Midwestern 8 point

Hey guys-
I've been pretty busy since I returned from Nebraska.  The day after I got back, I gave my notice at work.  The last two weeks at work was crazy as folks were tapping me constantly in order to make sure that they had things covered once I left.

So now that I'm sitting down at home digesting Thanksgiving dinner, I figured it's time to share with you all my hunt in North Central Nebraska the first week of November:

First off- I'd like to say that we saw all kinds of weather- arrived Sunday, 11/2 to 79 degree temps which lasted though Tuesday. We didn't see alot of bucks the first two days, but the bucks we saw were HUGE. A buddy of mine & I saw both 150 & 160 class bucks on Tuesday morning. He saw them first heading my way, then I saw them 40 minutes later.

When he saw them- they were 50 yards away down a steep slope with no clear shooting lanes. When I saw them, they were 70 yards away crossing an open field. I couldn't get them to stop for a doe bleat or buck grunt- they just kept crossing the field 'til they reached the woodline (now 90 yards away) and looked back before disappearing as they headed up the scrub Oaked ridge.

At that point, I knew I was in the right general area & knew the bucks I wanted to hunt, I just needed to get closer. So I told my guide I wanted to use one of the blinds that was back at camp & we set it up & brushed it in on Tuesday after lunch and there I sat- waiting for the next 2.5 days. On Wednesday, I saw lots of deer- whiteails, mulies, does, bucks........ but neither of the two "big boys" I was waiting for- so I passed on them all. Wednesday was cloudy, a "little" windy (only 17 mph) and the rain came in just as I came out of the blind Wednesday night.

Then it got fun. Thursday morning arrived and we were greeted with rain (which turned to snow flurries) and 40 mph winds. I didn't see squat while it was raining, but surprisingly enough, once it turned to snow- the deer came out in 40 mph winds to feed. The young bucks were definitely chasing & the does wanted NOTHING to do with them. The big boys weren't coming in to horns, grunts, or doe bleats........ I guess that's why they were able to get that BIG!! I saw lots of deer on Thursday and I had an OK time. My 3 buddies were still in tree stands and they came in at lunch and were frozen (so was one of their bows) and when they came in from the afternoon sit they were mentally shattered. The weather was simply BRUTAL.

Friday arrived & it was our last day to hunt. Unfortunately, the wind/rain didn't let up. Mind you- just 2 hours north of us in Rapid City, SD....... they got 48 inches of snow on Thursday! So we still felt lucky that we only received a dusting and the backlash winds. The wind on Friday was 25-30mph. I was tucked away in my blind waiting for the big boys- safe from the wind/rain and relatively comfortable. In the afternoon, this eight came in and offered me a 29 yard broadside shot with a ~20mph left to right crosswind. He wasn't the biggest buck I saw all week, but he was the biggest in bow range who offered a good shot. So I took him. He went about 65 yards up the ridgeline (anyone who says hit deer don't run uphill are wrong) and piled up.



I was hunting with a pretty picky bunch. None of the other three guys tagged out on bucks, two of them took does on Friday afternoon.  One guy took a 40 yard shot in low light on the 150, but his arrow hit a branch he couldn't see and sent the arrow over the buck's back. This guy passed on multiple bucks in the 120-130 range on at least 4 occasions.

Another guy, took a shot at a 140 class buck from 34 yards with 10 minutes of shooting light left. The buck jumped the string and he wound up hitting the buck in the neck. They let

May your arrow fly true & avoid all timber

Dawg:
 
Congrats on a fine buck!  Sorry that the weather didn't cooperate with you more on your hunt.  Believe me, I know exactly how that feels (Manitoba spring bear hunt). 
 
Also, thanks much for sharing your story and pictures with us.  We sincerely appreciate it! 
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

So you were out there during the big storm, huh!  Those are great pictures and the country looks like it would hold some nice whitetails.  We had beautiful weather on our deer/antelope hunt in Wyoming the last ten days of October and first few days of November.  In fact, I got my second best mulie ever on 11/1 (see picture in the Harvest Section).  We then headed up into southwest North Dakota for our pheasant hunt and set up camp on 11/4.  The next day we awoke to rainy weather and the forecast was for a blizzard within 24 hours.  Early in the afternoon it got worse and we barely got out to a main road before our two-track road became impassable.   By the time we got 60 miles north to Dickinson to a motel the temperature was dropping rapidly and the winds were rising.  We rode a major blizzard out in a motel room for two days and heard the brunt of the storm was down around Rapid City.  We finally headed back down that way to our hunt area late Friday and tried to hunt, but the drifts were 10' high and most of the backroads were impassable.  We finally gave up and headed for home on Sunday morning with a temperature of 3 degrees.  The good news is that we, as you, made it home safely.  You just can't fool with Mother Nature, but we'll be back out there again next year trying!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

   Nice deer and story, thank you...so did you use an outfitter???
   Jeff

Nice buck and thanks for the pics and story.

Semper Paratus
Final Approach Pro-Staff
Foiles Migrators Pro-Staff
Rig'Em Right Pro-Staff
Duck Junkies Pro-Staff
Clearwater Fl. Ducks Unlimited Committee Member
TEAM TRIPPLE H
TEAM BUSH QUACKED

Shadow,
 We used an outfitter, but quite frankly- on this property, the four of us felt they were set up more for gun hunters than bow hunters.  They had all of us close to trophy bucks, but only one of us really had one legitimate opportunity to drop the string on a trophy buck within reasonable bow range.
 
 They had good deer on the property and the habitat was absolutely beautiful.  However we all felt that they stopped short of doing ALL their homework and really understanding the deer's travel patterns, routes, stream crossings..... etc..... They got us close- but not close enough to the true trophy bucks.
 
 I would go back & use them again, but only if they addressed some issues we identified this season.
 
Rob

May your arrow fly true & avoid all timber

  Thanks for the honest reply!  Know what you mean...Was on a bear hunt that kinda went that way (my 1st "guided" hunt)....