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« Last post by highside74 on Today at 12:42:15 PM »
Old and soft, I resemble that remark.🤣
Spent the last 8 days of the season hunting. Chased a couple nice bucks. Passed a decent 3x at 44 yards on day 3 because I was going for better than decent or I was eating the tag. The last day was my most fun even though it didn't work out I wouldn't have had that day if I shot that 3x3. The 3x3 actually came closer than 44 but he got so close to the dune I was in I couldn't see him over the brush.
The last day I spotted 2 nice bucks sparring from my glassing dune. New spot that another hunter shared but e wasn't going to be able to hunt the last day. A nice young man that i believe is a memeber but i dont know his name here. I wish I had 2 or 2 more days because I probably would have made a few different decisions had I hunted that spot before.
I headed off the dune and worked my way towards getting in front of the bucks. They were right on the edge of where the pockets of water start. The bucks are working right to left. I worked my way through a nasty twig and branch cover ground of a pocket of trees after taking my boots off for stealth mode in the crap.and set up. Bucks are 90 is years to my right. I knock an arrow and range the far edge of the area. 75 yards is max so im expecting a decent shot opportunity. Minutes pass and no deer. I creep out inch by inch until I can see where the bucks were. No bucks. I'm like what the heck? I thought inwas in the chips. I start glassing farther out and around the brush pocket in front of me. I see a deer about 175 yards or so out. I move towards it thinking they must have taken a right and gone around the far side. I need to cover the 75 yards to the brush line but I have no boots and that whole opening is covered with these little plants with grape size sticker heads. The pain was real but I wasn't stopping the stalk to go back for my boots. That deer ended up being a doe. She continued on and a 2nd doe appears about 120 out. I'm working the edge step by step slow as I can. 1st doe disappeared over a low dune and I'm trying to find the bucks I'm still not sure they even went this way so I decide to sneak around the back side and try and find them. I back track a couple hundred yards around the thicket and see tines headed towards where the does came out. I tuen back around and back track to where I was. 2nd doe is now well in to my left and has no clue. I figure I'm still not close enough to the far edge of where the does came out so I'm trying to cut the distance. Unbeknownst to me the 2st doe had came back into view and picked me of. She's well over 150 yards to my left and starting to blow. The 2nd doe gets nervous and they all run back to where they came from taking the bucks with them. I was deflated but I also knew the bucks had never seen or smelled me so I decided to go back and get my boots and head back to the dune. Unfortunately having to walk through those stickers for a second time and it was just as painful. It took me 15 minutes to clear my socks of those stickers and get my boots on. Then I headed back to the dune. I was on the dune less than 5 minutes when I hear crashing in the brush behind me and to the right of where I originally saw the bucks. The noise sounds like elk going through the brush. I finally glass up a 3x clearly freaked out and picking his way through the crap ant about 250 yards. He pops out at about 200 and is looking around like what to do now. I see a second buck barely but it's directly behind him. Neither of those bucks are the 2 I originally was stalking. What i didn’t know and what I was about to find out was those 2 bigger bucks had already made their way ahead of the smaller bucks towards my dune while I was cleaning my socks and getting my boots. I had no idea because the dune was quite big and had pockets of brush trees that blocked my view. The 2 bucks went back into the brush and I'm thinking they are trying to go up and over my dune so I grab my bow and move forward from the brush I had on my right to a brush thicket ahead and left. I'm sitting on the left edge and still hearing the bucks in the brush that is in the flat about 80 yards from the base of the dune. I figured I should be on the right of the brush before they head across so I can have some cover to draw. I slowly and quietly move around to the right. It takes about 2 minutes maybe a bit more. As I am deciding where to setup up I catch something ahead of me and look up. Those 2 big bucks are already on my dune with the other 2 bucks coming up from the rear and they are looking directly at me. I think the 2 big bucks were there the whole time and the other 2 bucks were trying to get to them. It was over in a flash. They cover over a mile in less than 2 minutes and were still running the last glimpse I had. It was crazy. I ranged where they were when they blew out. 104 yards way to far for a shot but close enough to break my heart.
All in all I stocked 1 particular buck 3 plus days of the hunt. A real solid 160s ish 4x4. I never got closer than 125 yards. He was always with 3 or 4 other bucks and it always went sideways.
One night the mosquitoes were so bad they ran me back to the truck. It was insane. Other than that I managed to brave them the rest of the time. Deep woods off and 2 thermacells worked good enough. Not perfect but pretty good.
Here is the 3x3 I passed at 44 yards. He had no clue I was there.
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