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Bryan Zukhardt with his
huge, monster buck. |
Day #10: (Nov
22) Bryan & The Monster Buck
Bryan
Burkhardt brought over the rack from his buck taken on the lease on November
1. Here is his Story:
A
spike was hanging around the scrape near Bryan Burkhardt's stand area.
Suddenly it looked down hill and then ran. Downhill, Bryan saw a big deer
in the thick planted pines.
Bryan
gripped his binoculars to check it out. A buck stepped out of the pines.
Bryan put his binoculars down. There was no need to use them. This buck
was a monster, it's body was huge and it had a rack with it all, mass,
long tines and width.
The
buck walked toward Bryan's stand. Bryan waited with his reciurve bow in
hand, ready to shoot if the buck got close enough. It dit and Bryan sent
an arrow into it's rib cage. The buck ran downhill into some briars.
At
dark he met Pip and the two of them took up the trail. In 100 yards the
blood stopped completely. They split up to look around the immediate area.
Pip walked ten yards and asked Bryan, "Do you have your tag with you?"
"Yes,"
Bryan answered. Pip replied, "Then why don't you come over here and put
it on this monster buck!"
Here
is a pic of Bryan's trophy of a
lifetime.
Day's
Hunt:
I waited 3 hours without seeing a deer and got down. On the way
out I jumped a doe. Pip saw 4 does and a spike. The does veered off before
he could get a shot. Bryan Zurkhardt joined us today and he saw 3 does.
Ed Biehle saw a bunch of does in range but he is waiting for a buck. |
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Day #9: (Nov
21)
Morning:
Mid
30's, clear with light wind, a perfect morning. A nice buck walked through
my Scrape City area. Bucks have to me 125 minimum here and he wasn't quite
that so I didn't grunt him over. A doe
checked out my Montana
Decoy doe. A fawn was behind the doe, a sign that the rut is on the
decline. Here is a pic of
the scrape (taken from my TreeSuit stand that's 16 yards away). When
I left I took a close up pic of the scrape and noticed this large
buck track.
Afternoon:
After
the sun dropped into the horizon the 3-pt walked down the trail. It stopped
and went on alert. In my peripheral
vision I saw a buck coming from the adjacent field. Surprise! The 3-pt
met it with head lowered and they fought in the brush around me for a couple
of minutes. (All the pics were blurry.) Once the initial fight was over
they stood around and had several shorter engagements. The other buck was
a 14 inch 6-pt with no brow tines. When I walked out of the woods at dark
I walked up on a bomber. Yikes, I sure don't like letting them know I am
in the woods.
Steve
& Eddie Biehle are back and Steve saw a monster buck but couldn't get
a shot. Tomorrow Pip and Doug Crabtree will be here. |
A buck track in the scrape
at Scrape City. |
Day #8: (Nov
20) My Day In The 9-pt's Pit
Afternoon:
Wow!
A noise behind the Hoss Cat stand caught my attention. The sunlight lit
up it's antlers as a buck made its way toward my position. The 9-pt I had
seen the other day with long tines and beams nicely outside it's ears.
It passed about 8 yards close; but I wanted a few yards more to get the
$100 shot angle. Woops! The buck stopped and smelt the ground -- right
where I walked to the tree (Yesterday I ran out of the Scent Killer I spray
on my boots). Immediately the buck looked up into the trees around him.
He did not see me so all was well, so far. I still needed a few steps to
get him clear of the numerous twigs and limbs between us. With his nose
on the ground the 9 slowly followed my trail toward my tree. I figured
my chance for a shot was on the down hill side. I have a saying, "sort
it all out at full draw. And that's what I did. Every pin on my sight was
on the buck as he moved toward my tree. Quickly I looked for a space in
the twigs and branches to get my arrow through and found one. His chest
moved past the space and then he was right below my stand and I he turned
back into the thick brush. I let down.
Sometimes
things come together, sometimes they don't. Bowhunting is cool like that. |
Dennis Crabtree & his
big
8-pt with a crab claw
kicker brow tine.
