Hunter: Ethan Seagraves
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Wilkes
Season: 2019-2020
Hunt Story
After a few hours on the stand, I decided to climb down because of a change of wind direction and also conditions were just not right for the area. I went to an area that was bordered with hardwoods to try and rattle in a buck but did not have any luck. After about an hour I decided to move again to a ridge line that overlooked a small creek with a small finger of hardwoods. This was an area I had planned to hang another stand in for the future. This time I was going to just hunt off the ground in hope of catching a buck chasing a doe or just to see some deer. When I walked up to the ridge I spooked a few deer and they ran off the opposite direction. But, I decided to set up anyways. After about 30 minutes the wind picked up and I was worried about my scent traveling. So in a last effort I let out a few soft grunts and just a few minutes after caught a glimpse of a doe passing through the hardwoods. I noticed as she passed through there was only one shooting lane in the direction she was traveling. As the doe was almost out of sight to my left, I caught movement from the same place she came from but could only see the legs. As the deer started walking I could tell it was a buck just by the body language and posture. I got my rifle ready hoping that when I had an opening it would be a good buck. The buck then stuck his head up into the sunlight and I knew this was a buck that I wanted. Long tines and tall but not a lot of width which was fine with me, but just a good mature deer. He was on the same trail as the doe who had already left so I knew he would pass through the shooting lane I picked out earlier. As soon as the buck got there I let out a soft bleat to stop him. He did just that and was perfectly broadside for a shot at roughly 60-70 yards. I shot and he fell exactly where he stood and was an easy recovery. This hunt played out just like I hoped it would. I knew deer were using that area and caught a buck I wanted traveling through. Awesome hunt and deer.
