TheWhitetailNut
WKR
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2020
- Messages
- 365
I may have hunted more than ever in the last 6 weeks. Mostly I'm sure because I never identified a mature buck to target this season. After a wonderful recovery in Montana, the truck was pointed back to the Midwest to chase big whitetail bucks. Issue is I could not find one on ground I had access to in Illinois, Indiana, or Michigan. I even resorted to hunting some public in southern Michigan hoping for a little luck.
To make matters more dire, my daughter has been hunting for 7 years and remained buckless. This is our last season before she goes to college so we planned an old school deer camp in Michigan's Upper Peninsula making use of Thanksgiving days off. On the very land I killed my first buck on, our land. Just being in those woods trimmed in blue frigid light and snow was like a time machine and I hoped the magic would take hold. If the spell is strong enough she can make the hour drive from NMU to camp and we can still hunt together. Later, her kids can hunt there as 6th generation stewards.
We made the trip up despite a recent fever induced miss on a nice Illinois buck, another near miss in pursuit of success. On the first morning a young 8 pointer strode across the open Maple ridge to investigate some does in a popular finger of cedars, passing the blind at 20 yards. He was moving fast so I opened the window and Lilly slipped the barrel out. The angle was hard so I told her he would likely turn left at the base of the ridge. When he did I started to say "shoot" but a puff of steam and melted snow erupted from behind the shoulder. Unsure of herself, Lilly paused after the shot as the buck angled away through the tangle of cedar. I said "it looked perfect!" to which she exclaimed "YES!" and pumped her fist instinctively. She was obviously both excited and relieved.
We followed his frantic trail among the others to the other side of the finger where he lay at the base of the ridge. There was not much blood so when I saw him I exhaled loudly, she heard this and said what? I said he's dead.. She looked ahead and saw him too...
To make matters more dire, my daughter has been hunting for 7 years and remained buckless. This is our last season before she goes to college so we planned an old school deer camp in Michigan's Upper Peninsula making use of Thanksgiving days off. On the very land I killed my first buck on, our land. Just being in those woods trimmed in blue frigid light and snow was like a time machine and I hoped the magic would take hold. If the spell is strong enough she can make the hour drive from NMU to camp and we can still hunt together. Later, her kids can hunt there as 6th generation stewards.
We made the trip up despite a recent fever induced miss on a nice Illinois buck, another near miss in pursuit of success. On the first morning a young 8 pointer strode across the open Maple ridge to investigate some does in a popular finger of cedars, passing the blind at 20 yards. He was moving fast so I opened the window and Lilly slipped the barrel out. The angle was hard so I told her he would likely turn left at the base of the ridge. When he did I started to say "shoot" but a puff of steam and melted snow erupted from behind the shoulder. Unsure of herself, Lilly paused after the shot as the buck angled away through the tangle of cedar. I said "it looked perfect!" to which she exclaimed "YES!" and pumped her fist instinctively. She was obviously both excited and relieved.
We followed his frantic trail among the others to the other side of the finger where he lay at the base of the ridge. There was not much blood so when I saw him I exhaled loudly, she heard this and said what? I said he's dead.. She looked ahead and saw him too...
