In the fall of 2013 I did not bow hunt that much - it was only on my sixth outing…. The main reason was because I was working on my new crossbow, fine tuning it to my liking. I also went pronghorn hunting in Wyoming that year - both good reasons in my book.
The first three nights I went hunting right north of our
farmstead and I did not see one deer. I live in the country 7 miles away from
the nearest town in southeast North Dakota. So I called up my friend Kevin and
asked if I could hunt down on his place. He of course said, "Why haven't
you been down here already?" I have hunted on his place for years and have
always had good luck. They live right along the river and it is a deer's paradise.
So the first night down there I went and sat in a low tower
which is accessible and sits off the ground about 5 feet. I like to sit there
first to see what is moving because I can see every corner of the field. The
field that year was seeded into alfalfa. That first night I saw a lot of deer
and figured out where they were moving. The best part was that they were moving
in my favorite spot. I have shot two bucks there in the past. Kevin calls it
Clint's spot - I call it the tall pines because of the six or seven rows of
pines that run about 60 yards long. On one end the deer like to funnel through
from their bedding area to the feeding area. I like it because it is easy for
me to get into and I can pretty much sit somewhere in that bunch of pines
depending on the wind direction.
On November 1, the first day, I had quite a few deer within
40 yards but no shots. Had one big 4 x 4 within 10 yards of me but I was busted
by him before he got in front of me. He was smart, he knew something wasn't
right, circled around and winded me. I could not go out that Saturday and
Sunday so I had to think about how I screwed up on that 4 x 4 for two days.
But on that Monday, luck was on my side and everything came
together. I got into my spot around 3 PM. I actually scared out two deer while
getting out of the van. Around 4 PM the does started coming out of the bedding
area. There were about 10 of them when all of a sudden I heard grunting. Two
little bucks started chasing around the does. There were deer running
everywhere. The wind was perfect and they did not suspect me at all. I forgot
to mention, I also put up an absorbing scent wick and doused it with doe in
estrus made by Buck Bomb. I also put an earth dirt scent patch on my camouflage
burlap that I wrap around me. Evidently that stuff works. I also hooked up my
new A-Way grunt call that has a long tube so I can use it easily. So I started
grunting at the little bucks. I played with them quite a while. We were
grunting back and forth for at least a half-hour. But I could not get them to
walk in front of me.
All of a sudden another buck came. His antlers looked like a
pronghorn buck. He had bladed antlers that went straight up. I would've shot
him if he came in front of me. I actually got him within 30 yards but there
were some branches in the way so I did not take the shot. He circled all the
way around me and came into the trees where I was sitting - but somehow he did
not bust me. I also got to watch him make a scrape and a couple rubs. I had
witnessed that before but never so close. It was awesome. I think he was a
little twitterpated. After he got out of the trees I heard a big deep grunt. I
knew it was something big. All of a sudden the two little bucks stopped their
sparring and he walked right in between them. You could see their necks puff up
and they sized each other up. After watching them for a little bit, they were
only 15 yards away, I gave a couple soft grunts and the big guy came walking
perfectly towards my scent wick. All I could see was he was four points on one side
and could see a bunch of junk on the other side of his rack. I knew I was going
to take the shot if he gave me the opportunity. And he did. He came in front of
me about 10 yards, put his head up and was smelling the wick when I took the
shot. Right after the shot I knew I hit him high but he ran about 20 yards and
fell over. It took him quite a while to pass. I waited over an hour just to
make sure he would not get up.
This was my first kill with my new Carbon Express Intercept
crossbow. It was actually my first pass through. The arrow sliced right through
him. The Slick Trick's originals did their job. He is a 7 x 5 with a lot of
junk. He is a dandy.
Thanks for reading, Clint.
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