“A Run for My Money”
After having Thanksgiving dinner two days early; this left me with five days of nothing but hunting to do while in Southeastern Ohio. Thanks to the great landlords of my boyfriend’s I was able to obtain hunting permission for their 800 acres of private hunting ground. First thing Wednesday morning Houston, my boyfriend, and I headed out to a box stand. While sitting there we had a small buck walk out and I passed on him along with a few doe. That evening we went out again and sat in a stand on top of a ridge. We heard a buck walking the bottom. We tried to grunt him in; but he kept walking circles around us which ended our night.
Thanksgiving morning was a chilly morning. We did not go out that morning. We headed out late morning to start scouting a new spot down where we heard the buck the night before. However, we found many scrapes and rubs along the edge of a hay and corn field. So we decided to sit along a drive in that area. I just had to learn how to use a self-climber since there was no stands along there.
Once we got up to the cabin, we started right on in. We went out to a tree and Houston started showing me the proper way to climb up and down. We practiced for a good while, and I was able to pick right up on climbing up; the coming down part was the hardest part for me since I had trouble keeping my feet hooked.
After practicing in a self-climber stand, shooting my Barnett Jackal cross bow and eating lunch it was that time to go get in the stand. The day warmed up as the afternoon passed. So heading to the stand we weren’t dressed in heavy clothing and had face paint on instead of masks; this allowed it to be easier to carry the self-climber. Once we hit the drive and started searching for a tree to climb we realized that they all had too many branches to climb up. So we sat our self-climbers in some brush and headed out to the hay field to sit between two round bales. As many of you know hunting off the ground with no blind can be very difficult.
About 20 minutes into our hunt we started seeing movement come from the drive. The original drive we were planning to hunt. At this point my heart always starts beating a little faster. I do not care what type of deer walks out, I truly enjoy watching them in their normal habit. They are fascinating animals. Next thing we knew two yearling button bucks walked on out in front of us; about 20 yards. However, they were between the round bale and us so for a half hour we were unable to see them. They continued to eat out in the corn field heading to the low ground. On their way to the low ground a doe came out from the drive. It seemed as if it was their mom by the way they interacted. As they were heading down to the low ground; there were a few more doe that crossed the road to come over to the corn field to eat.
It’s about 4pm and we have 5 doe and 2 button bucks down in the low ground eating corn; which is about 150 yards away, when we heard two bucks fighting at the end of the drive. This is when my heart really starts pounding. Houston and I were unable to see them due to the fact that the angle of the round bale was blocking the view. So Houston slowly pulled the grunt call out of his pocket. I raised my bow to my chest and I could feel my heart beating up against my bow. He made a loud and long grunt call. We heard the two bucks stop fighting. Houston could see the buck coming right towards us. He motioned me that the buck was coming to the left side of the round bale and he said “This is the biggest buck I have ever seen.” My heart started beating even harder when Houston said this. But I was ready for him to walk out in front of me. The bale was blocking my entire view of the buck. The buck was about 25 yards away from us right behind the round bale blocking our view. So we just sat there waiting for him to make the next move.
The first time I saw the buck was when he was angling down to the low ground where all the doe were at. I motioned to Houston that he was in view. Then Houston made a grunt and the buck stopped. He range found him at 50 yards and I aimed six inches above his back and let my arrow fly. Once we heard the loud smack, we knew my arrow connected with the buck. The buck took off back near the drive where he came from. We could tell by the way he was running it was a good hit. Houston looked at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen and gave me a hug; even though we were both shaking at this point knowing that I connected with one of the largest deer we have seen while hunting. It was a huge relief knowing I connected with him, but then my nerves started to really kick in knowing that we had to still track him down. We stayed sitting for another 20-30 minutes just waiting; then we went to the top of the ridge to head back to the cabin to grab some flash lights and to let some more time pass until we went to start tracking him.
It was completely dark when we went back out to start tracking this big guy down. He started in the field where he was to first find my arrow. There was no luck at that, but we did start on a blood trail. So we tracked the trail right through the drive and across into the start of a late night track thru the woods. The blood trail was not the greatest, but not terrible to back off for the night just yet. We tracked until we could not find any more blood. We were in amazement because we had a good trail than it just stopped. We were laying on the ground in search for the littlest sign of blood when we found he turned and went off the path thru some heavy brush. We followed along and found disappointing signs that it was time to back off and let him sit for the night. So Houston and I headed back to the house for the night; got all our gear together ready to head out first thing in the morning.
