stringmusic
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- Mar 6, 2010
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I went out yesterday afternoon to try my luck once again. After missing two good bucks a couple of days earlier, I felt that it would just be a matter of time before I connected. With my decoy hat and bow in hand I took off across a piece of public land just outside of town. From my parking spot I could see one buck and two does feeding a half mile away. In order to get to their location I would have to cross a dirt field with no cover. I decided to let them feed up and over the top of a rolling sage brush hill.
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When I reached the first small ridge, which ran from my left to right, I took a peek over the top to see a large group bedded 300 yards out. A smaller group was also feeding 400 yards to my right. I decided to wait and see what direction the groups would go once they got up and moving.
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The large group with one buck and seventeen does finally stood up and took off away from me. Rut activity was kicking in gear for sure. The buck was doing its best to keep his heard together. With the other group up and feeding now, I decided to move down the ridge toward them. Out of view, I worked a quarter mile to end up just above the group.
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I worked my way over the top to see where they were and how far from me. To my surprise, I was directly above them. This group was all bucks, including one big buck that was quite a bit wider and taller than the others. This was the one I wanted! I was able to range the big buck, but another buck I did not see had me in his sights. Spotted by this buck at 50 yards, I was thinking it was over. Nope! The other bucks all looked up and noticed me too. I was not behind any cover. I was even sky-lined on the top of the hill. All of a sudden all the bucks ran up to the buck that had me spotted. I ranged the big buck. 57 yards! I adjusted for a little drop and let the arrow fly. It went right under him! “Not again,” I said to myself. The bucks all ran back another 20 yards and then all stopped again. They just stood there. I decided not to take this long of a shot. Two of the bucks started walking toward me so I thought I might get another chance, but then they started to walk off. They did not run, or sound the alarm. They just walked up and over the hill. I was still just another buck to them. As soon as the last buck went over the hill I took off running at them to try for another shot. When I reached the top, they had just moved out of range. I let them go.
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I went back over the hill that I had come from, only to notice a single buck out in the dirt field feeding away from me. He was feeding in the direction of a small hill that I could get to unseen. Again I took off on a fast walk to cut him off. When I reached the area, I took my time to go over the top to see where the buck was. When I got to the top, I was face to face with the buck. I quickly ranged him at 50 yards. I was getting ready for the shot, when the buck started to walk right to me. I just stayed still ready to draw my bow. With no cover between us, the buck walked 20 yards closer with no fear. He started to rub his horns on a piece of sage when I drew my bow and let the “death stick” go. Smack! Finally I thought. The buck ran only 50 yards and went down.
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I have no doubt that without the decoy hat and shirt, this would have not happened. Upset that I missed the bigger buck only 10 minutes earlier, I was more than happy to take this great <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
Joe
http://i34.tinypic.com/d45ll.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/5mn2nr.jpg
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<o
></o>The large group with one buck and seventeen does finally stood up and took off away from me. Rut activity was kicking in gear for sure. The buck was doing its best to keep his heard together. With the other group up and feeding now, I decided to move down the ridge toward them. Out of view, I worked a quarter mile to end up just above the group.
<o
></o>I worked my way over the top to see where they were and how far from me. To my surprise, I was directly above them. This group was all bucks, including one big buck that was quite a bit wider and taller than the others. This was the one I wanted! I was able to range the big buck, but another buck I did not see had me in his sights. Spotted by this buck at 50 yards, I was thinking it was over. Nope! The other bucks all looked up and noticed me too. I was not behind any cover. I was even sky-lined on the top of the hill. All of a sudden all the bucks ran up to the buck that had me spotted. I ranged the big buck. 57 yards! I adjusted for a little drop and let the arrow fly. It went right under him! “Not again,” I said to myself. The bucks all ran back another 20 yards and then all stopped again. They just stood there. I decided not to take this long of a shot. Two of the bucks started walking toward me so I thought I might get another chance, but then they started to walk off. They did not run, or sound the alarm. They just walked up and over the hill. I was still just another buck to them. As soon as the last buck went over the hill I took off running at them to try for another shot. When I reached the top, they had just moved out of range. I let them go.
<o
></o>I went back over the hill that I had come from, only to notice a single buck out in the dirt field feeding away from me. He was feeding in the direction of a small hill that I could get to unseen. Again I took off on a fast walk to cut him off. When I reached the area, I took my time to go over the top to see where the buck was. When I got to the top, I was face to face with the buck. I quickly ranged him at 50 yards. I was getting ready for the shot, when the buck started to walk right to me. I just stayed still ready to draw my bow. With no cover between us, the buck walked 20 yards closer with no fear. He started to rub his horns on a piece of sage when I drew my bow and let the “death stick” go. Smack! Finally I thought. The buck ran only 50 yards and went down.
<o
></o>I have no doubt that without the decoy hat and shirt, this would have not happened. Upset that I missed the bigger buck only 10 minutes earlier, I was more than happy to take this great <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
http://i34.tinypic.com/d45ll.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/5mn2nr.jpg
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