I'll preface with yesterday's report, I hunted all day dark-to-dark and only saw 4 yearlings...not a single mature doe, and not a single buck.
Conditions seemed perfect, NW winds, lows in the mid 40s, highs in the low 60s...but the deer weren't moving, so the hunt was a bust.
Beautiful day and great to be out there...but I kept asking myself all day..."It is November right?"
Well this morning, I opted to hunt the same stand again with NNW winds predicted, and even lower temps dropping down into the mid 30s and highs slated for the low 50s.
Afterall it IS November and anything can happen at any moment and that is the perfect way to describe how it all went down!
I got in about 30 minutes before legal time with the hopes of letting things quiet down in case I bumped anything.
I did wind up bumping one deer right by my stand, but it sounded small as it bounded, so I figured it was one of those yearlings.
I climbed on stand and waited for first light, and right at legal time I did a quick set of can calls followed by some tending grunts.
After 25-30 minutes, nothing responded, so I did another set of can calls.
Another 20 minutes or so pass with no response and things are looking kinda dead outside of the squirrels all around my stand location.
As I'm thinking about the possibilities of what's going on and wondering where the heck all the deer are, I suddenly hear a commotion behind me and to the left...heard a heavy branch break and a bunch of leaves scuffling.
The squirrels went nuts, immediately flying up the nearest tree and screeching their heads off.
I've seen this script before...it's usually a resident red fox or feral cat that cruises through and freaks them out...so I don't think much of it.
The sound was sudden, quick and ended abruptly, while the squirrels continued to screech for a couple minutes...but no fox nor cat came out.
Things were quiet for a couple minutes and I didn't think anything of it, until I heard some leaves rustling.
I looked back, expecting to see that red fox or a cat but instead see a deer about 60 yards away!
The woods are thick, but I see the body and legs...and get into position to bino the deer.
Then he starts coming...he went from dead stop in that thicket to mission mode....a deliberate, steady pace and never stopped.
I grabbed my binos and glassed him as he closed the distance.
He hit a gap around 45 yards out and I saw a glimpse of a darker rack....he got to 35-40 yards and I saw some tines but the rack was blocked...looked like an 8.
In the next few seconds as he's closing the distance, I'm thinking I have a few small 8s on cam, but don't want to make a mistake and shoot any of them...he's still coming though and I have to figure this out quickly!
Then he hits an opening in the thicket around 15-20 yards, I finally get a good look at his rack and see the tine length!
I don't know this buck at all, I've never seen him before but right now I have to make a shot happen!
Well he didn't follow the expected script at all!
I was sure he'd turn and go to the bait, but he had no idea it was even there...he was on another buck run and cruising right down it, no hesitation.
The main buck run he's on splits and goes out and away from me, I've seen a number of bucks follow this and it offers a great quartering away shot!
Of course, he takes the trail less traveled which puts him inside of 10 yards from my stand!
I have no lane here, it's close and he's moving by me quickly now...looking for a pocket, I find one...a small one just ahead of him.
I shoulder the crossbow, and start tracking him through the woods in the crosshairs of the scope.
He hits the opening at about 8 yards, I grunt him to stop, and let a 100 grain Spitfire tipped Zombie bolt fly from my Excalibur Bulldog!
The buck took off like a rocket, stopped about 50 yards out for a second, then ran full bore to the right running out of sight into thickness.
I let him go for 10 minutes or so figuring he fell right there where he turned.
I eventually got down and took up the blood trail.
I found the arrow at the shot location covered in good blood, and the bloodtrail was excellent!
I started following a healthy blood trail to where he turned, but no buck.
I followed it another 50 yards...no buck...another 25-30 yards...no buck.
At this point, I have a tremendous blood trail and can't believe the buck isn't down.
I figure I'll just keep following it a little longer, but at 150-200 yards, I'm definitely backing out.
Well, he made it around 150-160 yards and given the blood trail I can't imagine how.
I've seen it before though, plenty of well hit bucks running much farther than expected.
He covered a lot of ground quickly but I'm glad he died quickly!
He's definitely an awesome buck and one of the best ones I've taken here in NJ!
Very cool, albeit quick end to my permit bow season!
I always have mixed feelings when I tag out, wish I could still be out there hunting during this prime time period...but I'm a happy hunter right now and will just have to wait until ML season to chase another buck!
