and my heart was jumping out of my chest. I took some long, silent deep breathes to try and compose myself. Then it felt like my heart totally stopped. I thought maybe I had had a heart attack and just hadn’t fallen over yet.

The deer kept staging for quite some time, coming in part way and then retreating. He finally departed, and it was pretty dark in the woods by now. We never spooked him and I don’t think he knew we were there. I didn’t realize until I talked to Joe that it was the 9pt all along. The big buck didn’t come in and we will not be back to hunt there for a few days. We will be checking the trail camera, though to see what he is up to and work on a plan from there. Later in the week I will be filming Kale. Stay tuned for more!

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See the original article at CampWildGirls.com