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And now for the rest of the story.... #8426790 10/22/21 07:48 PM
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Full Disclaimer: I shot this deer on a high fence preserve in Ohio. Very natural setting that features a mix of both Pasture and Pen born deer. If you take offense to that then don't read any further, feel the need to comment, etc. as quite frankly I don't care about your opinion.

So now its time for me to tell the rest of the tale......


This story began in spring of 2020...Covid had just hit and the world was turned upside down. We were a banquet of the local chapter of SCI and this hunt was on the auction block. Wife really showed interest in it, but due to several of my hunts being in limbo and the uncertainty of the world at the time, we decided to pass. This spring we returned to the banquet and again, we saw this item up for bid. My wife is more a deer hunter than anything else and really wanted to go, I told her if this was something she wanted she had my full support. Well after a few back and forths between her and a competitor she emerged the victor and the owner of the property came over to congratulate her and give us a few details about the hunt.

The property was originally a members-only fishing club founded in 1977. In 2008 the Daniels family purchased the property and infused their vision into an already established operation, combining a world class fishery with a one of a kind midwestern whitetail hunting experience. The club hosts around 280 year round members to fish the many trout streams, ponds and lakes that are found throughout the farm. During the Fall deer season, the club shuts down to members from Monday-Wed each week so they can host whitetail hunts. Excited to hunt somewhere new, we were interested in seeing the bright fall colors and hunting deer that have shed their summer coat and have started to bulk up for winter. We chose this past week as according to the authorities on fall color change, this was supposed to be the peak time ( we ended up missing it by about a week )

We counted down the days and began to prep for the trip, we got our gear together and last minute I decided to drive up with my wife flying up a few days later. I make it to Columbus, pick her up and settle in.

First morning of the hunt we go off to our respective blinds. I had chose to bow hunt and we went to a clear cut strip cut down in the woods situated on top of a saddle where they have a beet and turnip food plot. They don't use corn feeders up there ( they have a free choice protein feeder in some locations filled up with a mix of corn, pellets and sweet feed but these don't see alot of activity until the winters get hard ) and we are fighting a full moon and a heavy acorn crop, not to mention the turnip & beet field and numerous alfalfa fields located on the property. Morning starts off slow with a few deer moving, a few does and fawns and one young buck right at first light. Because i had chose to bow hunt, we had spread a little corn via 5 gallon bucket to attempt to get them to stop in a location where a shot was possible. Around 8:30 a young buck moves in and a clean 10 in the 160's range comes in and starts to nibble on the pile. He never gives me a clean shot and soon exits the field.


To be continued......

[Linked Image]



For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426823 10/22/21 08:28 PM
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popcorn


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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426854 10/22/21 09:04 PM
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And...


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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426897 10/22/21 09:57 PM
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I think his wife must've summoned him.

Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426900 10/22/21 09:59 PM
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He seems to have more patience when writing a recap than when he actually hunted...maybe the wife is teaching him patience when hunting.... bolt


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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426964 10/22/21 10:59 PM
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So we went back to the lodge, grab a few fishing rods and hit the trout streams. Trout were a bit finicky but we were able to bring several nice ones to hand.

Fished from about noon to 3:00 when we headed back up to get ready for the evening hunt

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426983 10/22/21 11:17 PM
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LET'S GO BRANDON!! grin

Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426984 10/22/21 11:17 PM
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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426985 10/22/21 11:17 PM
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Come on man...I will be 66 before you get this story told to the end.... grin


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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426987 10/22/21 11:20 PM
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We go back to the lodge, get our stuff and make our way back to the stand. My wife went to a new location and we returned to the previous clear cut/turnip plot. I have to explain the situation as we are hunting in an elevated box blind over a food plot that is 120 yards by 50 yards. With my compound and stand location I can cover maybe a 1/4 of the field. So not the ultimate bow hunting set up but being in the thick woods I figured I had at least a 25% chance of getting one in range. Seriously contemplating shooting the 10 from the morning hunt if the opportunity presented itself, I was excited as the deer had been moving much better in the evening.

We settle in around 4:30 and around 5:00 a small buck comes in from our left and starts eating at the corn pile. About 5 min goes by and my guide Brennan taps me on the leg and says there is a big buck coming in. The smaller buck on the corn pile lifts his head, looks to his left and starts running away. I hear hooves beating and at about 4 yards this massive buck comes running by the blind at a gallop running towards the other buck....he chases his clear out of the patch and into the woods on the far side.

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426989 10/22/21 11:22 PM
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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8426990 10/22/21 11:23 PM
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The trout looks big in your hands yet small in hers.

Originally Posted by txtrophy85

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[Linked Image]

Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427010 10/22/21 11:48 PM
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So I text my wife to inquire about her hunt and tell her about the Giant deer. She has wanted a drop tine deer all along and this one had about a 5” drop coming of his left beam. She isn’t seeing very much at her location. About 10 min later the younger buck appears at the back of the food plot. He keeps looking behind him and sure enough, the horse with horns is right behind him.

I text my wife and tell her that big buck showed back up and she says to take him if I had an opportunity and don’t wait on her account. At this point he is 100 yards away and is just kind of causally strolling down the side of the field when he turns and starts coming right towards the blind ... [Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

Last edited by txtrophy85; 10/22/21 11:50 PM.

