After the opening weekend mishap with the big 10 point I didn't know what would be next for my deer season. I checked my trail camera the following Friday and was shocked to see a new buck. The new buck was a really wide 9 point with a big drop tine on each side. I've never seen a buck with drop tines or even gotten a picture of one, so I was pretty shocked. The best part was that most of the pictures were during daylight hours. He was showing up at the food plot and the corn feeder during morning and evening shooting light.
That same weekend I hunted both mornings for the double drop tine buck. I even started calling him Dubs for short. I didn't see any good bucks that weekend. Neither Dubs nor the big 10 showed up.
The next weekend was our annual family campout at the pond so I wasn't going to have many opportunities to hunt for him that weekend. That Friday I filled the corn feeder and dropped off a couple buckets of apples too. I pulled the memory cards for my cameras to see if he was still showing up. Sure enough he was. And he was showing up almost every single day at one of the 2 cameras I had. I didn't hunt at all Friday and Saturday because of the campout but it was killing me. All I could think about was, what if I was missing my chance at him. I decided to get up early and hunt Sunday morning and skip the final morning of the campout. I got in the stand an hour before shooting light and waited. I did see some bucks but they were all much smaller deer.
On my way out I pulled the camera cards again. When I got home to check the pictures, Dubs had been at the feeder Saturday morning and Saturday night during shooting light. If I had just gone hunting one time Saturday I would have got him. That immediately made me decide to hunt again that night. I knew it would be my best opportunity but I also knew it would be hard on my wife. Leaving her to take care of three kids at dinner time and bedtime is not easy. I did any house chore she needed me to do that day and helped with the grocery shopping too. Hopefully she wouldn't be too upset with me.
I had a tough decision to make though. Which stand was he going to show up at? I made a list of every time Dubs was caught on camera. I listed the date, time, location and which way he was headed. It came down to the fact that 10 out of the last 15 days he was caught on camera at the feeder. And the last 4 straight sightings were all at the feeder. I thought maybe he would change plans and check the scrape at the food plot but I could only make my decision based on where he'd been and not try to assume where he'd go next. I decided on the feeder.
By 4:30 pm I was headed out to the stand. I was in the stand and ready by 5. The first two hours went by pretty slow. Only 1 button buck came in and he ate corn for almost 30 minutes before leaving. I was starting to get pretty concerned though because the wind was swirling. If any big buck came close he would probably catch my wind immediately and blow the hunt. I had been taking every scent control measure possible but I was still worried.
Just before 7 pm I spotted some movement to my southeast. The exact area I expected Dubs to come from because he always came from that way in the trail cam pics. It wasn't Dubs though it was the big 10. He walked past me at 40 yards and right into a shooting lane. I was hesitant to shoot him because he wasn't the buck I was after but I drew my bow back and put the 40 yard pin on him. He took a couple more steps and got behind some brush before I could shoot. I decided at that distance I shouldn't even be attempting a shot on the wrong buck. I let down my bow and hung it back up.
Almost as soon as I hung my bow I saw more movement from the same direction. It was a small spike followed closely by a big buck. This time it was Dubs. I looked through my binos as quick as possible to confirm. It didn't take long to know it was him. Instead of following the big 10, he turned and headed towards the corn feeder just as I thought he would. The wind was still swirling and I knew I needed to act quick. As soon as I put my binos down I grabbed my bow and drew back. The buck stopped and started sniffing the air. I started doing some math. He hadn't gotten to the feeder yet which is 28 yards from me so I guessed he was in the mid 20 yards. I figured if I put the 20 yard pin high it was going to hit low but he would also string jump me and drop his chest right into the path of the arrow. I leaned to the left a little for a clear shot. I put the pin on him and immediately pulled the trigger.
I had no idea what happened after that. The buck ran south and I thought I saw the arrow fall out right after the shot. I listened quietly for a minute and heard what sounded like a big branch breaking. I couldn't tell if it was him falling over or taking off running. I really thought deep down it had to be him falling down. It was getting dark so I packed all my stuff and got out of the treestand. I tried to walk as quietly as possible to where the buck was standing when I shot. As soon as I got there I found the arrow. It was a clean pass through and it had solid red blood on it. Not bright red like a lung hit and not dark red like liver. It was the perfect shade of red, I probably hit the heart or a major artery off the top of the heart. I still wanted to give him some time so I texted with my wife and then called my dad. My dad said he would get some flashlights and head my way. I tried to wait around for my dad to get there but I just couldn't.
I walked as slow as possible following the blood trail. Within a few steps I found some very good puddles of blood and they still looked like that perfect shade. I followed the blood for a couple more yards and then decided to stop just to be safe. It had only been 20 minutes and Dubs could definitely still be alive. I sat down for a minute to text with the guys. I sent them some pictures and Cory gave me some assurances that the buck had to be dead already. The blood trail was too good. I got back up and followed it for a few more yards into some thick brush. Then I spotted it. An antler sticking up above the weeds. It was him and he was stone dead.
I let out a yell and ran up to him. I was in complete shock. I honestly could not believe that all my time and work had paid off so perfectly. I sent out the BBD texts and sat down in shock. It was amazing getting my hands on him and getting to see how massive he really was. The buck’s body was enormous and his antlers were just as impressive. The double drop tines on him were the coolest thing I'd ever seen on a buck.
My dad finally showed up and parked at the feeder. I walked over to him and loaded up my gear. We drove the samurai around to the back of the woods hoping to get closer to where the buck dropped. I walked my dad over to the buck and he was shocked too. I gave my dad a hug and then had him take some pictures and a video. Then we got to work. I gutted him but also made sure to get the heart from the gut pile. I always have a ziploc in my hunting pack to put the heart in.
Now we had to drag him 30 yards to the samurai. Dubs was so heavy we couldn't even do it in one drag. We had to stop multiple times before we got him out. Somehow we managed to lift him into the samurai by ourselves. Once we got back to the barn we took some more pictures and then hung him on the scale. He weighed 238 pounds! An absolute tank.
I couldn't get over how proud I felt of myself. I know that's weird to say but with all the work and thought that I had done leading up to finally getting a shot I just felt proud. It was all worth it. From hanging stands in the summer heat to having to fix the feeder every week after it kept breaking. And then staying focused on trail cam pics enough to pattern a big mature buck. It was all worth it in the end.
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