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DAY #4, Saturday, Ohio 2000 Deerhunt In Progress
Our groups total deer sightings today: 36 Deer, 10 bucks.

Morning Hunt (Nov 4, 2000)

Count To 100 - It Worked!
Daylight. As soon as I could see my pins clearly I stood up. A large doe with a yearling doe came slowly past me and went to the scrape. The big doe face-rubbed the nearby branches and urinated down her hocks into the breeding scrape. She waited in the area. Three more does meandered in. One charged the doe in the scrape and it moved away and watched the aggressor work the scrape. 

Then things got busy at Scrape City, 17 deer came into the area during the next 3 hours. Five were bucks. But a small spike was the only one within shooting range. Further away, and chasing or trailing does I saw: a buck that looked like the one the Duck shot yesterday, a wide 8-point, a forky, and another 8. Several does came right by me and then worked the scrape.

Dennis was planning a fish fry so I had to get down at 9:00. Years ago, as I watched a huge buck running away when I started down a tree,  I came up with a simple routine that I do every time before I get down. I count to 100. If I hear something that could "possibly" be a deer I stop counting. I wait awhile and if nothing happens I start counting again. When I make it to 100 I get my stuff together and climb down.

So I started counting. Mid way to 100 I heard what could have been a step in the leaves. I waited briefly, I didn't want to make Dennis late to his own fish fry. I started counting. Another step. And another.

A big 8-point came from the brush and went right to the scrape and worked the overhead branches. He raked leaves away with his front feet and peed in the scrape. It humped up it's groin and urinated on it's back legs. 

When it was finished it moved in my general direction. I was ready to draw. But the buck stopped. It looked right and left, trying to decide which way to go. Right or left wouldn't work for me. In my thoughts I talked to it calmly, repeating, "come to me, come to me."

It did. 

Right straight to my tree, but the rout he chose was a problem, a young maple tree next to my tree was full of branches and twigs that would deflect an arrow. The buck turned right and approached the base of my tree. Branches were still in the way. A couple steps ahead of him, I found a space in the maple branches the size of a basketball  ... and I drew ... the shot would be almost straight down -- 24 feet below. 

I looked through my peep sight and things did not look right for this steep shot angle. I didn't think I would hit him where my pin was. But there was no time for further contemplation, the buck was moving into the shooting hole, this opportunity was not going to get away. I shot instinctive for 20 years and sighted down my arrow and touched the release trigger. My arrow was on the money. A stream of blood pooped up a foot into the air and the buck ran downhill and out of sight. But only for seconds, it came back in view, bounding up the incline to the planted pines.

The next thing I knew it was rolling back down the hill. 

I grabbed up all my gear and went straight to the buck. He lay in a heap at the bottom of the hill. I tagged him and went to get Dennis and the Duck.

Dennis thought a moment and said that we were going to have to cancel the fish fry at 12:00. There was too much work to do to pull it off. He used my cell phone and notified everyone of the cancellation and changed the fish eatin' to 7:00pm tonight. 

Dennis has a carrier called a Mule for transporting deer in this hilly Ohio countryside. We got it and walked to the buck. After we took some pictures we strapped the heavy buck to the carrier and started pulling him uphill. He was plenty heavy and we had to stop several times to get our breath. But the Mule was a big help.

November 4, 2000 -- I got lucky.
Here's a bigger picture: 800x600 or 640x480 or 1048x790.

I want to make a comment about the broadhead I used, Innerloc. At the AMO show earlier this year I talked to Dennis Sullivan of Innerloc and he demonstrated it. After seeing the way the unique and rock solid way the broadhead goes together I decided to try them this year. I was directly above this buck and shooting downward 24 feet. I hit in the left side of the spine and penetrated the entire left lung, the bottom of the right lung, the heart, and out of the chest cavity into the right leg bone. The broadhead was firmly imbedded in the upper joint of the leg. That's penetration power. If you want to see a tough, accurate, innovative broadhead Innerloc is at www.innerloc.com.

Dennis rattled at 6:45 (Blue Jay stand). He heard wild turkeys fly down, but no deer. At 8:05 a doe came to the scent station. Then a fawn and 2 does came to the scent area. (This is an area where the deer are marking trees and leaving scent.)  Dennis got down at 8:55 and discovered that a "longhead" (an old mature doe) was watching him.

Duck: He saw 9 deer, 1 buck. The buck was trailing a doe.

Afternoon Hunt
Dennis: Dennis walks heal to toe with occasional pauses when he is 100 yards form his treestand so he can imitate a deer walking. Today when he got to his stand and pulled his bow up a bone colored 8-point ran up and stood at the scent station, looking and listening for the deer he thought he had heard. He waited there for 25 minutes and left into the pines. At 5:25 Dennis heard a deer chase. A large doe and a fawn came down the edge of the planted pines and went in the trees. Next 
a very big buck followed, he had "really high tines and good mass". He made a fresh rub on a pine tree and rub urinated in front of the tree. Dennis wanted to shoot the buck and drew. The top of a planted pine tree was obstructing the kill area of the buck. An absolutely perfect shot right at the top of the pine top would do the job. Den's felt it was to risky and let down.

Duck: No deer activity this afternoon.

Robert: I took my camera to Scrape City. One young buck came through the thickest part of the area. 

Walleye was the main fare for the fish fry. There was plenty of it too. Dennis grills it with his secret recipe (it is in the fish section  in Cookin' With Susieq) and, in my humble opinion, this was the best meal I ate in 2000.

And hey, thanks Cathy Conkel for the tasty coconut cream pie, you really know how to treat bowhunters.
 
 

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