Late season fast turnaround

I must have hunted my food plot a half dozen times over the course of this season and only saw one doe, until this morning.

Shot a nice, 14-point, Houston County buck around 7:45 when he came walking just a short distance behind a barely legal four-point. With the season drawing to a close, I decided to sweeten the pot and started hand corning the opposite end of the plot from my ground blind. It's the point at which deer have always preferred to enter the plot.

IMO, a noticeable reduction in hunting pressure on surrounding properties, combined with food sources becoming more scarce, encouraged deer to begin feeding again in daylight.

Photo posted shortly.

Shooting distance: About 90 yards
Rifle and ammo: Remington 700 ADL .270, Federal Fusion 130 gr.
Setup: Doghouse ground blind with inexpensive (Academy) shooting stick

Sounds great congrats waiting on pics

As long as there is legal shooting light left, stay after them.

Nice. buck

Awesome deer. Is this a new buck or have you had him on camera?

Thank you.

New buck.

Good Buck

Congrats especially for a Houston county deer.

Man that's a great buck. I've always wanted one with split tines like that.

Wow! Awesome buck!

That deer is no joke. Well done.

All the comments are very much appreciated.

With this being so late in the season, just wanted to encourage those who still need to fill a tag to stay diligent to the end.

Split G2s/G3s on that right side any splits on the right side, on the left?

Great Deer Texas Dan, well done.

Splits on the left side G2/G3s as well. A unique rack for sure.

For those wondering why the buck shows no wounds, I hit him on the right front shoulder as he was slightly quartering to my right. The bullet traveled down and below the base on the spline causing him to drop immediately.

I should add the buck only had a 14-inch inside width, and IMHO, is yet another example of those East Texas bucks that never develop great width in their racks. They only develop more mass and further curling of the mainbeams. I killed an even bigger 14-point in the Davy Crockett NF many years ago that had a similar spread with greater mass and antlers that ended about two inches from each other. You can easily cup the end of both antlers in the palm of your hand.

Good job, Dan. Congratulations...Thats the buck I'm looking for. A dandy.

Very nice deer. Congrats

Holy moly Dan!!!! You did it bud!!!! Way to go. What an amazing deer and way to stick with it!!!!! Was hoping you would get that one you were after and an even better one came out!!!! Now that's how to end a deer season!!!

Whoa!!!! That buck is awesome!

Did you get a complete pass through with the Federal Fusion?

truer words never spoken in this thread;

one of my son's just finished his last year for TPWD Youth Hunts; got drawn for standby at Bastrop St Park;

drew area 6 (off Hwy 21 & 1441;compartment is near Alum Ck); overall site had alot of 2nd
growth (replanted) pines that limited shooting lanes & sight lines.no shots over 100yds anywhere.

we hunted our first setup for 2 periods, then moved to another spot we saw lots of droppings
on a trail. put out corn & settled in to wait.this hunt period Sat. afternoon was our last chance for the year.

weather was overcast all weekend but not very cold; at 5:30 with the light slowly leaving, two decent
does walked right out at 60 yards, followed by a much older & larger doe. The biggest problem
is they busted us right away & just stared till they shagged butt into a treeline along the creek.
Never saw them again.

we were using a new to us 2 man popup blind. the thing i keep mulling over is we took the screens off
the front windows to shoot thru & see better, since we had limited light all weekend. I don't know if
that's how they busted us, or just the square shape sitting among the 3' trees.

Last hunt for this program, last shooting light & only thing we saw (to possibly shoot) all weekend.
but we were still 100% committed to that point.

already regrouping for next year & hog hunts starting soon (private land & AHP)

eta; nice buck; glad to see your hard work & figuring it out paid off; i need to hunt moar
& get the boys out to learn to take advantage of each chance to get meat for the table.

Very nice buck , congrats

Thanks Tat.

No question it can be a challenge choosing which stand to hunt when you know you have just a few hunts left. I've got three stands/areas that I've been focusing on this season, and the food has produced the fewest deer sightings by far. It came down to which stands have become best in the morning or evening, and which ones have gone cold. I just couldn't see the food plot staying cold all season and thought hand corning it might be just enough to do the trick. I corned it last weekend before I left and my camera had shown they had hit it during the overnight periods. I considered it a long shot, but corned it again this Friday around noon with thoughts the deer would hit it hard that evening, leaving enough for a morning hunt the next day. The four-point had appeared on camera, but the 14 about knocked me out of my blind when I first looked at him through my economical, Nikon ProStaff scope.

Thanks again for the warm comments.

Awesome deer man! Congrats!

Great buck well done I'm big fan hand corning it will stop a big one just long enough. Congrats and hard to beat 270

That's a Toad good, good going.......

Heck of a buck Texas Dan! Congrats!

That is one beautiful buck. Well done and congratulations. Good ol' Remmy 700 too.

Thanks again for all the warm comments.

Still a week left. Stay after'em to the bitter end.

Great buck Dan - determination definitely paid off for you

Thanks.

Great question.

Never found an exit hole or the bullet. I suspect it entered and lodged into the spine, given how the buck's legs just collapsed under him, starting at the rear.

I've always been a CorLok shooter but decided to try the Federal Fusion after one of our more knowledgeable members suggested them as a better bullet. They cost a little more than CorLoks, but just look and feel a little better. It was a clean, cold bore shot too.

I shot a doe earlier this year with Fusion 30-30 ammo on a clean, cold bore shot as well and found her about 20 yards away. That was a pass-thru shot to the heart and lungs that left a clear exit hole with apparently outstanding expansion, given the damage to the front shoulder.

Very nice deer sir

Great looking buck! Congrats and happy new year.

Nice buck! Glad he showed up for you. A reminder that perseverance pays off.

WOW! Amazing buck, Congrats!!

Damn fine buck sir!!!

Outstanding buck Dan! Congrats!

Great Buck.

Fsmily from Houston County. Crockett, Austonio..Porter Springs....

That is one of the best this year! Way to go Dan.

Heck yeah! one day and one shot can turn an entire hunting season around.
Congrats

sure can, congrats!

Jus shows to go ya,

you don't need a $10,000 rifle and scope with super tailored handloads to kill a beautiful deer

Great job and congrats Dan !!!

Great deer and awesome splits. I've seen a couple of good ones in Houston county crossing the highway on the way to my lease. Almost got one with the truck in October.

Congrats on a great buck

Beautiful buck. Very well played.