Checklists make hunting easier, right? Coffee – ✓. Breakfast – ✓. Camo and Bow – ✓.
After fist bumps at the trailhead, Aaron started his mile-long jaunt and I walked to the same tree I set up near the evening before. Get settled – ✓. Wait – ✓. Wait some more – ✓. I knew where the deer would be coming from and I wanted to wait until after dawn to get my treestand set. The last item on the list: Shoot a mature buck.
Day 2: November, 3, 2021
The sunrise was beautiful and temperatures neared 40 degrees by 7:30 AM. Instead of looking where I saw the doe the prior evening, I focused on the trail the buck walked. It didn’t take long to spot movement along the horizon as a simple ear twitch caught my eye. One thing you learn from spot-n-stalk hunting in California is to sit (or stand) as still as possible as the deer are also looking for movement. The ear twitch had my attention. Shortly after, a doe walked directly toward me from about 150 yards away. Followed by second doe, then a third, the doe kept looking back and I anticipated a buck in tow. Sure enough, a small 4-point was hot on their trail. Not a shooter, but a promising sight nonetheless.
Before long, the does were 20 yards on the opposite side of the tree giving me the stinkeye and stomping, as does will do. They were also directly downwind of me. Tim had shared his Upwind scent killer spray with me and I’ve seen him kill big bucks while using it, so I gave it a shot. I sprayed down earlier and it payed off because the does couldn’t figure out what I was. I was holding back my laughter as they moved closer and circled, desperately trying to smell me out. The smallest doe had a large, distinctive white diamond on her forehead. She was also the most curious, and annoying because she kept stomping and creeping closer. Like the previous evening, the does tripped me up and made me lose focus on the bigger prize! I turned back to my “spot” there he was, as predicted! A beautiful 8-point buck walked the very same trail as the 10-point from the previous evening! He quickly spotted me, bolted, and circled around me. He stopped 40 yards behind the trees, but I knew he was a shooter.
Bow in hand, I weighed my options and saw one opening in the woods that gave me a comfortable 45 yard shot. Two minutes later, he trotted and jumped right through the opening and vanished. That’s when I decided hanging my stand could not wait another minute.
Opportunity Sits 20 Feet Up a Tree
Halfway up the tree, before I could get my stand hung, I spotted a deer looking right at me from 50 yards away. Closer inspection revealed a young, curious buck with potential. I wanted to try to get some video, but my camera was in my Badlands Pursuit pack, on the ground. I decided to go for it and climbed down the ladder, adjusting my safety harness along the way. The point is, I didn’t try to hide my movement. The buck simply stood there wondering how such a fat squirrel climbed up that tree. I got my camera out, attempted to focus and he calmly walked into the brush where he disappeared.
The rest of the afternoon was slow, with minimal deer movement.
Day 3: November 4, 2021 – Nap Time for a Mature Buck
A short time after I settled into my stand for the morning watch, my phone buzzed with a group text from Aaron. Buck down! Tim and I were thrilled for him! Aaron said he would recover the buck and had us stay put. I figured I would hunt for a while and then go help him with the recovery and get some photos. No deer made appearances near my stand, so I informed the guys I would drive Aaron’s truck to his location to give him a hand.
The look on Aaron’s face was pure joy! He told me how he had settled into his Latitude Outdoors tree saddle, hit a doe bleat four times and thirty seconds later grunted once. The buck came crashing in to investigate and stopped at only 10 yards from the tree! It happened so fast, Aaron hadn’t even turned his cameras on! One well-placed arrow and the buck took off and crashed through the brush! The buck ran 70 yards, right into a very steep cut leading to a river. This was where Aaron showed perseverance and incredible toughness, mentally and physically. Now remember, Aaron is an amputee and the ground was very soft from a previous rainstorm. The deer was down a steep embankment and he had to somehow get it up to the top. Also, this buck was not small. Down the embankment he went, gutted the buck and then hauled it up one steep step at a time by grabbing saplings for leverage. Once to the top , he hiked out to meet me. Like I said, he’s tough.
Ever hear of a Shappell Jet Sled? I’ve used many methods of dragging and hauling out deer, but never a Jet Sled. Aaron had brought one specifically for hauling a deer and it worked like a charm. We walked across two corn fields and into the woods to his deer, loaded him up and then Aaron busted out the cape and tights. Alright, he didn’t break out a superhero outfit, but he did show incredible strength and determination. He refused any help from me and dragged the deer over 400 yards through hardwoods and cut corn fields, crossed two drainage ditches, and hardly stopped for a breath. He’s an animal!
Back at the truck, we took more photos and loaded the 9-point buck into Aaron’s truck. The excitement was shared all the way back to hunt camp. Once at camp, we unloaded his deer, ate some food and planned to get right out to the woods as soon as we could.
All four hunters saw deer during the evening watch. While bucks made appearances, no mature bucks came into bow range. Over dinner, we made our plans for the morning hunt and discussed our adventures that day. Bucks had started chasing does and it looked like our luck was about to improve. Day 3 would throw a wrench in those plans and we would get most of it on film.
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