Got one.... state land can be tough.
Posted: October 15th, 2019, 10:48 pm
Been hunting the same chunk of state land on the midland/Gladwin Co line for 20+yrs. I’ve shot my share of deer but with no crop fields for 2 miles in any direction big bucks can be hard to come by. Then try sitting on the ground and trying to stick one with a crossbow, but last night set up perfect. Wind and weather were perfect for my best buck spot. Picked a large aspen tree and sat down 25yds from a tree that is a perennial scrape magnet. At 6 o’clock a basket rack 6-7 pt snuck in to 15yds over my left shoulder. I tried to get into position for a shot but the sun was in my face and I think he spotted the glare from my scope. Without a snort or stomp he calmly turned and trotted back the way he came. The wind died to a whisper and the silence made every sound seem like a deer so I lost my focus a little and right about 7 I look up and this dandy (remember this is high pressure low food land) 7pt is standing right where I want him at 25 yds under the scrape tree! I only glanced at his antlers once and knew yep that’s a shooter. He decided to make a scrape and I didn’t have my crossbow fully to my shoulder so I thought great! You scrape I’ll get ready and when you’re done BANG! Well he would scrape for 5 seconds then stare right at me. Pretty sure he could see me blink. After what seemed like an eternity he finished and immediately turned and started moving to my left. Plenty of brush between us gave a chance to shoulder my bow and find a narrow opening for the shot. 30yds and slightly quartering away I let it fly. A fern had blocked my view of the impact but it sounded like rib cage.He took off for 75 yds then stopped. He looked around put his tail down and began to stroll away calmly. I thought no way I missed! He walked at least another 30yds and right at the end zigzagged and crashed. The shot was a touch far back but nailed the liver on a clean pass through. Most exciting hunt of my life.
