Late KY hunt
Jan 17, 2016 21:18:14 GMT -5
Post by tasaman on Jan 17, 2016 21:18:14 GMT -5
So my season has been full of encounters but none of any bucks worthy of spending my KY tag on. Having already killed a small 8 pt during ML season in Tennessee I felt no urgency to bag anything small. My patience began to give way to apprehension because gun season had closed and the biggest buck I saw was an ugly 5pt buck that was still young. I knew I had some more season in TN and one last hunt in KY so I knew I still had a chance.
So I found myself on the quota hunt first morning and my chosen area was full so I had to go back to an area I knew from a previous hunt. The spot was about 3/4 mile away from the parking area and as I'm walking in there are plenty of fresh tracks and droppings amid the receding waterline of the slough I was paralleling. Figuring this could be good as any beyond this point I found a suitable tree and was at altitude just before daylight. Nothing. No deer. Not barely a shot to be heard and even being duck season those hunters barely broke the silence. I quit about 1030 to get a bite to eat but before I did I did a little scouting and moved my stand. Marking it on my Smart phone for my return. While out to eat another hunter saw me dressed up and we chatted about hunts and such. Ended up with an invite to his 2000ac cattle farm in Florida for hogs. I do intend to accept the offer when I can. Back to the hunt at hand.
Returning about 1pm I went right to my marked spot on my smart phone and realized things were amiss. Seems my smart phone thought I didn't know where I really wanted to be so it helped me out by moving my way point. Dumb phone. So I had to wander around back and forth several times trying to find it in the thick stuff. 15 minutes later I found it right where I left it. Once again up in a tree I waited. Starting about 3 pm I started seeing deer. First a small cow horn buck with crab claws at the end. Probably a 1.5 year old. Then there was a group of 2 does and 2 fawns. Then a different young buck. Then a big group of does and little ones I was only able to count 10 but looked to be more but they were all moving and not letting me get a good count. Still not one legal buck to be seen. See here you can only shoot one if it's 15 inches or wider. Keeps you from killing young deer. Then I heard a splashing in the water and my focus moved to try to see what it was. First I saw the ripples. Then the body. Then the rack. Ok a good rack. I put the scope on his face to figure out if he was a legal buck or going to be lucky. Had to whistle at him 3 times to get him to look at me. With the crosshairs on his face he looked strait at me and I can see he is outside his ears I quickly moved the crosshairs to his chest and pulled the trigger. He went down in about 25 yards. Of course it was 25 yards into the water which coincidentally was at or above the height of my knee high rubber boots. Definitely worth getting wet though. He ended up being a 3.5 year old 10 pointer with a 16 inch spread. While he had a sizable body he only weighed 139lbs. Run down from rutting I guess. So here I have this deer down and I'm .88 miles from the truck as the crow flies(I looked it up on a map). I asked my friend Roost1 do you think if I need to get medevaced will they get me and the deer and he replied..."no, they left mine" I just laughed as I remembered he shot a 8 pt in TN and then proceeded to fall out of the treestand he was in breaking his back in the process and then got medevaced out. Well I was able to drag the deer in the water for a couple hundred yards then when I got him out gutted him there and dragged him to the field. That took me an hour. Great. Only half mile to go. Cutting this story short I ended up getting a ride from a Fish and Wildlife officer the rest of the way. Probably saving my life in the process.
I have been hunting this place for 5 years? Yes I am questioning myself on that one. So this is the first year I have hunted there that I still had a buck tag in my possession and the first year seeing a legal buck. Happy day for me. Great end to a long season. Gun is blued Savage ML-II wearing a lam thumbhole and Sightron Big Sky. Load was 43gr 4759 and a BO in a BCR.
So I found myself on the quota hunt first morning and my chosen area was full so I had to go back to an area I knew from a previous hunt. The spot was about 3/4 mile away from the parking area and as I'm walking in there are plenty of fresh tracks and droppings amid the receding waterline of the slough I was paralleling. Figuring this could be good as any beyond this point I found a suitable tree and was at altitude just before daylight. Nothing. No deer. Not barely a shot to be heard and even being duck season those hunters barely broke the silence. I quit about 1030 to get a bite to eat but before I did I did a little scouting and moved my stand. Marking it on my Smart phone for my return. While out to eat another hunter saw me dressed up and we chatted about hunts and such. Ended up with an invite to his 2000ac cattle farm in Florida for hogs. I do intend to accept the offer when I can. Back to the hunt at hand.
Returning about 1pm I went right to my marked spot on my smart phone and realized things were amiss. Seems my smart phone thought I didn't know where I really wanted to be so it helped me out by moving my way point. Dumb phone. So I had to wander around back and forth several times trying to find it in the thick stuff. 15 minutes later I found it right where I left it. Once again up in a tree I waited. Starting about 3 pm I started seeing deer. First a small cow horn buck with crab claws at the end. Probably a 1.5 year old. Then there was a group of 2 does and 2 fawns. Then a different young buck. Then a big group of does and little ones I was only able to count 10 but looked to be more but they were all moving and not letting me get a good count. Still not one legal buck to be seen. See here you can only shoot one if it's 15 inches or wider. Keeps you from killing young deer. Then I heard a splashing in the water and my focus moved to try to see what it was. First I saw the ripples. Then the body. Then the rack. Ok a good rack. I put the scope on his face to figure out if he was a legal buck or going to be lucky. Had to whistle at him 3 times to get him to look at me. With the crosshairs on his face he looked strait at me and I can see he is outside his ears I quickly moved the crosshairs to his chest and pulled the trigger. He went down in about 25 yards. Of course it was 25 yards into the water which coincidentally was at or above the height of my knee high rubber boots. Definitely worth getting wet though. He ended up being a 3.5 year old 10 pointer with a 16 inch spread. While he had a sizable body he only weighed 139lbs. Run down from rutting I guess. So here I have this deer down and I'm .88 miles from the truck as the crow flies(I looked it up on a map). I asked my friend Roost1 do you think if I need to get medevaced will they get me and the deer and he replied..."no, they left mine" I just laughed as I remembered he shot a 8 pt in TN and then proceeded to fall out of the treestand he was in breaking his back in the process and then got medevaced out. Well I was able to drag the deer in the water for a couple hundred yards then when I got him out gutted him there and dragged him to the field. That took me an hour. Great. Only half mile to go. Cutting this story short I ended up getting a ride from a Fish and Wildlife officer the rest of the way. Probably saving my life in the process.
I have been hunting this place for 5 years? Yes I am questioning myself on that one. So this is the first year I have hunted there that I still had a buck tag in my possession and the first year seeing a legal buck. Happy day for me. Great end to a long season. Gun is blued Savage ML-II wearing a lam thumbhole and Sightron Big Sky. Load was 43gr 4759 and a BO in a BCR.
