oh soooo close

[mxsmitz201]

just really excited right now wanted to share my success.... kinda.  no one in my family hunts so they wouldnt be able to understand, you guys are all i got!!

anyway i made a ground blind on the edge of a field along a small woodlot surrounded by fields for the most part.  nothin was happenin at all and at about 4:55 i see a spec on the horizon out in front of me. i got my binos out and sure enough it was a deer.  had no clue what it was if it was a buck or not, even with 7x45 binos i could not make out if it had a rack this is how far away he was. so not givin a shit at this point i rattled. waited for the sound to carry, and BAM. this deer perks up and immediately started trottin zig zagging right in my direction. as he got closer it was apparant to me he was a pretty decent buck.

i kept rattling to keep his attention and the more i rattled the faster he came. this was my first time rattling ever and was lovin the results.  he dove into some woods that L'd out into the field i was watching and next thing i know hes right in front of me 150 yds away on the opposing woodline.  he continued to follow the edge of the woodline which slightly got closer to my positoin.  being afraid of him losing interest and diving into the wooded ravine, i grunted. BINGOOOO. this guy turns right at me and slowly made his way towards me.

im thinkin if he gets any closer hes gonna see me draw.  so i txt my friend at 5:05 that "i got a buck comin g2g" and drew my bow with him roughly 70 yds away.  after about 3 cycles of takin a handful of steps and stoppin and lookin he turned broadside and im thinkin i should shoot i should shoot. but bein on the edge of the field like that and losin light fast i couldnt judge distance and judged him at 50 yds or so i thought.  still at full draw and beginning to shake rapidly to the point where it looked like i was sitting on a jackhammer, waiting for him to turn or do something, he finally turned his head and i let my bow down. time is now 5:14 as i immediately made another txt lol. but at this point it was too dark to shoot.  thankfully wind was in my favor, he didnt see me and turned around and slowly made his way back to the woodline grazing every now and then...... and waiting for me in the morning!!

to my complete utter disappointment i paced his last position broadside at 37yds i was kickin myself for that. I just knewwwww i shoulda put markers out, but no to lazy. BUT....

when i got home i got on google earth, and to my complete surprise when i first saw him on the horizon he was at 550 yds. now i feel pretty damn proud that 1) i was able to rattle a deer (a mature one) at a distance such as that, and to bring him in that close. 2) on a personal note i was able to hold my bow at full draw for 9 mins. 3) to me the most important, I didnt spook him!

...and more about the deer, his rack came out to his nose and i estimated his inside spread to be 17-18 inches as the rack was well outside the ears when he was alert. tines were tall as well, 10-12 inches. i remember thinking when he was broadside that if i shoot i hope he dont go far cuz hes gonna be a pain in the ass to drag out, he was rather quite large haha

thats my story. to some this may be an everyday hunt, but for this guy.... ive only been hunting 2 yrs (this being my second) and only ever see 1.5 yr old bucks from time to time, so to see a deer like that and get him within bow range was out of this world for me. makes me wanna call jeff foxworthy and all the boys at tecomate and give them a jim cramer BOOOO YAAAAAAAA hahaha

[Contender]

That's what it's all about...Hope you see him again and get a shot..

Good luck.

[SweetMike]

great story... those are the experiences that keep you going back. thats for sure... good luck.

[fasteddie]

Great story . I enjoyed the read .

[Paulie]

Great read!!! You must be a beast to hold that bow back for 9 mins.....damn!!

[burmjohn]

Great story