Started out with a call from Chris H. last night ... an invite to a spot in WMU80 .
We have extra tags for WMU80 , so I said " I'm in " ...
The alarm goes off early ... Still heavy with last nights turkey dinner I roll out of bed and pack up some gear ..
I'm at Chris's place by 5:50 am ... we swap gear to his truck and head out ..
By 6:45 am after a long hike in without snow shoes , we are both up a tree approx 40 yards apart ... As the sun came up it was obvious by the beaten down deer trails , the deer had got past to the bedding area before we arrived !
At 9:00 am ... wind and snow kick up ... We head out .. I manage to get 1 frame of a long beard passing thru an opening before we leave that area ...
We head to the local truck stop for a hearty breakfast and start to scout out our next move ... We scout food source .. like heavy hit apple trees ..
Corn field bush funnels ...
Corn stubble ...
Looking for deer tracks into the food source between bedding areas hoping to locate some on property that we have permission on ...
Unfortunately there is so much food source in areas we dont have permission , the deer are spread out pretty good ...
Around noon ... we find a heavy hit stubble field at a farm we have permission on ... and the deer tracks into the bedding area are heavy !!
We spot deer in the bedding area ... some are already on their feet ..
We drive up to the farm ... There is lots of action there ... The farmer has lots of Boxing Day company ... They are working on broken down snow mobiles and getting ready to head into the bush to cut wood ...
I ask if it's OK to do a quick push ... he says no problem since he has a craving for some summer sausage , that we drop off every year !
That's were Chris H. comes in .... See , Chris has mastered " The One Man Push "
... I mean , he has a knack of quietly hearding the deer at " just the right pace " , past an arrow wielding poster ! ( that would be me ! ) ( Note : Being a stealthy mofo is not a skill that shows well on a resume' , but a skill held in hign asteem within our group .... especially when you are trying to fill last minuet tags ! )
Chris starts from the North / West end of the small bush lot ...
I've taken up a sniper postion on a ridge approx 300 yards upstream from where we saw the deer ... the wind is perfect blowing from the trail to the farm ... ( Greylag will be proud of us for taking detailed note of the wind direction when setting up a push ! )
It's about 1:00pm now ... I track a big bodied deer through my Lumizone scope on top of my Y25 Relayer ... It's coming right at me ... It stops at approx 15 feet and I can see it is a buck with two red buds where his rack use to be ...
I let him pass .. and focus on three smooth heads coming behind him ... As they pass approx 10 yards to my left , I do a soft mouth bleat and stop them all ... Unfortunately they stop in mixed slash , except for one opening I see on the second one ...
The lead one bolts .... I stay on the second one , and I launch a 2216 with a 130 grain Wasp Cam Lock broadhead on board off the deck of my Y25 Realyer at approx 330 FPS ! ... it's closes the 10 yard gap quickly !
I'm shooting down hill and the impact was spine and downward directed thru top of opposite side lung ... it was over in a flash !
Here is the walk-up ...
I pulled the arrow ... very little damage , with two of the fletchings ripped as it passed thru bone ...
Chris comes thru ... he heard the release and the familiar smack ! ... I give him the thumbs up and he ends my picture montage with a " guitar hero , rock and roll pose "
Dragged and tagged .... ready for transport to the butcher .... A few of the kids at the farm take a moment to pose with the " soon to be summer sausage " harvest !
Last frame of the day ... Chris changes up gear .. heads into the hardwoods for an evening stand ...
No deer passed by his stand within legal shooting time ...
We will work on them tomorrow ... 5 more days to go ... good luck all !
Congrats on another one. You are sure making the Y25 earn its keep!