For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427011 10/22/21 11:50 PM
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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427028 10/23/21 12:25 AM
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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427046 10/23/21 12:52 AM
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Brennan whispers he is coming in. After I took that last pic I stopped looking at him, get my bow ready and get my release on the D-loop. I look up and he is broadside at 24 yards eating in the turnip patch. I am purposely not looking at his antlers and only focusing on his shoulder area. I remember thinking for whatever reason 24 yards was a little far out ( it’s not at all ) and wanting him to be right around 20. As if on cue, he takes a few stops foreword , turns and faces the other way. I still don’t have my hopes up, as I’m concerned he will get spooked on the draw. I have a partially torn rotator cuff and although I can draw the bow, sometimes it isn’t as smooth as it could be and my shoulders pop horribly. He takes a few stops forward and he is more or less broadside...I draw back and he never lifts his head. He continues feeding, I wait until he is perfectly in position, settle the pin behind his shoulder and let it rip. I watch the fletching disappear into brown hide, he jump and kick and blood start pouring out of the entrance hole. He takes off at full tilt out of the field, thru the woods and runs right into a small tree about 8” in diameter and snaps it off at the base. He kicks a time or two and he is done.

Brennan turns and say man that was awesome, I got it all on video. I text the wife and let her know the buck was down, and we get out of the blind to go out hands on him


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427063 10/23/21 01:05 AM
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Brennan whispers he is coming in. After I took that last pic I stopped looking at him, get my bow ready and get my release on the D-loop. I look up and he is broadside at 24 yards eating in the turnip patch. I am purposely not looking at his antlers and only focusing on his shoulder area. I remember thinking for whatever reason 24 yards was a little far out ( it’s not at all ) and wanting him to be right around 20. As if on cue, he takes a few stops foreword , turns and faces the other way. I still don’t have my hopes up, as I’m concerned he will get spooked on the draw. I have a partially torn rotator cuff and although I can draw the bow, sometimes it isn’t as smooth as it could be and my shoulders pop horribly. He takes a few stops forward and he is more or less broadside...I draw back and he never lifts his head. He continues feeding, I wait until he is perfectly in position, settle the pin behind his shoulder and let it rip. I watch the fletching disappear into brown hide, he jump and kick and blood start pouring out of the entrance hole. He takes off at full tilt out of the field, thru the woods and runs right into a small tree about 8” in diameter and snaps it off at the base. He kicks a time or two and he is done.

Brennan turns and say man that was awesome, I got it all on video. I text the wife and let her know the buck was down, and we get out of the blind to go out hands on him

I will tell you that I had a bit or remorse over shooting this deer as it was 100% what my wife was looking for. It was early season, and odds were in our favor he would have come back. While this is by far the largest buck I’ve ever taken or probably ever seen, I still am a bit bummed knowing i shot this deer when I knew it was her dream buck.

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]


Stay tuned tomorrow because there is ALOT more to the story....


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427068 10/23/21 01:09 AM
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I feel sorry for your wife, you stole her deer.
NOT

Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427079 10/23/21 01:18 AM
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Nice buck and good write up! Don’t feel bad about killing him. You can buy her a better one without leaving the great state of Texas. It would have been tough for me to leave the trout stream to go deer hunting.

Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427080 10/23/21 01:19 AM
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Congrats on a great buck and great recap also! cheers
And now the rest of the story Part II... popcorn


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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427085 10/23/21 01:26 AM
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Theyre gonna bid the price up next year cause everybody knows youve got to take her back, and again and again till she gets one like that. Congrats, I hope your guilt goes away, gonna ruin your memory.


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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427175 10/23/21 03:28 AM
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Ok so here we are, got a dream buck on the ground and we call for backup and are about to load it up. Text the wife to get a report on what she is seeing and she has a few does/fawns and a 6 pointer. We load up the deer and make our way back to camp, get it in the shed and turn the cooler on.

[Linked Image]


I get a text shortly after that just reads “ I shot a F***ing monster” Super relieved that she got a deer, I confirm she got it and said her 7mm-08 laid him out flat.

Thinking she shot a nice buck, I Text her that we are on our way, we go to mix a drink for the successful combo and we head that way. We pull up to the blind, grab them and make our way to her deer when the headlights catch it....she killed a literal monster. I shot a big deer, she shot a small moose.

Her and her guide recounted the story; shortly after I shot my buck she showed him a picture of it and said “ this, this is what I’m looking for, god is just gonna have to drop it out of the sky”. Minutes later they hear a hellacious buck fight up on the ridge above them and see two deer going for broke trying to kill each other. At some point they locked up and as they struggled to unlock they started to slide down the hill and ended up tumbling end over end all the way down..landing only 60 yards from the blind...during the fall they separated and both got to their feet but very dazed and confused. She told me she didn’t even look at the deer at any length, she just got her rifle up and took the shot. She jumped right over cloud 9 and said it was the best hunt of her entire life.

The Beauty and the Beast

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]





Last edited by txtrophy85; 10/23/21 03:36 AM.

For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427177 10/23/21 03:31 AM
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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427186 10/23/21 03:50 AM
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cheers Congrats to your wife on a great buck too cheers


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Re: And now for the rest of the story.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8427198 10/23/21 04:08 AM
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Great recap and a couple great bucks. Your buck is one any of us would have gladly shot but hers is a Monster. She wanted a drop tine buck and she got one with 4.

Congrats to you both cheers


Last edited by kmon1; 10/23/21 04:09 AM.

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