day1
It didn't seem like much sleep. My plane landed in Oklahoma City
at 8:30 PM. Several hours, and one speeding ticket later I was pulling
into the driveway at Kent Jarnagin's place in Protection Kansas. It was early
morning so I quickly strung my bow, got my gear together and hit the sack. Dan
Bertalan of Great Outdoors Multimedia was my alarm clock at 5:00 AM. We met
Kent and jumped into the truck. Kent put me in a stand where Ken Beck of Black
Widow Bows shot an awesome buck 3 weeks ago (grossed 174) - I had no complaints
- Ken saw many more deer even bigger.
The deer moved right at first light. First came small 6pt followed
by some does. This immature 4pt. came under my stand along with a spike buck.
Young 7pt buck at 15 yards
But as the spike moved in front of me, a grunt caught me by surprise.
A mature 7pt buck had slipped in behind my stand and stood quartering away at
15 yards. I passed him hoping for something bigger. After all, it's only the
first morning! A few hours later Kent picked me and along with Dan we headed
out for lunch.
For the afternoon hunt I headed to a different part of Kent's
25,0000 acres. It was a beautiful wooded river basin next to a small stream.
There were rubs and deer trails everywhere. I knew it was going to be hot. Right
at 5:00 PM I caught movement. Down the trail came this magnificent 8pt buck.
He would be the biggest deer I had ever shot and I started to get that feeling
in my gut. As he walked down the trail it occurred that he was headed right
to me, I turned on my video camera and took a few pictures. A short feeding
at 15 yards and he walked right underneath my stand. I grabbed my bow, but at
the last minute decided to let him walk.
What a complete Jerk!
If this wasn't a family site I'd share some of the adjectives
I used for myself as I watched him walk off through the trees. I guess the size
wasn't the issues - I simply didn't want to end my hunt on the very first day.
I know, I'll probably regret it. At least I got pictures of him, otherwise you
guys would never believe what I passed up.
Would
you have passed this buck up? Discuss here
I passed on this buck at 3 yards. Watch
the Video
Dan had eight bucks within 20 yards, one of them was a book buck
which Dan passed up as well. Here are a couple photos that Dan took:
Young 12pt buck
Nice mature 10pt out of range
Although Dan's comment about my deer was not very comforting..."You
passed him up why?" He got some great video footage of two bucks fighting
and a huge 10pt that is spectacular! This deer hunting is unbelievable here
- I can't wait till tomorrow!
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