The day started with the question why am I going hunting in this rain? The knowledge of knowing blacktails move in this weather pushed me on! It had been raining solid since Thursday morning with no end in sight and making the crucial mistake of hunting with the wind at my back the day before got me motivated for the hunt.
Arriving just at day break and finding a spot to park out of the flooded skid road I suited up in full raingear to give it a go. About thirty minutes in I spotted a doe about fifty yards out and she was headed my way. Crouching down she made her way to me along with three other does with one being a piebald. The does spotted me at about 20 feet but did not spook, they leisurely back tracked and once out of sight I slowly made my way in their direction. Cresting the ridge I was hoping to see a buck knowing the rut was really close if not in full swing. There were no bucks with these does as I watched them clear out of sight and over the ridge, disappointed I trudged on.
I continued on for another 30 minutes when I spotted this buck standing alone at about 120 yards out and was able to get within 30 yards crawling through the waist high brush make the shot with my 20 gauge. With no hesitation I fired one shot he went down. Not really sure how big he was I just knew he was a shooter for the last day of the season. When I walked up on this buck boy was I surprised I could not believe how big he was! Snapped a few quick photos and then I went to work. Once I arrived home my wife, kids, dad, and uncle were all there to greet me and see the buck. My wife had got the kids early from school to be home when I got there. What a great moment and just as rewarding as getting this buck.
He was 218 lbs. hanging. My biggest blacktail to date!
There have been years of getting no deer passing on smaller bucks to wait for a buck like this. Believe me it is worth it! Getting a shoulder mount done.
