chrislibby88
Senior Member
Went with my brother and buddy Garrison down to an east GA WMA that my brother has hunted for a few years. First night down I got in the tree early, a spot my brother sent me to. He was hunting about 600 yards up on a feed tree in a cane thicket. Im on a big dry open slough, with a persimmon in the middle still trickling fruit down. The banks of the slough turn into cane and palmetto thickets sprinkled with swamp chestnut oaks, and many of them are dropping good. Saw deer almost every hour on the hour, and small bucks were chasing a tiny doe all over the place. It was mayhem, perfect rut action, just no deer I wanted to shoot. We went back in the next morning and my brother setup in that area and moved further down the slough, thinking the downwind side would produce some bucks cruising. I was wrong. Only saw turkeys all morning. My brother shot a 3 point around 8:30, I think the same small buck that was pushing the tiny doe around.
We decided to give that spot a break the next evening and hunted another area, but the acorns weren’t there, the buck sign was from weeks ago and we both saw nothing but a set of hunters I rattled in.
The next morning we went to a spot dubbed “big buck slough” and again, same situation. None of the chestnuts were dropping and the rubs were all old. There was a good fresh scrape line down the edge of the slough but we both only saw turkeys and pigs.
We decided for the last night to go back to the chasing slough, but setup different. We went in and found some hot chestnuts on the upwind side of the slough. We both saw deer feeding in the thick but had no clean shots. As dark was rolling in I started getting ready to climb down. I let my bag down my rope and decided to throw a last minute Hail Mary. I bounce my bag on the ground several times while letting out a few grunts, stashed my grunt tube, dropped my gear rope, and then dropped my seat cushion and hear footsteps approaching from the slough. I decided I was shooting anything that gave me a shot, as this was the last minutes of the last day. Got my gun ready and started looking but could only hear it, finally made a body heading straight for my tree and waited for it get close enough to see clear in my scope, put it where the neck and shoulder blade meet, bang, drop. Climbed down and what do you know? It’s a solid buck, not huge, but mature. He weighed 120lbs field dresses. Dnr aged him at 4.5-5.5. These swamp deer aren’t like the 200 pounders in the middle of the state. My brother has pictures of an almost identical deer. He also has a very similar shed with even heavier mass from a few years ago. We have a suspicion that this deer could be much older and in decline, but it’s impossible to tell. I will let y’all judge from the pictures. I’m thinking he’s the offspring of the heavy mass shed buck. Anyway, great close to an action packed hunt.
What do y’all think? Same buck in the photo or maybe his son?
We decided to give that spot a break the next evening and hunted another area, but the acorns weren’t there, the buck sign was from weeks ago and we both saw nothing but a set of hunters I rattled in.
The next morning we went to a spot dubbed “big buck slough” and again, same situation. None of the chestnuts were dropping and the rubs were all old. There was a good fresh scrape line down the edge of the slough but we both only saw turkeys and pigs.
We decided for the last night to go back to the chasing slough, but setup different. We went in and found some hot chestnuts on the upwind side of the slough. We both saw deer feeding in the thick but had no clean shots. As dark was rolling in I started getting ready to climb down. I let my bag down my rope and decided to throw a last minute Hail Mary. I bounce my bag on the ground several times while letting out a few grunts, stashed my grunt tube, dropped my gear rope, and then dropped my seat cushion and hear footsteps approaching from the slough. I decided I was shooting anything that gave me a shot, as this was the last minutes of the last day. Got my gun ready and started looking but could only hear it, finally made a body heading straight for my tree and waited for it get close enough to see clear in my scope, put it where the neck and shoulder blade meet, bang, drop. Climbed down and what do you know? It’s a solid buck, not huge, but mature. He weighed 120lbs field dresses. Dnr aged him at 4.5-5.5. These swamp deer aren’t like the 200 pounders in the middle of the state. My brother has pictures of an almost identical deer. He also has a very similar shed with even heavier mass from a few years ago. We have a suspicion that this deer could be much older and in decline, but it’s impossible to tell. I will let y’all judge from the pictures. I’m thinking he’s the offspring of the heavy mass shed buck. Anyway, great close to an action packed hunt.
What do y’all think? Same buck in the photo or maybe his son?
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