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Short Brow

Friday November 1st couldn't come fast enough for my buddy Ed and I for a full week of hunting and recharging our batteries!! All summer long we poured ourselves over trail camera pictures, naming bucks, making up potential hit list bucks, planting food plots and finalizing our stand locations. It consumes us as many of you can relate. The first couple of days produced decent deer sightings for both of us and a decent opportunity at a real nice buck for me on Sunday that didn't pan out.

With the wind forecast of a SSE wind we only have a few options and I decided to hunt the curve in the road stand for the first time this year. Ed dropped me off at the corner of our property off the road and I headed in. Along the way I put a bit of Evercalm and Rutting Buck on my boots and made my way in. Sure enough, 20-30 minutes before daylight a buck decided to follow that trail right in and past the stand just like I had planned, just too early to see how big he was but the grunts gave him away. Soon as daylight emerged I had a few turkeys come off the roost behind me....19 to be exact! LOL! They kept me entertained for a while as they marched single file off onto the neighboring property.

The squirrels were becoming a larger distraction as daylight grew and soon they were up and making noise all around me...again. That was about the time when I kept saying to myself...that sounds like a deer as I kept straining to see the source of the noise. It was off to the East of me, not where I had brought in the scent trail. I kept scanning the hillside up high and that was when I realized he was much closer and closing the distance. I got my bow ready and when I saw he had at least ten points and appeared to be wide I stopped looking at antlers and started timing when I was going to draw. As he went behind a big tree I drew my bow anticipating him to keep the pace to get broadside. Of course he stopped to scan things a bit before continuing on. About 10 more steps and he would be broadside at 12 yards....I kept saying to myself as he slowly inched forward. Then he started to walk again and that was when I waited for the next opening to stop him. On the "maaa" he stopped on a dime and I almost jammed on the trigger, thank God I kept my wits and settled that 10 yard pin right on the sweet spot and soon that arrow was on it's way. He didn't know it was coming and let out a big grunt/roar as he whirled and went back on the trail he came in on. He only got about 40 yards before he stopped and stood there. Soon he began to wobble and suddenly tip over!! I was so relieved and so excited as this was the first deer I let an arrow go on since my big buck 2 years ago that we lost then later found again.

As I stood there I sent out a few texts with some trembling fingers. It was something to see him laying there right from the stand and to see my arrow right where he had stood. Been a while. This is what I needed to get my confidence back!!

A blood soaked arrow is a good sign, especially when it hits the spot you want it to!!



As I took a few steps towards him as he laid on the trail I couldn’t help but get that feeling of happiness and closure. I didn’t know how big he really was but at the moment and with a limited season he was plenty big for me.







As I approached and looked at his antlers I quickly recognized him as being a buck we named Short Brow off of the trail camera pictures, due to the one being much shorter and kinked over compared to the other. It was a buck we were on the fence with shooting and one we decided if he looked good enough on the hoof then that’s good enough for us since we usually only have the one week to hunt. Well, I am more than happy with him and having a few trail camera pictures of him from this summer made it even more exciting. The moment when he got my heart pounding as he came in was what did it for me. If I ever lose that, no matter how big or small, then I will know it’s time to hang it up. I don’t think that will happen though….I still get excited when a squirrel tries to sound like a deer!! Live it up fella’s!







 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
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SW Ohio
Great write up and hunt Chuck! Congratulations of a great deer and making a great shot! You've got a beautiful woods there! Thanks for sharing and way TOO go!