Moose Droppings

 The day started at 5am with 4 hunters to be placed in their stands. I got them all in by about 6am and pulled my truck down to a corner between two food plots and a field of standing corn. My thoughts were to sit there and watch for deer and bears moving from the feeding areas to the thickets and had no intentions of getting in to a stand. About 20 minutes after starting to get light, I thought about this little stand that I had tucked up in a bay tree on a canal edge and decided to go sit in it for a bit to see what was moving thru.

I had just settled in to the ladder stand when a sow bear with 3 cubs came through and stopped to munch on pokeberries for about 10 mins. They left and two larger bears passed thru and did the same thing. After the two bears moved on, two does started moving by (about 7:10am)and I thought I would get to shoot, but they held up at about 35 yards and grazed on honeysuckle for a bit and then bedded down about 50 yards out. The two larger bears came back at about 7:30am only to move about under the stand and leave, again. At 7:35am, I heard a large branch break directly in front of me and I thought it was another bear, but I got the surprise of my life when all I saw was antlers pushing thru the bay bushes!! Everthing happened pretty quickly after that. The buck came out straight on to me, but had to take a left or right turn. I had drawn while he was clearing the brush, so all I had to do was stay a full draw ’till he turned. He obliged me with a right turn after about 10 seconds and then stopped for a pretty good angle on the left side. I shot, watched the arrow hit then exit and flip on the ground opposite him as he whirled to go back in the brush. He stumbled as he went off the trail and then I heard him fall and stuggle to get up and then struglle with breathing. He had gone about 30 yards and everything but a severe case of the shakes and hyperventilation was over. I guess exilaration is the closest word I can find to describe the feeling I had when we got to him. Still got it, too.

I’ll get a better score on him tomorrow, but I think ~130 is gonna be close. P&Y minimum is 125, so I’m hopeful. He weighed 187 lbs. on the hoof and tooth wear aged him at 4 1/2 years old.

Well we are certainly glad that Mike got such a magnificent animal and we’ll be hopeful for a good score for Pope & Young. I suspect we’ll all get a good look at this deer at the next Dixie Deer Classic. I’m also certain that with all the land Mike has for guiding on that there maybe another deer like this walking around. Give him a call to see if he has any openings this season.