Wade Nolan's Whitetail University Writers Camp:
Ohio Rut Hunt
| Hunt Report 1 | Hunt Report 2 | Hunt Report 3 | Hunt Report 4 | Hunt Report 5 & 6 |
 

Hunt Report #4 - Here Comes A Bomber

Mike Jordan hunted a brasscicas turnip field cut into a thicket on the side of a hill. The widest part is 40 by 80 yards and the turnips were mature, some a s big as softballs. Mike glassed a big doe in the thicket and it came to the edge and looked at the treestand Mike was in and watched it for several minutes. Then it entered the field and ate leaves on the turnip plants. as well as some browse under some osage orange trees. The doe kept looking at the tree with the stand, but never saw Mike. In 20 minutes two yearlings came out but she ignored them and left. A forky buck came out of the thicket and chased the does off. Then it ate turnip plant tops and some osage orange.

Wade Nolan drove to a planted field and we went over the steep side down to a flat area that makes a perfect first level deer funnel in the steep hillside. I got in the treestand and settled in. This is a pic from the stand. The grassy area in front of the stand is from 16 to 19 yards from the tree. You can see the top of the hill and it looks close, but it is actually 90 yards uphill and where the edge of the planted field is.

Trails run by the tree. This is a good looking area.

Ten minutes into the hunt a forky buck walked through just inside the sapling trees and scraggly brush. He went up the hill and disappeared.

Half an hour later the forky came down the hill and began working a scrape on a trail in the scraggly stuff. This is a pic.

asdfsdfsd This is a closer pic of the forky. 

After he finished he left by one of the trails trail that are near my tree.

An hour passed and I heard a deer take a few steps down the steep hill behind me. I looked and saw a doe coming up and about 10 yards away. It saw my movement and I froze like a block of ice ... and played the only card I had, the waiting card.

The doe looked up at me for a while. But that is always good, because if it knew what I was it would already be gone. And the last thing I wanted was for it to start snorting an alert.

The waiting game worked and the doe walked over to the scrape. It moved around but stayed within 15 yards of the scrape for half an hour. 

After I took its picture I noticed -- about 40 yards away -- walking through the brush, was a big rack. Light colored, almost a cream color. Long tines. Well outside its ears. A real deal buck. A bomber. Well above James's 130 minimum.

And it coming in the right direction, closer to the doe, and closer to me.

The buck was walking a straight line toward the doe. I could not see its body, only its big antlers. I shifted to the right a bit so I could cover all my shooting possibilities and hooked up my release. If the doe moved in the direction it was facing it would come through my shooting lane 10 yards from my tree. With the buck right behind it.

When the buck was almost to the doe I eased my BowTech into the stops, ready to shoot at the first opportunity.

The bomber buck switched into charge mode and however it came down, it was gonna happen now. The doe bolted.

Oh no. The doe spun around and dove into the thicket ... and went up the hill. 

The buck slammed on the brakes at the edge of the thicket, totally absorbed in watching the doe. Earlier I had range findered this exact spot and it was 42 yards. A further shot than I was gonna take. 

Because the buck stopped there was a chance he would not chase the doe. Maybe.

Maybe not. It followed the doe. I let down and gave two doe grunts. 

No interest.

The next hour the sight of those light colored big antlers played over and over in my mind.

That night we ate at Raider Restaurant in Freeport, Ohio. The meal was served home style on platters and we scooped up our own portions. Steve Raider served the best fried chicken this bowhunter has ever eaten in a restaurant anywhere. And the mashed potatoes and gravy and other fixings were excellent too. 

The perfect end to an memorable day in the Ohio deer woods.

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