Shot this buck the last half hour of the last day of 6-day. My history with this buck goes back to August when I threw some bait and hung a camera to see what's in the area. I got tons of pics of him with a bigger frame 10. I stopped baiting in September because the area does really good with all the acorns and the bait messes their natural pattern up. I've hunted this area for 10 years and every season it gets hot during the rut, this year I kept seeing the deer 60yds behind me in the thicker laurels so I moved my standin october and it has been on fire ever since. Everytime I sat that stand I saw deer, lots of small bucks, a few big boys out of range, had the big 10 follow a doe right under me in camera 30mins after I climbed down, it started getting frustrating. I kept getting nighttime pics of this buck walking by my stand then finally started getting daytime pics of him at my other stand 400yds away. I started putting my time in that tree but never actually saw him on hoof. With gun season coming up, I figured he was either getting shot by the clubs or he will get pushed into the swamp to my gun stand. For the hell of it I threw some bait out a week before 6-day and hung a camera just to see what was around, I went in to pull my camera the day before 6day and to my surprise he was making daylight showings! I've been hunting for 10 years and I have never killed a nice buck over bait and rarely got daytime pics of them on bait so when I seen him making a few daytime showings in a week I knew he was bedded close and I might have a shot at him. I hunted there the first 3 mornings, passing up a few small bucks, then I would move into the swamp for the rest of the day praying the clubs wouldn't drive where he was, Wednesday evening I had a big 6 come in, a few does, it started getting dark and I seen him working his way to me but it was too dark to confirm it was him till I checked the camera. I gave it a rest the next 2 days and with the snow Coming down Saturday, I made the desision to do or die in this tree. He was the buck I was after. I checked the camera Saturday morning and he didn't return since Wednesday night, figured I spooked him walking out that night my hopes were low. The morning was slow, I got back in the tree at 2, the snow was coming down good and by 230 I had a small 6 come right in, debating on shooting him since it was the last day I kept reminding myself of the big one and telling myself there's no point in shooting a small buck, had a few does come out shortly after, one big doe got downwind of me and started blowing, by now it's the last hour of the hunt and I think my hunt is over, all of a sudden all the does look into the laurels and take off running, I hear something crashing, thinking it's the buck, I turn and it's a guy walking around with a shotgun onlywearing a orange hat. He walks right to me and makes a left, heading right into the bedding area again. I whistle at him, he apologizes and turned and headed towards the trail. Now I'm really mad, soaking wet from the melting snow, thinking for sure my hunt is over, I decide to just stick it out. 15 mins later I see a deer walking in 60yds away, then I see the rack and know immediately it's him. From that point I didn't look at the antlers and focused on the shot. I shoulder the gun and try to keep myself from shaking... he comes right into 30yds and stops broadside. I put it on his shoulder and the 00 buck dropped him in his tracks. I was using my grandfathers old remington model 48 auto loader and I'm not sure if something froze or what but the gun jammed!! He's kicking around and I can't get another shot! Finally I chamber a new shell and finish him off. It's probably the craziest hunt of my life having the guy walk through the laurels right where he came from 15 mins before he stepped out, almost shooting the little buck, having the does blow and all the snow and almost climbing down multiple times, all a great ending for a buck I've tried to kill all bow season. He's my biggest jersey buck rack wise, I'm guessing he's a younger deer with great genetics because his body was smaller than average, we don't get big bodied deer around here. He's a main frame 10 with 2 stickers on his G2s makes him a 12. Yeah he would have been a slammer next year but there's plenty of other hunters around here and I wasn't passing up my biggest jersey buck. Looking back at 2 other bucks I've killed in the same area over the years, it's crazy how much alike they are. They are main frame 10 but the other 2 the stickers didn't fully grow but the bumps are in the same location and the tunes are almost identical, I guess those genes are heavy in this area. Anyways sorry for the long post, just a lot of history with this buck and the hunt that made it happen deserves all the details
Alittle late but nice south jersey 12pt downand to my surprise, this buck
jerseybowhunter
