The adrenaline wore off and I found myself in bow hunter purgatory. That uncomfortable time between letting an arrow fly and getting down to look for my target. Excitement, anxiety, confidence, and self-doubt were racing through my mind. The flight of the arrow looked good and I heard a solid “thwack.” However, I have been on blood trails that ran out and learned nothing is guaranteed. For now I would have to wait to find out if I hit my mark.
Hunting the whitetail rut in the Midwest is a crazy time of the year. Bucks fight for the opportunity to breed. Deer movement increases with bucks checking scrapes for hot does. The best piece of advice I have for whitetail hunting during late October and November is put in the time. All it takes is one hot doe for the woods to come alive with rut activity. However, be aware that slow days are possible when does start getting locked down to breed.
Normally I take off an entire week before the Nebraska rifle season to bow hunt. I am consistently successful harvesting a buck with my bow utilizing this strategy. It is like playing black jack at a casino: ride out the bad times and take advantage of the good.
Unfortunately this year work impacted my hunting schedule. As fate would have it a product launch was scheduled for November 4th. I couldn’t take off an entire week and had to opt for strategically taking off single days and hunting the weekends. It wasn’t ideal, but I would have to make it work.
On this particular weekday I saw a small buck at day break. Around 8:30 I heard a buck grunt behind me. I am always amazed of the deer vocalization that can be heard this time of year. When I turned my head I saw a doe flash across my shooting lane followed by the buck. My first reaction was to pass although his hot pursuit made my decision pretty easy. In true rut fashion the doe did a 180 degree turn and ran back the direction she had come passing out of bow range. The buck followed and I decided to grunt at him…just to see how he reacted. He stopped and looked my direction. I grunted again and he pulled off the doe and started to circle me to get the wind in his favor.
As I scanned the terrain I knew I would only have one opportunity for a shot. My range finder indicated it would be 40 yards and I made up my mind that if he cleared the brush I would shoot. Walking broad side he stopped in the opening. My instincts kicked in and I touched off my release. The buck whirled and I watched him crash through the timber.
My standard operating procedure is to wait one hour before getting out of my stand to look for a deer. This strategy reduces the risk of bumping a wounded deer and typically is enough time for a deer hit in the vitals to die.
Waiting to go investigate my shot reminds me of Christmas morning when I was a young boy. Waking up hours before my parents said we could unwrap presents left me questioning if I had been good enough that year for Santa to leave gifts under the tree. Today I questioned if my shot was where it needed to be.
I found blood early and there was a lot. My arrow laid on the ground broke in half. I assumed it snapped shortly after he whirled at impact. The trail was easy to follow and I laid eyes on my buck within 150 yards of where I first connected. As I approached him something looked off. There was a lot of hair on the ground and he had a wound too big to be from my arrow. A coyote had already began to eat on him and he had been dead for less than hour!
Fortunately, all the meat was still good. I posed for a couple of pictures using the timer on my iPhone and now faced the challenge of getting the deer to my truck. It was a weekday and all my friends and family were at work. I had two options:
1. Get the 4-wheeler and try to wrestle him onto the rack
2. Quarter him up and pack him out
I opted for option two. So on a beautiful fall day I worked the deer over in the timber. Loaded the hind quarters, back straps, and loins into my pack. Tossed a front quarter over each shoulder and headed out. It was a very memorable morning. I love the entire hunting experience. The scouting, the hunting, the shot, the recovery, and taking care of the meat afterwards. It is days like this that keep me going into the woods. I never know what is going to happen and I learn a little more each time in the field. There is also a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I completed every part of the hunt: field to freezer.
However, it wasn’t long after the meat was taken care of that I started to question if I should have passed on that buck. He was a young 4x4. I knew exactly what I was shooting at. The hunting industry has put an emphasis on harvesting big whitetails. If you want to harvest big deer you need to let the little ones walk. I tried to justify shooting him my mind. I only had a few days to hunt, but I kept coming back to the same question: Does size matter?
The good news is I didn’t have to answer that question right then. I still had the weekend and one more weekday to hunt. Nebraska allows two buck tags, so my rut wasn’t over.
To be continued…
Until next time remember…you are going to have to earn it.