Well, Wednesday marked the halfway point of our hunt. The weather had been tough at best, and it looked like trend would continue. Afternoon highs in the mid 80s, 90-100% humidity, blue bird skies = perfect recipe for tough hunting.

For the morning hunt, my dad and I set up about 200 yards apart and tried to ambush the big buck from yesterday’s morning hunt. The landowner had sighted the buck at last light the previous evening emerging from where he entered when I lost track of him. His assessment confirmed my suspicions…SHOOTER! Well, long story short…morning hunt turned out to be a bust and we only saw 1 doe. Must have been an early bedtime for our big buck!

After lounging around town for the better part of the day, we headed back out to our stands for the evening hunt. Dad returned to his Double Bull blind, but only saw 3 does before the wind shifted and the action ceased. One of the other guys hunting with us saw a couple of bucks, but nothing exciting…the biggest being a 110″ 8 pointer.

Me, on the other hand, I still had the hot hand. Wednesday evening produced my 3rd big buck encounter of the week. Trying a spot that had not been hunted since Monday night, I looked out into the beans around 6:00 p.m. to see a deer stand up out of its bed.

I put my binoculars up to discover I was looking at another 140″+ class buck. This time he had 10 well-defined tines. 8-9″ G2s, 10-11″ G3s, strong G4s, long beams…BIG buck. Since he was screened by some greenbriar hanging in the tree I was hunting, I grabbed the video camera and shot 4 or 5 seconds to prove to everyone that I wasn’t having visions and dreams. After a little footage had been shot, I picked up my muzzleloader and waited for him to make the next move.

Unfortunately, he just meandered away from me until the first clear shot I had was at 138 yards. But with no rest or limb to brace on, I didn’t feel comfortable with the shot and buck #3 hopped into the brush. It was a lonely rest of the evening waiting for a buck that never reappeared.

This was the thick CRP brush that the buck headed into. Great security cover, but super tough to hunt during the early season.

I thought this gas pump picture was priceless (no pun intended). I guess a farmer was filling up a supplemental gas tank for grain harvest season??? Outrageous though!