Posted By: Smiling Mallard
Bevo Got a Reaper - 11/14/16 10:24 PM
Things are going nuts in our part of the woods right now with pre-rut/rut activity making bucks you’ve seen all year long disappear and new bucks you’ve never seen show up. This weekend was absolutely crazy. There were cruising bucks. Chasing bucks. Buck fights. Rattled in bucks. Just about everything you can imagine.
Trail cam pictures and on the hoof sightings of a lot of new bucks showing up for sure. Some were little. Some were big. Some were REALLY BIG. One of them I saw on trail camera pics and then in person on Friday morning’s hunt as he dogged a doe really fast out of the woods and right past me at about 10 yards with no opportunity to get drawn. I quickly nicknamed him Bevo because he was a wide slick 8.
Saturday mornings hunt started slow but I soon had quite a few little bucks around me, in the pen and on the chum line. A doe showed up solo and the chase was on as these juvenile delinquents dogged her around the pen and through the woods around me. Several of the bucks were looking back in the woods and what do you know but Bevo shows up and I can’t believe it but he gets on the chum line for a quick bite…with his azz to me. I’m hooked up and ready to roll…just turn broad side. Then here comes the doe back into the picture and gets straight up wind of him and here goes the bird dogging as he goes after her. I’m thinking so much for that as they disappear into the trees behind my feeder. Then suddenly she comes busting back out around the trees and blows past my tree 10 yards and I get ready to stop Bevo as I’m certain he’s still on her tail. But he wasn’t. He came around and stopped on the near edge of a mineral lick and was just standing their lip curling and checking the air. I have cut a shooting lane for that very shot to the mineral lick but some of those little bucks are within 5 yards of me and I’m thinking I’ll get busted as soon as I draw but it’s now or never. I draw slowly and I get to full draw and nothing has blown, snorted or took off. Settle the pin on the quartering away opposite leg and squeeze. THWAP! The sweet sound of the Grim Reaper disappearing in the spot being aimed at and the lighted nock showing up on the ground behind. Bevo mule kicked and was immediately out of sight into the trees behind me. 10 seconds later I hear gurgling and wheezing very nearby so all is well with the world. I look and almost all those little bucks are still around so I nock another arrow and hope all the turkey that were gobbling show up. After an hour (I shot him at 6:49 AM) I run the two remaining little guys out of there and get down. Arrow is red the entire length and big blood right at point of impact. No need to blood trail as I look and about 40 yards away right where I heard him there was main beam sticking up.
Now here's the danger of shooting a buck at 6:49 and having to wait a couple hours till your hunting buddy gets done and comes to help you load him up. First you text your whole family and all your friends trying to wake them up with your good news
. Then you take funny celebratory beer selfies to send to them at 8:00 AM. Then you think WTH this looks good so you drink it. It tastes so good you have another…and another. By 10:00 AM you are seriously buzzing....
I can’t resist the big wide 8 or celebratory breakfast ale
Trail cam pictures and on the hoof sightings of a lot of new bucks showing up for sure. Some were little. Some were big. Some were REALLY BIG. One of them I saw on trail camera pics and then in person on Friday morning’s hunt as he dogged a doe really fast out of the woods and right past me at about 10 yards with no opportunity to get drawn. I quickly nicknamed him Bevo because he was a wide slick 8.
Saturday mornings hunt started slow but I soon had quite a few little bucks around me, in the pen and on the chum line. A doe showed up solo and the chase was on as these juvenile delinquents dogged her around the pen and through the woods around me. Several of the bucks were looking back in the woods and what do you know but Bevo shows up and I can’t believe it but he gets on the chum line for a quick bite…with his azz to me. I’m hooked up and ready to roll…just turn broad side. Then here comes the doe back into the picture and gets straight up wind of him and here goes the bird dogging as he goes after her. I’m thinking so much for that as they disappear into the trees behind my feeder. Then suddenly she comes busting back out around the trees and blows past my tree 10 yards and I get ready to stop Bevo as I’m certain he’s still on her tail. But he wasn’t. He came around and stopped on the near edge of a mineral lick and was just standing their lip curling and checking the air. I have cut a shooting lane for that very shot to the mineral lick but some of those little bucks are within 5 yards of me and I’m thinking I’ll get busted as soon as I draw but it’s now or never. I draw slowly and I get to full draw and nothing has blown, snorted or took off. Settle the pin on the quartering away opposite leg and squeeze. THWAP! The sweet sound of the Grim Reaper disappearing in the spot being aimed at and the lighted nock showing up on the ground behind. Bevo mule kicked and was immediately out of sight into the trees behind me. 10 seconds later I hear gurgling and wheezing very nearby so all is well with the world. I look and almost all those little bucks are still around so I nock another arrow and hope all the turkey that were gobbling show up. After an hour (I shot him at 6:49 AM) I run the two remaining little guys out of there and get down. Arrow is red the entire length and big blood right at point of impact. No need to blood trail as I look and about 40 yards away right where I heard him there was main beam sticking up.
Now here's the danger of shooting a buck at 6:49 and having to wait a couple hours till your hunting buddy gets done and comes to help you load him up. First you text your whole family and all your friends trying to wake them up with your good news
. Then you take funny celebratory beer selfies to send to them at 8:00 AM. Then you think WTH this looks good so you drink it. It tastes so good you have another…and another. By 10:00 AM you are seriously buzzing.... I can’t resist the big wide 8 or celebratory breakfast ale
