Who needs a gun!

Well my season sure had started out slow. With work and home projects, I was only able to get out in the woods twice to hunt prior to our trip to Illinois in late October. Although we had a great time in Illinois, I left a little disappointed with the results. I had a solid 130-140 inch 8 point at 12 yards and was not able to seal the deal. Although I managed to land an arrow in him we were unable to make a recovery. Needless to say I was anxious to redeem myself and get back to hunt one of my favorite spots in Maryland. On the Friday before the opening day of gun season Mike and I hunted this farm and had a close encounter with a mature 8 point tending a doe at 70 yards. Later that day, Don and I returned to the same stand and watched the same buck in another field running a doe. Throughout the whole day we saw close to ten different bucks out cruising and watched one buck breed a doe about 150 yards from the stand. We new this farm was on fire and we had to get back in to hunt it. After filming Mike at one of his spots on opening day we decided to get back in this stand to try our luck again the following day. This stand is set on the inside corner of a pasture right up against the wood line. There is a section of fence that is missing that is exactly 30 yards from the stand where the deer love to cross. For this reason I decided to take my bow along with me too so that given the opportunity I could redeem myself. At around 7am I looked across the pasture and caught a glimpse of a deer walking up the fence row about 200 yards away. I pulled the binoculars up and saw that it was a mature buck and he was heading the opposite way from our stand. I looked down for my grunt call but it was buried in the bottom of my bag. I told Mike, quick hit your grunt call. With the first crack of his grunt call I realized why Don had named it the "fog horn". The buck stopped, looked our direction and then kept heading away towards the road. We did this three more times along with some doe bleats and each time the buck would stop and look then keep walking. Once the buck reached the top of the hill I said " hit it one more time". This time the buck stopped looked our direction and decided that he had enough. He turned and started heading on a B-line straight at us. As he closed the gap and i got a better look at the deer I confirmed that he was definitely a mature 7 pointer. Although I had the old Thompson Center in the tree with me, I decided that I would only take this deer with my bow if he came within range. After the long trek across the pasture, the buck jumped the fence and came down in to the woods looking for the action. He turned and crossed under the fence 30 yards from the stand. I drew the bow, looked back and got the nod from Mike that he was on him then stopped him at 28 yards broad side. The rest is history, the double lung shot made for a short tracking job to the 200lb+ deer. The deer did not have the biggest rack in the woods but was definitely a good management deer to take off the farm and keep up with or QDMA efforts. I'd like to thank Mike for his great calling and filming that day and helping me drag the "slundger" up out of the woods.

I got another bow kill for Abnaki Outdoors season 3

I got a chance to get out one more time before gun season and Mikey was gracious enough to invite me to one of his spots. He said that we should go back to the stand that he had shot a 10 point a week ago. He saw some good rut activity when he was on that property and the landowner had been seeing a good 8 point almost daily. Not having any properties to gun hunt I jumped on the oppurtunity to get one more crack at them with my bow. Mike said he would run the camera and to meet him at his house at 5:30.
I get to his house on time for once and we headed down the road. I have filmed him at this spot a few times and everytime in we usually run deer out so I was surprised, and a little concerned, when there was nothing in there this morning. We usually don't like running deer off when going to and from stands but this spot is right behind a barn and the deer are used to alot of human traffic and don't seem to mind it much. After getting set up and all settled in I asked Mike what has his trail cameras been getting and he tells me that he just pulled the one under the stand the night before and the deer activity is now kind of sporadic. Not bumping any deer on the way in and the trail camera news had me a little pesimistic about seeing any deer.
We didn't see the first deer until a half hour after sunrise and it was 4 does across the driveway and not looking like they were even thinking about coming our way. Then I caught a glimpse of a good buck working the woodline 100 yards from us heading away. I hit the grunt tube a couple times and threw a few bleats at him and he stops but eventually works his way off.
Over the next 2 hours we saw 2 more 1 1/2 old bucks and one bedded down 80 yards from us. Time seemed to be dragging so we decided to mess with the young buck to see if we could get him to come in. I grunted and bleated and he just stayed put. I had enough and was ready to leave but Mike wanted to see if he could get the buck to come in with his grunt tube, or should I say fog horn. Damn that thing was loud. All the buck did was just look our way. I turned around to start packing up and I noticed a deer trotting down the hill toward us. Then I see antlers gleaming in the sun. Looked like a good one for this area to me so I got my bow ready. Mike got the camera rolling on him and confirmed that it was a shooter. He came in looking for the source of the grunts and bleats. He got to a good shooting lane at 30 yards so I tried to stop him and he stops behind a small tree. A few steps later he had an arrow in him.
At the end of the best blood trail I have ever seen was a good 3 year old 8 and my second bow buck of the season. Not a giant but a good buck for the area and a 3 year old. Looks like I'm cameraman for the rest of bow season, minus a couple

