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Day 6

Weather was going to be squirrelly today with warm, still weather this morning followed by 40mph winds this afternoon. It was also quite warm. We agonized over the decision of where to hunt the morning and ended up picking the Junkyard stand. This is a comfortable, Summit Vine ladder stand that is tucked behind a bunch of cedars. Great concealment.

It was slow. I only saw one rack buck and he was young. It was quite warm. My Sitka Fanatic system was a very poor choice.

I stayed in until noon. Only saw one small spike after the 8 at dawn.

We agonized again over the afternoon hunt. The wind was going to be blasting between 4-5pm with gusts to 50mph! Some stands were definitely off limits because you could never shoot in those winds. So we had two option, back to the junkyard, where the stand is in a thick woodlot which helps break up the wind. The other option was the South Pasture blind - but with temps in the 70's that blind was going to be an oven. I decided to go to Junkyard.

As we drove up to the stand we blew out a group of deer. One of them was a mature buck. It was a very fast glance but he looked good running through the trees. I wasted no time getting up that tree and setup. I watched Kent drive away.

I had to pee. So I whipped it out was about to pee off the side of the stand when I saw a buck walking through the trees. He was coming in! And I was "exposed." I quickly put it back and grabbed my glasses. It was a shooter buck, the heavy 9 that Clay Jarnagin had pics of. The buck walked within 80 yards of me and then plopped down and bedded in plain sight.

The buck bedded within sight of my stand. Maybe 80 yards away.

for the next two hours that buck bedded within sight. My wind appeared to blow directly to the buck but it didn't seem to affect him. I then saw a doe stand up and I realized what was going on. He was in lock down.

The buck stood up to confront and intimidate a smaller 8 point.

All I could do was wait him out. I was hunting bait and if his doe decided to hit the bait he would likely follow. Well, that's what happened. The doe got up and headed to the bait, but before the big 9 stood up, an immature 8 appeared out of nowhere and headed toward the doe. The big buck did not approve. He came at the smaller buck who immediately backed down. At that moment he headed to the bait. I waited for the perfect angle and as soon as I got it I took the shot with my new 2021 Mathews bow (launches November 17). The arrow hit him perfectly and the deer went down fast. I was tagged out!

Textbook shot placement. The deer dropped within sight.

Glad I passed up those smaller buck. He's a mature, heavy buck. Exactly what I wanted

He is a great buck with fantastic mass. I was thrilled. I look forward to this hunt every year and it never disappoints. November 2021 can't get here soon enough. My thanks to Kent and Clay Jarnagin for their friendship and for running the best deer operation around.