We had some fun chasing long necks in September .. here are some pictures I got with my pocket camera .
Randy and I knocked some down , hunting a cut barley field .
Got an invite out with the Petersen crew and had a beauty shoot over some fresh cut corn ...
It was a rainy morning and as the sun came up I couldn't help think " This is my Church Baby ! "
A beauty rainbow over the farm before the first birds came by ..
The farmer left lots of dropped cobs , so plenty of food for the long necks ...
Beauty decoys and some great calling brought us some awsome shooting ...
The corn is just starting to come off around my place ....
With Whitetails in mind , I keep an eye open for a good opening day location ... During my travels , this group caught my eye .
Lots of young jakes made it thru the spring hunt ...
Seeing lots of does and fawns but not many bucks ...
October 1st ... Been plaqued with wicked back pain and hit with a bad cold today .... had to work till 2:30pm , feeling overall crummy , I almost passed on this afternoon , but figured " Can't get a deer sitting at home " !
Sucked back some cold meds and a pain pill for my back , packed the truck and headed one hour North of home ... I'm on the road by 3:45pm
A boundary scrape shows up at one of my favorite spots ... I'm hiking in by 5:00pm .
After a slow climb ... ( my back is aching ) ... I snap a picture of the trail , I expect the deer to cross , from bedding area to food source ... It's approx 5:45pm now .
It's actually a new tree I carved for my Sumit Viper Climbing stand , right across from an " Old Faithfull Stand " that we have used for many years ... problem is the old tree is dead and is mainly supported by my old steel ladder .... weve deemed it unsafe ! ( schedule to come down soon )
6:00pm ... my nose is running off my face ... every time I do a thumb to nostril purge , I sound like a deer blowing " alarm " , so I make a feeble attempt to cover with a doe bleat and occational grunt ..
6:30pm ... I'm startled by the sound of turkeys flying up to roost approx 50 yards into the bush ... I get brief glimpses of hens and poults roosting ...
6:45pm ... I catch movement out of the corner of my left eye , and turn slowly , just in time to see a whitetail butt and tail swish across the trail , thru the cover , into the clover field approx 50 yards away .... I turn and see it was the last of 7 deer moving thru the clover towards the beanfiled ( Ranged , spread out from 100 yards farthest to 50 yards closest ... ) ( 3 small rack/fork/spike bucks and the rest are assorted does/fawns )
Yikes ! , how did they get by me ? , must have been while I was craning my eyes to get a look at the turkeys ? ... It's also really windy and the bush is far from quiet !
6:50pm ... I hit my Primo's can and let loose a few doe bleats ... No real affect , only one big doe lifts her head from feeding and looks my way ...
6:53pm ... I let go one good grunt from my " Custom Cooper call " and that seals the deal ! .... The doe does a stiff leg walk right to me ... 30 yards , 20 yards , but no shot , she's facing directly at me ... at 10 yards , she doesn't like something , and starts to turn back ...
I'm watching her thru my Lumizone scope and at the exact second she turns quartering away , I slap the trigger , my custom " Boo" string launches an new Eastom Aluminum XX75 , with a 130 grain WASP broadhead on board , off the deck of my Y25 Relayer !
Smack ! ... Extreme angle ( I'm up 24 feet ) Arrow hit's high ... complete pass thru , clipping just under her spine ... she dropps in her tracks !
I got deer scrambling everywhere now ... I gain my composure and check my watch ... It's 6:58 pm !
I stay up the tree for approx 25 mins to let the other deer move off and make a few calls .... CH is hunting close by and quickly verifies " he's on his way "
I take a quick snap shot of my arrow , and a walk up picture of the doe ...
A " gear " shot at the tree ....
Excalibur Y25 Relayer Crossbow .
Custom "Boo" string .
A beauty top quiver mount that forum member ( "munch" ) made for me.
(with # 100 Y25 on it )
Easton Aluminum arrows fletched in white with one orange vane .
130 Grain WASP Cam Lock Broadheads ( my personal favorite ! )
And here is a picture of the two calls I used tonight ...
Custom Cooper grunt call ( by Mike Cooper aka wabi )
And a standard Primo's bleat can ..
By the time CH and I dragged her out , loaded her up , went for dinner , I was rolling into the local butcher by 9:15pm .... It was the 1st whitetail in at his place and I got my first 2010 Ontario Hat for Hide trophy !
PS : Yep , forgot my knife .. field dressed at butchers .. He's a young Mennonite that is happy to take in local deer for extra income ...
Just finished downloading pic's and typing .... Off to bed ... Saturday should bring a whole new adventure ! ... Good luck to all that are heading out to the deer woods tomorrow !
