On Friday, October 25 I had an evening hunt that I’ll never forget and I didn’t even draw my bow back. There are no acorns on the farm I hunt this year and all of the deer are in the fields. It was a no brainer to hunt the shanty situated on a small point at the field edge overlooking a lush green bottom with a pond in the middle.
While walking in, I noticed the deer were already in the field and one was a decent buck bedded down. I slowed down and as I was creeping towards the shanty the field erupted with deer. I froze to figure out why they were running when all of a sudden two huge bucks appeared out of the hollow. This gave me a perfect chance to quickly climb up and get settled in. In no time the deer settled down and started feeding. I grabbed the binoculars and started checking out what was down there and was particularly looking for those big bucks. The first buck I noticed was a young 9 point that I saw on a previous hunt in the same stand.
Along with several does there was also another young high rack buck that should be an 8 point but he’s missing his brow tines. Both are decent looking bucks, but they’re young and not the big ones I knew were down there. I continued to watch when I noticed a big bodied deer step out of a treetop that was blocking my view. I immediately knew he was one of the big bucks as he had 10 points with good mass, decent brow tines, and crab claw looking tines on the end. Upon closer observation through the spotting scope I also noticed that his brow tines curved backwards at the top. He, along with the other deer, were 200 to 250 yards away just feeding contently on clover. The bucks weren’t really pestering the does and seemed more concerned with feeding. Without acorns to fatten up for the upcoming rut, the deer have to rely on what food is available. As the evening wore on I wondered if one of the younger bucks was the other big buck that I saw, but I swore the bigger one had a huge rack. I had no problem seeing it from 200 yards away with the naked eye. While I was contemplating the situation I looked to my right and there stood another big deer at the field edge.
As soon as I put the spotting scope on him I started shaking and knew exactly what buck he was. Some of you might remember reading about my bad luck last year when I shot a 12 point with my bow the week before buck season.
I searched for days and through buck season but never found that buck. It made me sick and disgusted. Well I’m very glad to report that he’s alive and even bigger this year! I watched him the rest of the evening and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was almost surreal as I thought for sure that buck was dead. He’s a big 10 point this year with knobs at the ends of his main beams where last year he was a 12 point. His tines are long and he has good mass throughout his entire length of massive antlers, but what’s most impressive is his long, bladed brow tines.
The brow tines on this buck are at least 8 if not 10 inches long. He’s one of the biggest bucks I’ve ever seen on the farm. So needless to say, y’all will know where to find me the next month. I watched both 10 points the following evening along with several smaller bucks and does. They are literally camping out in the field and seem comfortable down there. I’m going to be patient and wait on the edge as I can get in and out of this stand without spooking them.
I’m hoping that in the upcoming weeks a hot doe will run by me with one of the 10 points behind her. That’s exactly what happened last year when I shot the 12 point low and behind the shoulder which must have been an armpit shot as the buck is obviously healthy and well. They sure are tough animals. Make some time to hit the woods in the upcoming weeks as the big bucks are starting to move. It will only get better as November and the rut comes in. It’s my favorite time of the year because you just never know what buck may come walking by, or in my case, out of hiding.