My 2009 whitetail deer season in a nutshell !!

[Soletitbe]

Found out where a big buck was bedding down every day in my hunting area but my neighbors son wanted my help to get his first deer in his first year of hunting in another area where they knew there was lots of deer and one nice buck that his father could not get to come out in the field the past few years.. Helping a new hunter get his first deer is on the top of my list so i took him to the shooting range and the second hand rifle (30,30) he bought misfired three times so off we go to a gun shop for him to buy a brand new gun an scope and he fell in love with a 30-06. I thought the recoil might be to much for him but he put 3 out of 3 shots in a 2 inch circle at 100 yards. And mine (30-30) was still on from last year.

There was two fields in their hunting spot and they had a ground blind in both fields. It started raining the first day of the season and never stopped all season long. I have asthma and i missed the first two weeks do to a flare-up but his uncle took him 6 times in that time period. His uncle put him in the blind in one field where the deer were coming out the year before and he took the other blind. As they were hunting for meat and not records his uncle shot at and missed a 6 pointer on the first trip just before dusk. On the second trip his uncle missed on a 8 pointer at dusk again. He did not shoot his gun in before the season and said it was right on the year before ---well Dah. The 3,rd trip he took my rifle but nothing came out.(wonder why). The next 2 trips were the same--nothing showed for them. The 6,th trip his uncle took his shotgun and slugs and two doe's and a spike horn walked out just before dusk again. Its bucks only so he shot and missed at the small buck. Can anyone say buck fever. By this time 2 weeks went by and i was feeling better.

With all the shooting that went on in their area i took the young hunter to my hunting spot for 3 days on week three. I put him in a tree stand that was close to the big buck's bedding area and i was in one far enough away that i would not see the same hunting spots as him but the buck would have to pass him to get to me. We had apples out as bait at both sites. I called all 3 days with my QB Bleat-In-Heat and he would answer my calls and stay around but never showed himself to us. I could not get hunting again until the last week of the season so we went to his hunting spot 2 hours before dusk.. On getting there i noticed they had a ground blind on the northside of one field and the other field had a groundblind on the southside. With all the rain and warm weather we were having the wind was coming from the south every day sense the start of deer season. I did,nt have to ask him which blind he was using, ( the wrong one for the wind direction) so i put him in the other field with the blind down wind of where the deer would come in and i got in the other blind where the wind would be blowing from me to the second field (never had time to change it that day) and called with the QB in hopes of bringing one out to him. About 45 min. before dusk i heard him shoot. When we met at dark he said he missed a small buck that was at the apples facing him, after me telling him to take a side shot and gave him a grunt call before he got in the blind to stop a deer if it was walking. He said he had a lot of time to wait for the deer to turn but thought he could get a head shot at that close a range. Had a long talk with him after that.

The next day it was raining harder then ever but we went back at about the same time and i called until the legal time to shoot and not hearing him fire the gun i thought he never seen any deer or did not have a shot. When we met at the truck he said the 12 pointer his father and uncle were talking about came out in the field about 10 min. after i started calling and he had a broad side shot but thought it was to far and was waiting for the buck to get to the apples but he moved when he neared the apples and the buck ran into the woods. The next day we went back and i got in his blind and asked him where the buck was standing when he was broad side. When he pointed to the spot i ranged it at 105 yards and told him it was a perfect shot for him to take so 2 days and two lessons learned for him. That evening i called in a small buck and he got his first deer and it made me so happy to see that ear to ear smile on his face. I,m 64 and got a lot of deer but the first deer i harvested still stands out in mine mind as if it was yesterday. Now i had only one day to go in the season, to go after my big buck in my hunting spot.

It is a 45 min. drive from my house to my hunting area so i went at 11 a.m. on Dec. 5,th, the last day of the season and got there just before noon. On the drive up i was wondering why he would stay around an call back to me but never show himself. I had the tarsal gland from the small buck but would that make a big buck show himself if i dragged it and hung it by my apples? They have one thing on their mind and its not apples at this time of the rut and a small spike horn would not worry him either so the tarsal gland might not work. Might have to change the way i hunt for this buck. He beds down in a thick patch of woods on the side of a mountain just below a power line and there are apple trees and good feed on both sides of th e line. There is only one other hunter named Kevin that hunts the area and he has a blind on the other side of the power line but i read in the local newspaper that his mother-in-law died so he won,t be up.

When i walked to my stand and seen the apples were not touched i decided what i was going to do and that was to walk into his bedding spot because the wind was blowing from him to me. I found one of his escape trails and went in after him. After 15 min. of slow walking the woods exploded with deer and it was easy to pick him out with that rack on his head but one jump and they were all in thick cover and still crashing through the brush. He went up across the power line and the does went to my left and right and now i knew why he would'nt come to my calls, he already had his does and was not going to leave them. I backtracked to my tree blind and got in to think off my next move. I knew he was seperated from his does and would gather them back up but i had a better idea. It was one of the does that busted me and maybe just maybe he might not know it was a human. It was 1 p.m when i jumped them and it is 1.25 p.m. now so i took my rattling antlers that got me some nice bucks and gave a grunt call then a Bleat-in-Heat and started hard clashing of the antlers for 30 seconds or more and then laid them down and picked up my gun when i heard a gun shot so close i thought i was being shot at. After my nerves calmed down i walked up to the other side of the power line were i knew the shot came from and there was Kevin with the 15 pointer down on the ground. I say he would score close to 140 net with all the deductions--what a nice buck. Kevin said he heard the rattling and the deer was on the trot down to me when he stopped him with a grunt call and shot him. Well its time to get ready for next year.

[FlHunter23]

Congrats to the young guy and kevin. Looks like Kevin owes you one now. Glad you are helping the young kids out. People like you help keep this great sport alive by teaching the younger generation. Thank you.

[BIG SHOW]

Thanks for sharing a great story.