IST 11-23-22

Natchitoches Parish
40° and still
Box stand looking down 5 shooting lanes
X bolt 6.5cm

Polk County Texas
49 degrees
Box Stand overlooking 3 acres of turnips

Have my 7 year old with me , hoping to see a few this morning.

Lock on in St. Tammany with my bow
Chilly but comfortable. Didn’t have to wear the cold kit today
Light NE wind

I’ve been after one of these two bucks all season and have seen neither on the hoof. I shot a decent 7pt last Sunday because I just got tired of watching deer. Made a great shot and watched him fall within 40 yards of the arrow. That was a confidence booster.

Checked my cameras yesterday and the two bigger deer have been in and around here pretty consistently. I sat am/pm yesterday but got rained on most of yesterday afternoon. Today is the first good weather day I’ve had in awhile and I’ve got perfect wind. Pressure is high and so are the spirits.

North of Plain Dealing ( bossier parish)
Box stand looking down cutover edge (lots of dropping) oaks on this spot.
Son asleep in the floor
7mm STW

Thank you man . I appreciate the comment. I think maybe I’m just a glutton for doing things the hard way . When I get better service, I’ll share a photo. Plenty have killed bigger but he’s a trophy to me. I’ve been seeing a lot of deer on my little piece this year but he was the first one I felt good about shooting.

Now if I could just get one of these bigger ones to walk. Dead so far this AM.

Claiborne parish
40*
Light east wind
Box stand facing east

Here’s a photo:




Story:

Like I posted before, I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been seeing a lot of deer this year. This is my second year hunting a small piece of private land in St. Tammany and I see a lot of the same deer, so I’ve tried to be really selective. Last year, I struck out on my target and he hasn’t shown back up on cameras this year. I was fortunate enough to get 2 for the freezer with my rifle at a bigger lease last year though, so I haven’t felt the pressure to put meat in the freezer. It’s gotten pretty low over the last month or so though.

I was hunting the other Sunday morning and had seen some usual suspects. Couple small bucks, along with 2 does and yearlings that run together. I was getting ready to get down around 10, when I saw 2 bigger bodied deer walking my way through the thicket. This one was in the back and was pretty tall. I immediately decided that if he gave me an opportunity I was going to shoot, at least to have something in the freezer in case I don’t get a shot at one of the bigger ones. All these deer I’ve seen in bow range this year but the second I decide to shoot one, heart is jumping out the chest. Funny how that works.

Anyway, he came to about 25 yards quartered to me for what seemed like forever. The other deer (6pt) he was with was messing with a scrape and licking a branch about 10 yards behind him, but he kept stomping at something in the woods. It seemed my deer was getting more nervous by the second so I didn’t think it was going to work out. Finally, he turned his neck back and away from me, so his body was still a bit quartered to, but his vitals were more broadside and his near shoulder was forward. I drew, blacked out, and released. I didn’t feel great about the shot initially because his body was kind of compressed, but he ran about 40 yards, fell over once, got up, and fell over again. I was jacked. Got myself together after about 15 minutes, got down and no blood at the shot site, so I eased out. Came back an hour later and he was right where he’d fallen. Just didn’t start bleeding until about 10 feet away from the arrow. Biggest buck I’ve taken with my bow in years, and now I’m a bit more relaxed waiting for one of the bigger ones.

Congrats on the buck. Anything with a bow is a trophy.

Where yat in st tammany? Im in the river road/lake ramsey area. I hunt the wma and mostly the edge of my backyard that borders a bunch of private land I cant hunt. I asked. He said no

The bucks are still in groups from what Ive seen. Lots of acorns still. Should be gettin real hot in about 1 month

Thanks, tried to fix it. I’ve got shite service and Imgur wouldn’t work so I had to get some weird hosting site to upload it.

I’m in the Lee Road area. Agreed. Bucks are still in small groups here too but they are scraping a bit. There also sparring a bit based on some photos I’ve gotten. I’ve found they kinda just scrape a lot here regardless.

Thanks baws. They really don’t .

That was a hammer you killed in Illinois hat. Awesome story there too. Way to capitalize on the chance. I’ve never hunter out of state and have been saying for years I’d love to get somewhere in the Midwest. I just struggle getting away from fly fishing trips lol.