This cart sure makes it
easier
getting a big buck out of
the woods
in these Ohio mountains. |
Day #8: (Nov
20) Dennis Gets With It
Morning:
I zipped. LIsa Price saw a big 10-pt and some does, but too far away.
Dennis,
however, got with the program. He rattled at first light nut nothing
responded. Later he spotted a big buck across the valley on the opposite
hill. He put the binoculars on it and recognized the buck by its crab claw
brow tine, good mass, and 10 inch G2 tines. All Dennis had to do was get
the buck on his hill. However, thre buck crossed over on his own and walked
down the hill toward Dennis's tree stand. But when the buck came in range
it was moving too fast Dennis drew and "urped". The buck stopped
and Dennis sent arrow was on the way.
The
arrow hit in the lung area and the buck ran down the steep hill.
It
was an easy find. Dennis met Lisa at her stand and he phoned me on her
celll phone. Dennis Jr. and I came at once to help drag the buck out. This
is the fun part, taking pictures and dragging the heavy rascal up the mountain
and pulling on it so it won't run away from you going down hill. Since
you weren't there to help out I thought maybe you might like to via a few
pictures. Here Ya Go
... |
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Day #7: (Nov
19)
Morning:
Un-Light Rain
Dennis saw a big 8-pt (a little too far) and an unknown
deer before the sky busted open and drowned us. Lisa zipped. Me too.
Afternoon:
Lisa
saw 8 deer. At 4:30 she saw a heavy racked 10 pt, walking very slow, he
looked tired; but he didn't give her a shot. Dennis zipped. At 3:51 at
Hoss Cat this
very photogenic buck walked by and I made a little photo gallery
for you (In the last pic he came back through almost an hour later). At
last good shooting light a bomber buck traveling with a doe entered the
adjacent field. They took their good time getting to me and it was too
dark when they passed. Oh well, I couldn't have done anything better at
last light. Maybe tomorrow the deer will be out to play -- within bow range? |
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Day #6: (Nov
18) Light Rain
Morning:
Dennis
and I each saw a large buck that was too far away for a bow shot. Lisa
Price passed on a 4-pt and some does come in range.
Afternoon:
The
afternoon was a mixture of light rain and no rain -- but mostly light rain.
I saw one doe at Hoss Cat hill. Dennis and Lisa zipped. |
Heavy morning fog at Scrape
City
on Day #5. |
Day #5: (Nov
17) Foggy Morning Blues
Morning
(Nov 17):
I settled into my TreeSuit at Scrape City. It was an even
40 degree and at sunrise a brutal fog set in and lasted until 9:00
-- which is when I took this very
cool and very foggy picture. As you can see visibility was double
low all morning. Dennis passed on a doe. Lisa Price joined the hunt this
morning and she saw the same thing I did ... fog .. and no deer.
Afternoon:
Lisa
Price hunted #16 stand. She an 8-pt, 2 button bucks, a doe and 2 fawns
all within bow range. In the Gorilla stand Dennis saw a longhead doe under
his toes and passed it. I returned to the Hoss Cat stand and at hunting
time a 4-wheeler with the land owner and his kid came driving through the
area. It's cool that they were enjoying deer country too. A few minutes
after 5:00 I saw a 9-pt buck with a light colored rack in the brush. It
walked through my area but there were too many twigs and limbs for a shot.
The buck definitely had me in the shoot mode too. Maybe it will be back.
Cause I will. |
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Day #4: The "Truck"
Buck At 30 Yards
Afternoon:
The
"Truck" buck walked through the brush 30 yards from Dennis Crabtree Jr.'s
treestand. He saw it's massive rack and estimated his longest points are
16-inches long. But shooting light had faded away. I saw a young buck and
got a slammer pic of it and I made this
Wallpaper for you. Dennis passed a sixer and two does.
Doug
Crabtree saw 5 deer and he shot a doe.
Morning:
Back To Scrape City
I
went to my favorite stand, Scrape City. I snuck in and after two hours
of not seeing anything I grunted. Forty-five yards away 2 does jumped up
out of their beds in some thick brush. Neither one of us knew the other
was there. At 10:00 I moved to the tree I hunted last year with the TreeSuit.
