Hunter: Travis Burroughs
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Lincoln
Season: 2023-2024
Hunt Story
That morning I had hunted a ladder stand nearby on private property in Lincoln County. I got down around 11 a.m. and decided to do some scouting of a nearby creek bottom on the Clarks Hill Lake Corps of Engineers land. I crossed onto the corps and made my way down the ridge to the creek bottom. As soon as I got to the creek bottom I began to see rubs. I had been in the area previously and I knew it got thicker further downstream. I also knew it merged with another creek. I continued to see rub after rub after rub. Some rubs were small, some were large and several were high. Many appeared to be fresh. I got to the merge of the two creeks and eased into some of the thicker under-story. I continued finding rubs and instead of pushing in deeper I turned and started up the other creek bottom. Again I continued to find rubs. At that point, I decided I had seen enough and did not need to risk "stinking up" the area any more than I already potentially had. On my way out I picked out a tree I wanted to put my climber on. The tree was at the end of the ridge that died into where the two creeks met and about 30 yards off the thicker stuff. I hoped that once I got up I could see into the brush as well as up both creeks. I wanted to be back at the base of the tree at 2:30. I ended up talking to a friend prior to heading back into the woods and was running 30 minutes late. I climbed the tree and got settled in by about 330~345 (I intentionally did not take my phone because I prefer to be unplugged and besides I knew I would not have a signal, so I do not know the exact time I settled in). I was up approximately 20 feet and could not see as well into the thick stuff directly in front of me as I had hoped, but I could see up both creeks better than I expected. I checked the wind a couple of different times and it was swirling. No consistent wind. Sometimes it was blowing into the thick stuff, sometimes up one creek and another time up the other creek. I watched an osprey land in a tree on the other side of where the two creeks come together assuming he was looking for a squirrel for dinner. I watched a chipmunk directly underneath me. I watched a redheaded woodpecker go to roost in a hole inside a dead tree. It was odd, but the later it got the more active the squirrels seemed to be. I kept telling myself, 'the first time you hunt a location is the best chance of sneaking in on something'. As the sun started to set I heard footsteps from in front of me but a little to my right, which is good because I am left-handed. I knew it was not a squirrel. The steps went on for long enough that I felt like something should have already come into view. I had good visibility in the direction I thought I was hearing steps but I never saw anything appear, so I told myself 'I guess you do not know the difference between what a squirrel vs a deer sounds like'. Probably less than 30 seconds after that thought, I saw a deer about 70 yards in front but slightly to my right. I could tell it was a good deer but not quite sure how good, so I intentionally picked up my rifle instead of my binoculars and that is when I realized he was pretty good deer and took my safety off. It was too thick with too many limbs and branches to risk a shot. He was on the prowl and made his way up the creek to my right and was out of sight about as quick as he appeared. My grunt call was inside my pack hanging behind me so I did have a chance to get his attention. I put the safety back on and laid my rifle back across my lap. I had a scent canister about 25 yards to my right with doe in heat. I had another to my left of buck lure. I think the wind must have shifted and I think he got a good whiff of doe in heat because I heard footsteps again and this time they were quick. Before I had time to pick up my rifle from my lap he had made from being out of sight to the scent canister, passed it, and was headed right to me. I turned scope down to 3, took the safety off,.....he is still coming, by now he is 5 steps from base of tree and is so close I cannot see his whole shoulder, only a portion of it. Because I knew it was a very steep angle I aimed high on the shoulder anticipating the bullet would travel down through the vitals and grunted with my mount and squeezed the trigger. He buckled and ran tail tucked right beside the tree. I stood up and watched him continue up the ridge in the direction that I came in from. I lost sight of him, but thought I heard him crash. At that point adrenaline kicked in. I sat down to give him some time, if in fact he did crash, as well as gather myself from the rush. It continued to get darker and darker and I decided that if he did not crash, then I needed to get down and find the first spot of blood before it was black dark. I unloaded the rifle and lowered it to the ground. As I packed up my backpack, I heard my son shoot on the private land and thought he probably picked out a nice doe in the food plot and that we might have a busy night in front of us. I got situated in the stand to climb down and loosened the tree-strap of my hunter safety harness. I made my way down the tree, disconnected the tree-strap, stepped out of the stand, took off my harness and put it in my back pack. I went to the spot where I thought he was standing and by now there is not hardly any light remaining. I did not see any blood. Nada. To say the least, I was disappointed as well as surprised at nothing. I retrieved my two scent canisters and went back to the spot I shot and the place he ran by the tree. By now it is black dark. I decided I did not need to walk in the path that he took just in case I was missing some blood in poor light and if I needed to call a dog I did not need to 'stink up' the deer's scent trial. I had to walk out the way he traveled to get out. I had made a couple of land marks of where he ran and I could pick out a blown down tree and root ball he went by and continued to look for any sign of blood while at the same time staying off his trail (hopefully). The discouragement at this point was really setting in. I slowly went up the ridge scanning and telling myself I might catch a white belly with my headlamp if what I heard was a crash. Then I caught something white and I thought "is that a belly", so I slowly took a couple more steps "I think it is a belly...or is it just the way the light is reflecting off a rock" then a couple more steps...."No it is a belly and he did CRASH". At that point the pace of the steps picked up and the relief and excitement set it. I got to the deer and out loud let out some sort of Rick Flair "whooo". Then I gave thanks out loud. It was an amazing flow of emotion from feeling down and discouraged to then feeling really high. I was so thankful. Then I took in at how big his body was. This was really healthy deer with a big body (for Lincoln County). I picked my rifle back up and took 1 step to walk out to get more help and realized I had not even counted the points, so I set my rifle down and took a minute to really appreciate his antlers. I got to camp and found that my son had not shot a doe. He shot an 8pt and in his words "with 12" G2's". I thought that statement was his adrenaline talking. Ray and his son Hunter came to help us retrieve them both. Hunter and my son went to middle school and high school together and played sports together and that is how Ray and I became friend. We all went and got Logan's buck 1st because it was closer. We go into the woods and Hunter says 'here he is' and I come around the other side of a tree and see the spread sticking up well above the hind end of his buck and realize he has killed a really awesome buck. Super tall G2s and mass throughout the antlers. As of this writing we have not measured anything on either of our deer. So that evening was filled with joy, adrenaline and appreciation of what had just happened. We both killed our personal bests within 10 minutes of each other. My dad first took me deer hunting 48 years ago when I was 5 and he and I never had that sort of luck, so I have told people that this was a once in 2 lifetimes occurrence and that what we got to experience will likely never happen again. We know our bucks are not GON cover bucks, but they were both healthy mature deer and we are grateful for the moment together. It was truly an amazing amazing amazing blessing to get to experience it with my son and share with our friends.
