Well I had my best hunt of the season so far last night. Got off work and headed home as quickly as possible to pick up my Fiance Kayla and hit the woods. We got dressed and already had everything packed up ready to go and set out for our spot. On the way in we saw a small 5 point that jumped up and trotted out and dropped in the hollow we were going to hunt. Kayla got so excited about it, she said, "Oh man!!! I wish i would have been ready i could have shot him!!" She was so pumped up now and ready to see what the rest of the evening had in store for us.
We snuck into our spot and popped our blind up in between two deadfalls where it fit in perfectly hidden and got all settled in. We got in and settled in at about 6:05 and i knew we had one good hour left of daylight but things could happen fast and any time. About 6:20 i asked her if she wanted me to grunt a few times to try and call that small buck in to us and she said YES!! So i did a lond four grunt sequence and we waited. We had been hearing deer walking around in the hollow since we got there so i figured something would show up, we were really in there just hoping for a doe for her to kill with her new bow.
At 6:30 i looked at my phone to see the time then sat up to look out the window next to me out the flat to my left and there he was staring right in our direction looking for the buck that had been grunting 10 minutes ago. I sat back and looked at her with my eyes as big as baseballs and said "DONT MOVE!!! THERE IS A BIG BIG BUCK RIGHT HERE!!!" She started kinda laughing at me and trying to look, she didnt believe me. I said "Kayla, please do not move!! This buck is big and hes standing right here next to the blind!!" This big buck had snuck in on us quiet as could be and was standing staring at us at 18 yards. Talk about intense!! Eye level with a big buck, it was pretty awesome!!
So the buck continues to stand there and stare. Finally he took 4 steps down the hill and was in the window where Kayla could finally see him. When she laid eyes on him here eyes got as big as saucers and she started shaking, GOOD OL BUCK FEVER!! She said "Oh my gosh Zach, hes huge! I dont think i can do it!" My bow was in the floor and i couldnt get to it. I did my best to try and calm her down so she could attempt the shot. The buck was giving us fits, he stood there motionless for 25 minutes and finally turned perfectly broadside as he turned to leave. I quickly got on him with the camera and got a very little bit of footage that i could without being seen then told Kayla "ok nows your chance hes looking away, draw on him and shoot him!" She came to full draw perfectly and said "I cant do it Zach, there are just too many sticks in my way" And there were, it would have been a tough shot for anyone. He finally walked off and she let her bow down.
We sat there for a minute talking about what had just happen. The smile on her face said all that needed to be said! She just couldnt believe that just happened to us and we almost had a huge buck! I was so proud of her for not forcing a shot on a buck like that! Alot of people would have tried it and ended up really spooking him or worse yet wounding him. She knew she couldnt and knew he wasnt spooked so we let him walk off to hunt him again another day. It was truly an amazing hunt and a memory we will never forget!!
Below is a still image from the video of the buck and the short video clip that i had of him. Honestly the pics dont do this deer justice at all, his body was big as a cow and his neck already super swollen up! His body was so big it actually made his rack look smaller than it was. hope you enjoy, sorry for the long read but im still pumped about it.
http://youtu.be/Og00TdQz-w0