At the first sight of sunlight Houston, the landlord and I headed out in hopes of finding my buck. We started where we last found signs of him. This buck took his toll on us; making odd turns and not following the heavy trails from other deer. He had his own path in mind and of course the blood trail was not heavy at all; but we were not giving up. At many points thru the morning of tracking we were only down to pin drops of blood. He went down into a ravine and found blood on the other side at the top which is very uncommon for a hit deer to be able to do. At the top though we found promising signs that we would find him soon. Right when we were beginning to feel lucky the blood stopped and we searched a 25 yard radius for an hour. We had giving up and Houston was going to walk the top of the ridge and the landlord and I were going to head down to the bottom.
Just as the landlord and I was getting to the steep of the hill; Houston hollered over to us saying he was back on blood. So we started heading that way and all at once Houston jumped up and hollered that he found my buck. I was carrying my bow and a back pack full of supplies, so I was a little slow at moving over that way. The landlord took off running to see the buck and Houston came and picked me up saying he was so proud of me. Then the landlord came and gave me a huge hug; I have yet to see the deer I harvested at this point. But as I walked over to him. I was in pure shock and amazement. He was by far one of the biggest deer I have ever seen.
I started hunting when I was in 10th grade; Houston took me on my first trip and I harvested a button buck that year. Since then I have not had much luck hunting until now. I would go out and sit even by myself through all these years and not even see a single deer. I guess it was the love of the sport to keep me going. This year hunting in Southeastern Ohio, I have passed on many yearlings, small bucks and many doe. I have learned a lot about controlling the deer population. I also have found enjoyment of just sitting in the stand watching deer in their own environment. I am hoping to make Ohio Big Buck. This will probably be the largest buck I harvest, but knowing the successful feeling after something like this will keep me hunting for the rest of my life. All the emotions that has gone into harvesting a large buck like this is something that will last me.
After having Thanksgiving dinner two days early; this left me with five days of nothing but hunting to do while in Southeastern Ohio. Thanks to the great landlords of my boyfriend’s I was able to obtain hunting permission for their 800 acres of private hunting ground. First thing Wednesday morning Houston, my boyfriend, and I headed out to a box stand. While sitting there we had a small buck walk out and I passed on him along with a few doe. That evening we went out again and sat in a stand on top of a ridge. We heard a buck walking the bottom. We tried to grunt him in; but he kept walking circles around us which ended our night.
Thanksgiving morning was a chilly morning. We did not go out that morning. We headed out late morning to start scouting a new spot down where we heard the buck the night before. However, we found many scrapes and rubs along the edge of a hay and corn field. So we decided to sit along a drive in that area. I just had to learn how to use a self-climber since there was no stands along there.
Once we got up to the cabin, we started right on in. We went out to a tree and Houston started showing me the proper way to climb up and down. We practiced for a good while, and I was able to pick right up on climbing up; the coming down part was the hardest part for me since I had trouble keeping my feet hooked.
After practicing in a self-climber stand, shooting my Barnett Jackal cross bow and eating lunch it was that time to go get in the stand. The day warmed up as the afternoon passed. So heading to the stand we weren’t dressed in heavy clothing and had face paint on instead of masks; this allowed it to be easier to carry the self-climber. Once we hit the drive and started searching for a tree to climb we realized that they all had too many branches to climb up. So we sat our self-climbers in some brush and headed out to the hay field to sit between two round bales. As many of you know hunting off the ground with no blind can be very difficult.
About 20 minutes into our hunt we started seeing movement come from the drive. The original drive we were planning to hunt. At this point my heart always starts beating a little faster. I do not care what type of deer walks out, I truly enjoy watching them in their normal habit. They are fascinating animals. Next thing we knew two yearling button bucks walked on out in front of us; about 20 yards. However, they were between the round bale and us so for a half hour we were unable to see them. They continued to eat out in the corn field heading to the low ground. On their way to the low ground a doe came out from the drive. It seemed as if it was their mom by the way they interacted. As they were heading down to the low ground; there were a few more doe that crossed the road to come over to the corn field to eat.
