Badseed
WKR
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2020
- Messages
- 471
The last few deer seasons have been a rough series of events. One year I saw the biggest buck I ever seen on my trail camera twice, but I was never able to catch him in person. Last season I learned some hard lessons during archery season where I ultimately wounded a buck but was able to recover him, Im hoping he is still alive. This year was going to be different.
This year my sons wanted to come out with me. Archery hunting in California is a difficult task when you are alone without the extra attention of two young boys so I decided to focus our efforts on the rifle season. Fortunately, this deer season has some great weather, mild temps and a few scattered showers started off the season. My sons and I spent some quality time in the mountains but weren’t able to locate a buck worthy of going after. The past winter here was impressively wet and the summer was mild so there was food and water everywhere which messed up the normal patterns of the bucks. Most deer I know of that were taken in our area were at lower elevations, sub 5,000ft. After a few school ditch days for my kids, we decided to hunt closer to home.
Unfortunately, all the buck activity we were seeing was after dark. During hunting hours we only would see does, a few forkies and some spikes. Nothing really worth the effort to kill. On our way home one night we spotted a few nice bucks. There was a small fork, a super tall 3x and two other bucks that bounced off into the dark before we could tell what they were. Finally something we could look forward to going after.
A few days past before we could go out again and luckily we spotted the bucks again. After a quick glance in my scope I spotted a nice tall deep fork with a big body. The bucks were walking with a purpose to cover the open gap between some thick brush and trees. My son had the rangefinder and I was already setup with my rifle so I asked him for the distance. He says 284yards. I verify, 284 yds? He responds, wait, 367 yards. I respond what? He calls out 290 yards, all while the buck are moving. I adjust the scope assuming 290 ish yards. Boom!
I see a puff of dust kick up behind the buck as they all run away. The shot felt great, steady hold, on target, should have been perfect. We waited about 15 minutes and started walking over to look for blood. I kept replaying the shot in my mind and didn’t recall seeing the buck jump as you expect with a double lung shot. Once we got to where the buck was walking when I shot, we couldn’t locate any blood. Nothing. Thats odd, this should have been an easy shot. After scratching my head I finally take the binos from my son and range back to where I shot from, hmm 384 yards. My guess is that my son was catching a small knob just below the bucks but about 100 yards closer. Ugg, my heart sank.
That night we talked about what happened and thought about all the what ifs. What if we got a second chance?
Two weeks pass and the last Friday before the season ends the boys want to have ditch day to go hunting. Awesome! Lets go! We get out early and in position before light. About five minutes after getting setup, one son spots a few dark bodies off in the distance but they disappear behind a knoll. About 15 minutes later, my other son spots the tall fork about 500 yards out behind some bushes. We watched the tall fork slowly walk throw the broken brush diagonally towards us. I started to pre range some landmarks to make sure I knew the distances if I got a shot opportunity. Finally the buck is forced to cross an open field about 330 yards aways. Once again, he starts to walk quickly as he approaches the open grass. Boom! I take a shot and instantly see the back legs kick. Yes! I tell the boys I got him! The buck runs behind a knoll out of sight but I knew he was done this time.
After a while, we walk out to find him on the ground. It was a sigh of relief after the first encounter. Its not often to get a second chance on a buck but it was very rewarding experience for me and my boys. Looking forward to next year.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This year my sons wanted to come out with me. Archery hunting in California is a difficult task when you are alone without the extra attention of two young boys so I decided to focus our efforts on the rifle season. Fortunately, this deer season has some great weather, mild temps and a few scattered showers started off the season. My sons and I spent some quality time in the mountains but weren’t able to locate a buck worthy of going after. The past winter here was impressively wet and the summer was mild so there was food and water everywhere which messed up the normal patterns of the bucks. Most deer I know of that were taken in our area were at lower elevations, sub 5,000ft. After a few school ditch days for my kids, we decided to hunt closer to home.
Unfortunately, all the buck activity we were seeing was after dark. During hunting hours we only would see does, a few forkies and some spikes. Nothing really worth the effort to kill. On our way home one night we spotted a few nice bucks. There was a small fork, a super tall 3x and two other bucks that bounced off into the dark before we could tell what they were. Finally something we could look forward to going after.
A few days past before we could go out again and luckily we spotted the bucks again. After a quick glance in my scope I spotted a nice tall deep fork with a big body. The bucks were walking with a purpose to cover the open gap between some thick brush and trees. My son had the rangefinder and I was already setup with my rifle so I asked him for the distance. He says 284yards. I verify, 284 yds? He responds, wait, 367 yards. I respond what? He calls out 290 yards, all while the buck are moving. I adjust the scope assuming 290 ish yards. Boom!
I see a puff of dust kick up behind the buck as they all run away. The shot felt great, steady hold, on target, should have been perfect. We waited about 15 minutes and started walking over to look for blood. I kept replaying the shot in my mind and didn’t recall seeing the buck jump as you expect with a double lung shot. Once we got to where the buck was walking when I shot, we couldn’t locate any blood. Nothing. Thats odd, this should have been an easy shot. After scratching my head I finally take the binos from my son and range back to where I shot from, hmm 384 yards. My guess is that my son was catching a small knob just below the bucks but about 100 yards closer. Ugg, my heart sank.
That night we talked about what happened and thought about all the what ifs. What if we got a second chance?
Two weeks pass and the last Friday before the season ends the boys want to have ditch day to go hunting. Awesome! Lets go! We get out early and in position before light. About five minutes after getting setup, one son spots a few dark bodies off in the distance but they disappear behind a knoll. About 15 minutes later, my other son spots the tall fork about 500 yards out behind some bushes. We watched the tall fork slowly walk throw the broken brush diagonally towards us. I started to pre range some landmarks to make sure I knew the distances if I got a shot opportunity. Finally the buck is forced to cross an open field about 330 yards aways. Once again, he starts to walk quickly as he approaches the open grass. Boom! I take a shot and instantly see the back legs kick. Yes! I tell the boys I got him! The buck runs behind a knoll out of sight but I knew he was done this time.
After a while, we walk out to find him on the ground. It was a sigh of relief after the first encounter. Its not often to get a second chance on a buck but it was very rewarding experience for me and my boys. Looking forward to next year.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
