Got pics of this deer while still in velvet, before his neck swelled.
sent pics to my brother in law saying he is a shooter and A target buck. Early fall he was hitting a feeder regularly but every pic I got of him was nocturnal.
i patterned him in an area we call “the oil site”. An old well pad on the edge of an open Bermuda flat to the east with a heavy cedar area to the north, west and south. We have certain areas on our ranch we purposely stay out of late summer and into winter to leave as safe haven bedding areas free of human scent. Over the years I have observed mature bucks use these places as regular bedding spots. A couple hundred yards back into the cedars there is a pinch point between 2 sand ridges, there is an old fence I lowered the wire and the deer have a trail where they cross right there. Different deer but their patterns have remained consistent over the years, I have taken several deer crossing thru here. I had one encounter of him with my bow but all I had was a frontal shot, he sensed something was not right and checked up before he crossed the fence, turned around and disappeared into the cedars.
a couple weeks passed with back to back non-productive hunts with no encounters with a mature shooter. Youth season rolled around so I took my girlfriends son out and we sat over a feeder to blast the first buck that comes by him, lol
while the deer were still in feed patterns and running in bachelor groups, I would get pics of my target buck with this deer that is blind in one eye;
another week rolled by and muzzleloader season opened. I was in the stand on the pinch point when the one eyed buck came through and crossed the fence, seeing him on the hoof he looked bigger than he did in his pictures. I had no doubt which deer he was, a main frame 8 with a kicker off his G2. I made a decision I was not going to shoot him when I got pictures of him but after all the hours I spent empty handed in the stand I was questioning that decision. i am glad I did not shoot for the one eyed buck just got out of site and following behind came my target buck. He stopped in about the same area I had the last encounter, was quartering too, stopped and looked behind him as if something else was following. I went ahead and took the shot, he took off into the cedars and I heard him crash. A waited several minutes then got down to look for blood. There was a small blood trail but I just zig zagged through the brush toward the direction I heard him catch and walked up on him 30 or 40 yards from where I shot him.
I had a couple other shooter bucks show up on camera but none were consistent with any pattern. But one morning I did get daylight pictures of one on camera I knew was a shooter;
This tall buck disappeared and I never got pics of him again, by the time rifle season rolled around I figured someone else already got him or he was a couple miles down the river chasing does. Opening weekend of rifle season rolled around, so I took my girlfriend’s son out again. This would be the 3rd deer he has ever shot so I told to hold out for at least an 8 point or better, that afternoon he decided this one was good enough;
My dad, the one who used to lift me up and put me in trees before I was big enough to shoulder a rifle, took this one a little later.
after they got their deer I decided to hunt hard to fill my last buck tag. Deer season comes but once a year and I find it therapeutic just being out there alone, away from people. In real life I get anxiety being around crowds for to long. Out at the ranch with my dogs is where I thought I should be, I am not hunting for antler size, I am hunting for an old deer and as soon as I shoot one, that’s it my hunt is over for the year. I got what I wished for, back to back days of zero sightings of a mature deer. I was getting worn down from the rut.
Last night right after sunset I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. it was a doe running who stopped and looked behind her like something was following her. Next I saw a big bodied deer with a tall rack passing between the cedars trailing her. he stepped into an opening and I was almost certain it was the tall one I had pictures of earlier in the year. He was approximately 130 ish yards out and it was getting dark, I did not have much time to make a decision, I meeped to stop him and then took the shot. My 2023 deer season is now done.
God willing, next year I will find myself sitting over that spot in the fence line with the lowered wire. Rested and ready to do it again. Hopefully the one eyed buck survives the season and we have the chance to meet again…
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