Hunter: Burke Slocumb
Points: 9 (5L, 4R)
County: Calhoun
Season: 2023-2024
Hunt Story
In the previous story, Burke and I were sitting an observation stand where we could see much farther than we could shoot. This time we chose a stand where our farthest shot was only about 75 yards. We didn't have much wind, but it was not quite right for this stand. The primary buck we were going after was a 5.5 year old we'd named Knox, and he was very much the dominant buck in that area. We hung the hocks from the 5.5 year old buck Burke had killed the day before in a tree near our stand to give the impression that an intruder had moved it. It was a gamble with the wind we had, but we decided to take the risk. To help with the situation, we borrowed my dad's Ozonics. This stand has corn feeders in front of it and a small food plot behind it. We had not been in the stand long when a few does came to the corn. Our wind was blowing toward them, and between the big buck hocks and the Ozonics, I think they knew something wasn't quite right, but they weren't completely spooked... just a little nervous acting. The does had not been there long when a couple of young bucks joined them. Then another group of does arrived and the young bucks began harassing them. I think this activity helped to distract them from our presence. Occasionally a couple of the older does acted like they were getting our wind, and we were beginning to think we may have made a mistake hunting this stand on that wind. Around 5:15, one of the closest does picked her head up looking at us and just kept staring. After a few seconds, I realized she was looking behind us towards the food plot. I turned my head slightly and cut my eyes and saw a big buck step into the food plot only about 50 yards away. I ducked my head down below the shooting window and whispered to Burke to look at the food plot. He turned his head, and I saw his eyes widen as he immediately whispered, "There's Knox!!" We tried to get turned around and situated for Burke to take a shot, but Knox cruised straight across the plot without stopping. He reached the other side and stopped and looked directly at us. We had to freeze and were not in position yet. He turned and calmly walked into the woods unspooked. We were bummed at missing the opportunity, but figured it was early enough that we may get another chance. He had not been downwind of us but was headed that direction. I was thinking we may get to see whether or not hanging those hocks had been a good idea. Once again we turned our attention towards the deer at the feeders. The younger bucks were still harassing the does and they kept running them around out of sight and then back into view. As it was getting closer to dark, I saw a buck come in from where I thought Knox might enter. I checked through my binoculars, and it was a 2.5-year-old that we'd been watching. As soon as I saw him, Burke started whispering "Dad, there's Knox! He just came in!" I argued back, "No, it's that 2-year-old we've been watching." He got emphatic, and said excitedly, "No, Dad! It's him! It's him!" I looked back at the deer I'd seen and it was definitely not Knox. I started to tell Burke to calm down as I nonchalantly panned my binoculars to the right, when all of a sudden a big set of antlers filled up my view. I said, "Oh dang! There's Knox! Burke get your gun up." As he was reaching for his rifle, he did not miss the opportunity to whisper, "I told you so!!" He got his gun up and ready. We had to wait a few minutes for him to turn broadside and to clear some overhanging limbs. When he was in the clear, I told Burke to take him. The shot was about 60 yards, and Knox took off with his tail down wagging side-to-side. We thought it looked like a good shot, but didn't see him fall, so we took our time packing up and getting down. After about 30 minutes we took up the track. We found scuff marks and running tracks on the ground near where he was standing. We found the first drop of blood about 10 yards from there. Another 10 or 15 yards of running tracks and we found several small drops of blood. From there we followed a light but steady blood trail for about 30 yards. Burke stopped and said, "I think I can smell him." I panned my flashlight around and he was laying about 10 yards away. Burke had gotten Knox! Upon reflecting back, when Burke saw Knox come in to the feeders, he wasn't really acting aggressively, so I don't really know if hanging the hocks from Nelly near the stand helped or not. But I do know that Knox did circle around and come in directly downwind of the feeders, so he had every opportunity to wind us. Given that he came on in anyway, I like to think the hocks were effective. Regardless, my boy had just tagged out on bucks in just under 24 hours. I had to explain to him that it doesn't usually work out quite so well. The rest of the weekend he wore "tagged out on bucks" and "on doe patrol for the rest of the season" as a badge of honor...made his dad and granddad really proud!