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Shot this buck the last half hour of the last day of 6-day. My history with this buck goes back to August when I threw some bait and hung a camera to see what's in the area. I got tons of pics of him with a bigger frame 10. I stopped baiting in September because the area does really good with all the acorns and the bait messes their natural pattern up. I've hunted this area for 10 years and every season it gets hot during the rut, this year I kept seeing the deer 60yds behind me in the thicker laurels so I moved my standin october and it has been on fire ever since. Everytime I sat that stand I saw deer, lots of small bucks, a few big boys out of range, had the big 10 follow a doe right under me in camera 30mins after I climbed down, it started getting frustrating. I kept getting nighttime pics of this buck walking by my stand then finally started getting daytime pics of him at my other stand 400yds away. I started putting my time in that tree but never actually saw him on hoof. With gun season coming up, I figured he was either getting shot by the clubs or he will get pushed into the swamp to my gun stand. For the hell of it I threw some bait out a week before 6-day and hung a camera just to see what was around, I went in to pull my camera the day before 6day and to my surprise he was making daylight showings! I've been hunting for 10 years and I have never killed a nice buck over bait and rarely got daytime pics of them on bait so when I seen him making a few daytime showings in a week I knew he was bedded close and I might have a shot at him. I hunted there the first 3 mornings, passing up a few small bucks, then I would move into the swamp for the rest of the day praying the clubs wouldn't drive where he was, Wednesday evening I had a big 6 come in, a few does, it started getting dark and I seen him working his way to me but it was too dark to confirm it was him till I checked the camera. I gave it a rest the next 2 days and with the snow Coming down Saturday, I made the desision to do or die in this tree. He was the buck I was after. I checked the camera Saturday morning and he didn't return since Wednesday night, figured I spooked him walking out that night my hopes were low. The morning was slow, I got back in the tree at 2, the snow was coming down good and by 230 I had a small 6 come right in, debating on shooting him since it was the last day I kept reminding myself of the big one and telling myself there's no point in shooting a small buck, had a few does come out shortly after, one big doe got downwind of me and started blowing, by now it's the last hour of the hunt and I think my hunt is over, all of a sudden all the does look into the laurels and take off running, I hear something crashing, thinking it's the buck, I turn and it's a guy walking around with a shotgun onlywearing a orange hat. He walks right to me and makes a left, heading right into the bedding area again. I whistle at him, he apologizes and turned and headed towards the trail. Now I'm really mad, soaking wet from the melting snow, thinking for sure my hunt is over, I decide to just stick it out. 15 mins later I see a deer walking in 60yds away, then I see the rack and know immediately it's him. From that point I didn't look at the antlers and focused on the shot. I shoulder the gun and try to keep myself from shaking... he comes right into 30yds and stops broadside. I put it on his shoulder and the 00 buck dropped him in his tracks. I was using my grandfathers old remington model 48 auto loader and I'm not sure if something froze or what but the gun jammed!! He's kicking around and I can't get another shot! Finally I chamber a new shell and finish him off. It's probably the craziest hunt of my life having the guy walk through the laurels right where he came from 15 mins before he stepped out, almost shooting the little buck, having the does blow and all the snow and almost climbing down multiple times, all a great ending for a buck I've tried to kill all bow season. He's my biggest jersey buck rack wise, I'm guessing he's a younger deer with great genetics because his body was smaller than average, we don't get big bodied deer around here. He's a main frame 10 with 2 stickers on his G2s makes him a 12. Yeah he would have been a slammer next year but there's plenty of other hunters around here and I wasn't passing up my biggest jersey buck. Looking back at 2 other bucks I've killed in the same area over the years, it's crazy how much alike they are. They are main frame 10 but the other 2 the stickers didn't fully grow but the bumps are in the same location and the tunes are almost identical, I guess those genes are heavy in this area. Anyways sorry for the long post, just a lot of history with this buck and the hunt that made it happen deserves all the details
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Good story and pics! Congrats and Merry Christmas
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2,385 Posts
Nice buck & great story ... congrats!
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1,728 Posts
Great buck! Congrats!
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4,685 Posts
congrats nice buck . [up]
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1,030 Posts
Nice buck Congrats!
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5,082 Posts
Great job, congrats!
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4,625 Posts
beautiful buck and great story! very cool buddy and im sure some young hunters are reading this and learning that if you stick and stay, you just never know.
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355 Posts
great all around story, nice you got him with your grandfathers gun, and your perseverance paid off, congrats
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877 Posts
That whole story makes it .......what hunting is all about ! Congrats !
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