It’s about 4pm and we have 5 doe and 2 button bucks down in the low ground eating corn; which is about 150 yards away, when we heard two bucks fighting at the end of the drive. This is when my heart really starts pounding. Houston and I were unable to see them due to the fact that the angle of the round bale was blocking the view. So Houston slowly pulled the grunt call out of his pocket. I raised my bow to my chest and I could feel my heart beating up against my bow. He made a loud and long grunt call. We heard the two bucks stop fighting. Houston could see the buck coming right towards us. He motioned me that the buck was coming to the left side of the round bale and he said “This is the biggest buck I have ever seen.” My heart started beating even harder when Houston said this. But I was ready for him to walk out in front of me. The bale was blocking my entire view of the buck. The buck was about 25 yards away from us right behind the round bale blocking our view. So we just sat there waiting for him to make the next move.
The first time I saw the buck was when he was angling down to the low ground where all the doe were at. I motioned to Houston that he was in view. Then Houston made a grunt and the buck stopped. He range found him at 50 yards and I aimed six inches above his back and let my arrow fly. Once we heard the loud smack, we knew my arrow connected with the buck. The buck took off back near the drive where he came from. We could tell by the way he was running it was a good hit. Houston looked at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen and gave me a hug; even though we were both shaking at this point knowing that I connected with one of the largest deer we have seen while hunting. It was a huge relief knowing I connected with him, but then my nerves started to really kick in knowing that we had to still track him down. We stayed sitting for another 20-30 minutes just waiting; then we went to the top of the ridge to head back to the cabin to grab some flash lights and to let some more time pass until we went to start tracking him.
It was completely dark when we went back out to start tracking this big guy down. He started in the field where he was to first find my arrow. There was no luck at that, but we did start on a blood trail. So we tracked the trail right through the drive and across into the start of a late night track thru the woods. The blood trail was not the greatest, but not terrible to back off for the night just yet. We tracked until we could not find any more blood. We were in amazement because we had a good trail than it just stopped. We were laying on the ground in search for the littlest sign of blood when we found he turned and went off the path thru some heavy brush. We followed along and found disappointing signs that it was time to back off and let him sit for the night. So Houston and I headed back to the house for the night; got all our gear together ready to head out first thing in the morning.
At the first sight of sunlight Houston, the landlord and I headed out in hopes of finding my buck. We started where we last found signs of him. This buck took his toll on us; making odd turns and not following the heavy trails from other deer. He had his own path in mind and of course the blood trail was not heavy at all; but we were not giving up. At many points thru the morning of tracking we were only down to pin drops of blood. He went down into a ravine and found blood on the other side at the top which is very uncommon for a hit deer to be able to do. At the top though we found promising signs that we would find him soon. Right when we were beginning to feel lucky the blood stopped and we searched a 25 yard radius for an hour. We had giving up and Houston was going to walk the top of the ridge and the landlord and I were going to head down to the bottom.
Just as the landlord and I was getting to the steep of the hill; Houston hollered over to us saying he was back on blood. So we started heading that way and all at once Houston jumped up and hollered that he found my buck. I was carrying my bow and a back pack full of supplies, so I was a little slow at moving over that way. The landlord took off running to see the buck and Houston came and picked me up saying he was so proud of me. Then the landlord came and gave me a huge hug; I have yet to see the deer I harvested at this point. But as I walked over to him. I was in pure shock and amazement. He was by far one of the biggest deer I have ever seen.
I started hunting when I was in 10th grade; Houston took me on my first trip and I harvested a button buck that year. Since then I have not had much luck hunting until now. I would go out and sit even by myself through all these years and not even see a single deer. I guess it was the love of the sport to keep me going. This year hunting in Southeastern Ohio, I have passed on many yearlings, small bucks and many doe. I have learned a lot about controlling the deer population. I also have found enjoyment of just sitting in the stand watching deer in their own environment. I am hoping to make Ohio Big Buck. This will probably be the largest buck I harvest, but knowing the successful feeling after something like this will keep me hunting for the rest of my life. All the emotions that has gone into harvesting a large buck like this is something that will last me.