Hunter: Sam Light
Points: 10 (6L, 4R)
County: Hancock
Season: 2020-2021
Hunt Story
I had hunted this spot three times during bow season. I had not seen a deer. I drove past this spot on the way to another stand on Saturday afternoon and looked into the hunting area. The buck was standing and looking at the road. I pulled over and parked my truck to return and the buck was gone. I hunted that evening in a different spot thinking about that deer the entire time. I got up early and went to that spot with my climber. After getting set in the tree for about an hour I saw nothing, then a spike came by running with his nose on the ground. Another cow horn spike came from behind me and walked into the cutover. A doe came out of the same spot about 40 minutes later and walked within 30 yards of me. I sat and debated on taking her, but I waited for the buck to follow her. I was going to get down and head home at 10 A.M. At 9:30 A.M. I saw movement where the spike had walked into the cutover. I put my binoculars up and all I saw was horns coming through the brush. I pulled up my rifle and he froze. I thought I was busted. He looked at me through the brush for about 20 seconds, then put his head down and walked into my shooting lane. I shot and he mule kicked and ran forward. I lost sight of him as he ran behind the brush. I heard a crash and knew he was down. I text my buddy and waited 20 minutes to get down and recover the deer. I got down and walked to the area I heard the crash, no deer. I started walking around and could not find him anywhere. I text for help and continued to look. I am color blind, so tracking blood is impossible. My buddy and I looked for about 30 minutes. He decided to go out in the cutover while I stayed in the woods where I had heard the crash. He called for me about 10 minutes later. He found blood. We walked right to the deer, but he was not dead. Of course we left our rifles back at the truck. I got behind the deer and held his head as we finished him off with a knife. WOW, what a hunt. First buck I have taken that I had on camera and purposely hunted an area in search of one buck.