It is 15 yards from the hot scrape that is always here. This time I used
EZY
Climb strap on steps to zipped right up the tree, it was a snap
and much better than screwing steps in that hard tree. I'm good to go for
the morning hunt here. Dennis zipped at the Dark Holler stand. Dennis Crabtree's
son Dennis Jr. will hunt with us this afternoon. |
The 3-pt I saw, definitely
not the "Truck" buck. |
Day
#3, Nov 15: "Big As A Truck"
Afternoon:
When
I got in his pickup I didn't ask Dennis if he had seen a buck, his expression
gave it away. "It was big as a truck" he said. The "truck" buck stayed
too far away for a shot. But Dennis will be back to Dead Tree looking for
it. I saw & took pics of a
forky and a 3-pt
plus a large buck with a doe a couple hundred yards out in the nearby field
to the Hoss Cat stand. Doug Crabtree saw a big yellow racked 8-pt, a forky
and 2 does. Pip & Kevin zipped. Eddie Biehle saw 6 does and walked
a 4-pt. Steve Biehle had 2 does in close.
Morning - Gimme
Three Steps ...
Dennis
raised his binoculars to check the approaching bomber buck .. a 10-point
... a mature one with a huge body ... headed right where Dennis needed
him to be. The buck stopped 3 steps short, his attention averted by something
across the valley. The buck bounded down hill toward whatever had caught
his attention. Before and after that Dennis saw deer movement up hill from
his stand. At 9:30 he got down and moved his stand to overlook the maize
of trails he found there. I hunted the Zone and zipped. Afterward we checked
Scrape City and it was just like I like it, TORE UP! The stand is already
in place and I'll be there tomorrow morning. Pip saw 2 bucks. I haven't
heard from Doug Crabtree or Steve Biehle yet. |
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Day
#2:
Morning
At
the Zone Dennis passed on an good 8-pt trailing 3 does that had passed
by earlier. Half an hour later a spike came through following the same
trail. I was tired and slept in. It is 12:44 and we will be on stand at
2:30.
Afternoon:
Dennis
saw a big bodied 8-pt and a 5-pt at the Dead Tree stand. I hunted Hoss
Cat Hill and took pics when a doe
walked under my tree and another one came down
my main shooting lane. Kevin Dill zipped. Pip saw 16 deer, 3 were bucks.
Doug Crabtree and Steve Biehle joined the hunt. Doug saw a "110 class"
8-pt. Steve saw 7 does. |
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Day
#1: It Just Blew Us All Away
Pip
hunted all afternoon. "It was horrible!", he said tonight. Earlier I looked
at the pine trees flapping in the breeze and asked Dennis what the weather
report said the wind speed was? "45 MPH," Dennis answered. But the deer
have their own agenda and here is a
Buck I saw, a
doe and a 2nd doe
that ran right by me. Tomorrow the wind is supposed to be 10-15
out of the West. That sounds all good to me and I know Pip is ready for
a little less wind velocity |
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BOWHUNTING THE
OHIO RUT 2002 - An Online Bowhunt
Dennis
Crabtree (Crabby), Dick Pippenger (Pip), Kevin Dill & I bowhunted in
Ohio.
The peak of the rut is over
in southern Ohio but you and I were there, bowhunting with Crabby, Pip
and Kevin Dill (with the bombger buck above). Here are the pictures of
bucks at scrapes and lots more deer acion, plus the day by day field notes
to this super bowhunt. (To this Ohio Hunt
& Pics: Days 1-12.) |
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Bowhunting The
Rut In Ohio 2000
The Duck & I bowhunted
with Dennis Crabtree during the Ohio rut. I got slammer pics of a big 8-pt
working a scrape and then walking under my tree. Plus lots of other pics.
Day by day action. The Duck, Kevin Dill and I drug nice bucks out of the
brush. This hunt was a super one. Ohio Hunt 2000 |