1st time in equals success

The day started off with a lot of nervous energy as Don would call it. Don was suppose to meet me at my house at 515, needless to say he was late and around 525 I was blowing his phone up. I was so pumped up to get to the stand this morning I was pacing back and forth until I was able to get a hold of him. 530 finally came and I was jumping in his truck and we were off to one of our favorite stands we call the upper hill side set. The set sits on the top side of strip of woods that is only 80 yards wide and is situated between two major bedding areas, it is a perfect travel corridor. This set is perfect for any southerly wind or east wind, so with the winds out of the south we new we were golden for the morning hunt. With daylight approaching we finally were getting settled in our stands. Right off the bat there was a little chasing on the bottom side of hill but it was still to dark to see what they were. Then a few does worked there way from the top side of the hill towards the bottom about 75 yards away. I think at this time we looked at each other and new that it was going to be a good morning. This was the first time we had been in this set this year so we new the deer were not pressured at all. Over the past few years we have learned to stay off this hill side until we see some bucks chasing does. This patience was about the pay off and we had no clue. After the does worked away Don got my attention and there was more deer working towards us but this time they were in a cover crop field and about 100 yards away. The five deer single filed by us staying 100 yards out. Once the deer were out of sight I turned to Don and said "All we need is for a shooter to walk down this fence row scent checking this hill side and it will all be over with". At that time I was kind of joking thinking it would never happen that way because it would just be to easy. As soon as I said it I turned around and looked down the hill. Not 5 seconds later I turned back to Don and noticed a buck pick his head up only 40 yards out along the same fence I had mentioned just 15 seconds ago. I told Don "Shooter, shooter, shooter and I am not joking". At this time the deer had became a little alert, I don't know if he had heard me tell Don that he was there or if he just sensed something wasn't right. After a few nervous seconds the buck turned and crossed the fence. Knowing he was going to hit the ridge in the field and he would be out of range I decided to try and take him before he got there. He inched his way towards my opening and I asked Don if he was on him, not hearing him say yes I asked again. Once again not hearing him say yes or no, the buck finally hit my opening. Not being able to hear Don didn't have me worried at all. I knew he was on the buck because if wasn't he would have been saying NO loud enough for me to hear him. After hunting and filming together the past few years we have became confident enough in each others filming ability that at times in the heat of the moment we don't have to communicate. Sooner or later it will get us in trouble but it has been OK so far. As soon as he hit my opening I did the old mouth grunt and he threw his head up. Using an adjustable single pin I had already set it for where I thought he was going to walk which was 35 yards. I buried the pin right at his heart and squeezed the trigger off. Watching the Nockturnal lighted nock sail towards him I knew it was going to be close, then the buck started to drop. At the same time he dropped he had turned a little and I watched the Nockturnal nock disappear. The mature buck turned and jumped the fence and ran down the hill. Not hearing him crash I was a little worried but being able to see where the arrow had went in I thought it looked good. I did however have to ask Don just to make sure. After things settled down I ranged where he was standing to see if I was close because I knew he had dropped a little and I might have gotten lucky. When I hit the range finder it said 42 yards and I had the pin set for 35. I don't know if it was luck or I was just that good but I am banking on it being a lot of luck. Letting the buck set for about an hour we tracked him up. After a short track job we found him about 80 yards from the stand. He is a main frame 8 with an extra brow and a kicker coming off one of his brows. This is not a huge antlered buck but a big 4 1/2 year old and that is what we are after. All in all its a good buck and a great hunt as well as one of the fastest hunts I have ever been on. We were not on stand but 1 hr. and we got the job done. We are not sure at this time if we have any history with this buck, but will be going back and looking at trail photos and video to see if by any chance we do. I would like to give a big thanks to Don for being there this morning even after a long week at work.