Been in the woods these past 3 weeks more than on the water fishing. Archery season has been quite slow this season due to the warm weather this fall. Amazing nut crop has kept the deer from having to wander very far to eat. My trail cameras showed plenty of deer but the lack of travel requirements for them to eat made sightings few.
With the rut showing signs of getting ready to kick off in earnest, I played the weather card and planned for an all day sit this past Thursday. I also had plans that if I didn't connect this day I would be taking off from work on Friday as the forecast looked promising.
As it turned out I didn't have too. I was hunting a draw that ran between two known bedding areas on my property. Though I had not seen many deer this day there were enough to keep me alert. At 1:30 PM I watched as a doe bound up through the hardwoods about 100 yards away. I kept an eye on her expecting to see a rutting buck chasing behind her. Though no other deer materialized I knew something must have moved her. A half an hour later I spied my buck working his way along the side of the draw coming to me.
I was sitting about 2/3's of the way down this steep banked draw. He was on the high side. As he continued to close the distance I prepared for the shot. He stayed true and followed the run behind a large oak and some brush. I drew my bow at this time and waited for him to exit. When he cleared the brush I attempted to blat him to a stop. Due to the rain falling he either didn't hear me or had something else on his mind.
Instead of stopping he turned and walked down the hill straight to my stand location. He is now at 11 yards when he stops and picks his head up. Due to me being 20 feet up a tree, him being on the up hill side of me, we were virtually eye to eye. Needless to say he knew something was terribly wrong when he saw me there in front of him. I had already settled the pin on the chest and released the arrow before he could react.
The Lumenock disappeared and buried itself deep inside this great deer. He went maybe 40 to 50 yards before expiring. As I walked up to this beautiful animal I still get that moment of sadness seeing them lying there. But non the less he will feed the family and provide me with a great memory.
He dressed out at 190 pounds and a quick measurement with the tape put him right at 115 inches with 3 plus inches broken off his G2 on the right beam. He had an inside spread of 16 inches. A very good archery deer for New York in my opinion. Certainly my best archery harvest to date.
If you folks recall my story of 2 seasons ago, my son is now of age to hunt deer. We were out for the youth weekend on 2 sits and both times he passed on young deer. Stay tuned, good lord willing, and I can tell you the story of his first whitetail next week!
With the rut showing signs of getting ready to kick off in earnest, I played the weather card and planned for an all day sit this past Thursday. I also had plans that if I didn't connect this day I would be taking off from work on Friday as the forecast looked promising.
As it turned out I didn't have too. I was hunting a draw that ran between two known bedding areas on my property. Though I had not seen many deer this day there were enough to keep me alert. At 1:30 PM I watched as a doe bound up through the hardwoods about 100 yards away. I kept an eye on her expecting to see a rutting buck chasing behind her. Though no other deer materialized I knew something must have moved her. A half an hour later I spied my buck working his way along the side of the draw coming to me.
I was sitting about 2/3's of the way down this steep banked draw. He was on the high side. As he continued to close the distance I prepared for the shot. He stayed true and followed the run behind a large oak and some brush. I drew my bow at this time and waited for him to exit. When he cleared the brush I attempted to blat him to a stop. Due to the rain falling he either didn't hear me or had something else on his mind.
Instead of stopping he turned and walked down the hill straight to my stand location. He is now at 11 yards when he stops and picks his head up. Due to me being 20 feet up a tree, him being on the up hill side of me, we were virtually eye to eye. Needless to say he knew something was terribly wrong when he saw me there in front of him. I had already settled the pin on the chest and released the arrow before he could react.
The Lumenock disappeared and buried itself deep inside this great deer. He went maybe 40 to 50 yards before expiring. As I walked up to this beautiful animal I still get that moment of sadness seeing them lying there. But non the less he will feed the family and provide me with a great memory.
He dressed out at 190 pounds and a quick measurement with the tape put him right at 115 inches with 3 plus inches broken off his G2 on the right beam. He had an inside spread of 16 inches. A very good archery deer for New York in my opinion. Certainly my best archery harvest to date.
If you folks recall my story of 2 seasons ago, my son is now of age to hunt deer. We were out for the youth weekend on 2 sits and both times he passed on young deer. Stay tuned, good lord willing, and I can tell you the story of his first whitetail next week!
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