Season has been open here in Alabama for a week now. I have been fortunate enough to be in the woods morning or afternoon four of the seven days. My hunt started Saturday afternoon and the conditions were pretty unfavorable with highs in the 80's and the winds blowing until late afternoon.
I picked out a gum tree on the edge of a pasture and a stand of hardwoods, and climbed about 35 feet up. I had seen four racked bucks in the area last weekend, but none appeared to be shooters. I settled in and saw a doe or two early on, but activity was pretty slow. Around 6PM the winds died down and shortly I have a young 8 point feeding under my stand. Soon another deer showed up, and I could tell he was bigger, and possibly worth shooting. Another buck probably a small 8pt also showed up and added to the excitement.
At this point I was just trying to calm myself down and get a good look at the larger buck. I picked a hole in the branches and drew when the deer showed broadside. As soon as I drew one the other two deer started to fight, and they all moved about 20 yards in a matter of seconds. I held drawn for what seemed like several minutes(probably seconds), and then decided to ease my arrow down and wait for another shot. Shortly after I came out of draw the buck I had my eye on locked up with one of the others and started fighting. Perfect opportunity! I drew again and shot through about a 4 foot hole, and heard the classic thwaaaack!
The other buck just stood calmly as the one I had just shot ran and stopped at about 15 yards. The buck that was involved in the fight kept smelling something on the ground that I couldn't make out(by now its pretty dark), but I figured it was the arrow that had passed though. I sat still with another arrow knocked and watched the other two bucks pass under my stand and move on through the woods. I recovered the deer just fifteen yards from where the arrow was stuck in the ground. He has a nice 5 points on one side, and the other side is a main beam with a bunch of small points at the bottom. There are 4 points about an inch long at the bottom of the single beam.
Heres the pictures. Very young deer, but a good example of culling unfavorable characteristics.
I picked out a gum tree on the edge of a pasture and a stand of hardwoods, and climbed about 35 feet up. I had seen four racked bucks in the area last weekend, but none appeared to be shooters. I settled in and saw a doe or two early on, but activity was pretty slow. Around 6PM the winds died down and shortly I have a young 8 point feeding under my stand. Soon another deer showed up, and I could tell he was bigger, and possibly worth shooting. Another buck probably a small 8pt also showed up and added to the excitement.
At this point I was just trying to calm myself down and get a good look at the larger buck. I picked a hole in the branches and drew when the deer showed broadside. As soon as I drew one the other two deer started to fight, and they all moved about 20 yards in a matter of seconds. I held drawn for what seemed like several minutes(probably seconds), and then decided to ease my arrow down and wait for another shot. Shortly after I came out of draw the buck I had my eye on locked up with one of the others and started fighting. Perfect opportunity! I drew again and shot through about a 4 foot hole, and heard the classic thwaaaack!
The other buck just stood calmly as the one I had just shot ran and stopped at about 15 yards. The buck that was involved in the fight kept smelling something on the ground that I couldn't make out(by now its pretty dark), but I figured it was the arrow that had passed though. I sat still with another arrow knocked and watched the other two bucks pass under my stand and move on through the woods. I recovered the deer just fifteen yards from where the arrow was stuck in the ground. He has a nice 5 points on one side, and the other side is a main beam with a bunch of small points at the bottom. There are 4 points about an inch long at the bottom of the single beam.
Heres the pictures. Very young deer, but a good example of culling unfavorable characteristics.
