Hunter: Russ Sanders
Points: 9 (5L, 4R)
County: Polk
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
I had not been to my Dad's property since last November. I only hunted the property once last year and took a doe. I did have trail cameras out last year, and I believe I have pictures of the "wide 9" taken during this hunt. After cleaning leaves most of the day, I decided to jump in the shower ( scent wash used) and sneak through my dad's back pasture to an old buddy stand we put up many years ago. The stand is placed on a fence line that connects a large section of pine to my right, thick hardwoods to my left and over looks a 20 acre pasture of wheat hay. Cows are present on the property and, given the current drought conditions, the hay had not been cut this season to allow for winter forage. Behind my stand was a large area of planted pines owned by the timber company that has always held a good number of deer but the terrain was steep in places and mostly to thick to hunt. The pasture was always a great evening spot for me to see deer especially if the acorn crop was good and this year it was. I got into the stand around 5:20 p.m. with about two good hours of shooting light left. Around 6 p.m. three mature does came down the ridge directly behind me and crossed the fence 10-15 yards to my right. I could hear them crunching acorns as they slowly eased down the ditch line. This was a great sign the Deer were using the area for Red Oak and White Oak acorns. Twenty minutes or so after the does crossed in the area, I noticed a deer come out into the field to my left about 100 yards out. I raised my binoculars and could that the deer was a buck but couldn't get a good idea of age or size as his horns blended in with the brown hair in the background. As I lowered my binoculars I noticed that a second deer has stepped out about 20 yards closer. As I raised my binoculars back up, I immediately knew this Deer was a good deer based on the width of his horns. I grabbed up my rifle and put the scope on him, "Good Deer" I said to myself. I gave the deer a bleat to stop him broadside and squeezed off a single shot toward his front shoulder. The deer bounced about 10 yards and stopped. I waited a few seconds for the deer to fall but he didn't and I added another shot for insurance. The Deer ran over hill and out of site carrying his front leg. Just before dark, I got down to look for blood but was unable to locate a trail. I searched up and down the hill for any sign and just before panic set in I stumbled across the old boy just 20 yards from the original shot. Thank you lord for a blessed day in the woods!
