rjcruiser
Senior Member
I had posted this in the LFTT section, but wanted to post the story here as well. Third year in a row of Kansas success....and this one definitely was the craziest harvest I've had.
Crazy for sure...got some salt blocks to pit in the mineral sites we have (since we're not going to be back till next fall) and needed to out them out Friday afternoon as it was last day of hunting. Put my backpack on, my bow over my shoulder and carried a salt block 450 yards to the spot in front of the stand I was going to hunt. Dropped the salt block off and dropped my bow and my back pack off at the base of the ladder stand to make sure where I Dropped the block was in fact the mineral site.
When I looked up, I lock eyes with this bruiser. He was across creek bed about 66 yards away and there were tons of limbs between us. I grabbed my bow, nocked an arrow, and started moving slowly and steadily to my right to try and hit an opening and close a little distance. I got to what I figured about 40 to 50 yards and still had twigs in the way. He then started to walk off along the creek edge towards the cut bean field...but when he did, he hit an opening. I grunted, he kept walking, I grunted again....still walking. I said "hey" a bit louder and that stopped him. Put my pin on him (slider was set at 40 and he was closer to 45) and pulled the release. Thwack! Looked a touch forward and low....but sounded good. He makes it 25 yards and stumbles...gets up, stumbles and he disappears. I know he didn't go North in field as I can see it clearly, but South was much thicker.
Did he make it out or did he drop? Text some friends to try and pass the time, climb the ladder stand and glass where I think he is and I see what looks to be a body. Wait a few minutes more and then go look. He's laying there 35 yards from where I shot him. Hit him in the heart slightly quartering towards me with the exit out behind front leg and through the right lung. Couldn't have asked for a better shot.
So blessed and beyond excited to get it done late in the trip on a day where I was thinking hunting was not going to be good because of wind and warmth. Just another example of stand time and a little (well...a lot of) luck being a huge factor in harvesting a mature buck.
He weighed in at 240 lbs and the taxidermist measured him at 146 3/8ths.
Crazy for sure...got some salt blocks to pit in the mineral sites we have (since we're not going to be back till next fall) and needed to out them out Friday afternoon as it was last day of hunting. Put my backpack on, my bow over my shoulder and carried a salt block 450 yards to the spot in front of the stand I was going to hunt. Dropped the salt block off and dropped my bow and my back pack off at the base of the ladder stand to make sure where I Dropped the block was in fact the mineral site.
When I looked up, I lock eyes with this bruiser. He was across creek bed about 66 yards away and there were tons of limbs between us. I grabbed my bow, nocked an arrow, and started moving slowly and steadily to my right to try and hit an opening and close a little distance. I got to what I figured about 40 to 50 yards and still had twigs in the way. He then started to walk off along the creek edge towards the cut bean field...but when he did, he hit an opening. I grunted, he kept walking, I grunted again....still walking. I said "hey" a bit louder and that stopped him. Put my pin on him (slider was set at 40 and he was closer to 45) and pulled the release. Thwack! Looked a touch forward and low....but sounded good. He makes it 25 yards and stumbles...gets up, stumbles and he disappears. I know he didn't go North in field as I can see it clearly, but South was much thicker.
Did he make it out or did he drop? Text some friends to try and pass the time, climb the ladder stand and glass where I think he is and I see what looks to be a body. Wait a few minutes more and then go look. He's laying there 35 yards from where I shot him. Hit him in the heart slightly quartering towards me with the exit out behind front leg and through the right lung. Couldn't have asked for a better shot.
So blessed and beyond excited to get it done late in the trip on a day where I was thinking hunting was not going to be good because of wind and warmth. Just another example of stand time and a little (well...a lot of) luck being a huge factor in harvesting a mature buck.
He weighed in at 240 lbs and the taxidermist measured him at 146 3/8ths.
Attachments
Last edited:
