|
Hunt Introduction This whitetail deer bowhunt takes place on public land in central North Dakota. I hunted here 2 years ago and had a good hunt. I saw some nice bucks on that hunt and this year I decided to go back. The area I'm hunting is very open country, with very few trees big enough for a tree stand. There's a river bottom that runs through the area, but even that doesn't have many trees along it. There are a number of planted fields of corn and sunflowers, and there are a few alfalfa fields as well. The deer bed in the tall riverbottom grass during the day, and come up in the evenings to feed on giant sunflower and corn crops. I came this early in the season because the bucks are still in bachelor groups and in their late summer feeding patterns, making them a little more predictable. Pre-Hunt Scouting On Thursday I put boot leather on the ground and did some scouting for 2 different stand sites. I set up one stand where I saw a good buck on my hunt here 2 years ago. The 2nd stand I set up in an area I hadn't hunted previously, but it looked really good, lots of trails and good buck sign from last year. My stand is between a riverbottom bedding area and a sunflower field where the deer are coming to feed. There are two heavy trails within shooting distance of my stand. That is where I'll hunt tomorrow morning.  My stand set-up in one of the few trees big enough it just happened to be where I needed it to be
 My stand is set-up about 150 yards from this sunflower field Friday A.M.  Dawn breaks on Friday morning I wasn't sure what to expect this morning, because at first light these deer make a beeline for the river bottom bedding area. I was hoping that I was far enough from the sunflower field to catch some deer heading back to bed, but that was not the case. I didn't have any deer within less than 100 yards from me. I did see almost 25 deer this morning, though, anywhere between 100 yards to 3/4 mile away. Nine of those deer were bucks, most of them young, but at least two of them were "shooters". I watched them disappear into the riverbottom about an hour after daylight. I do have a lot more confidence in this stand location for an evening hunt. I'm coming back here this evening, so we'll see how that goes. Friday P.M.  One of the views from my stand this evening The weather was still and cool this evening, so I was hoping for good deer movement. About an hour and a half before dark a young 8-point came trotting from his bedding area, no doubt daydreaming about sunflowers.  A young 8-point that came by me early About half an hour later I was watching a few does quite a ways in the distance, and then I started scanning the horizon looking for other deer. As I was scanning all of a sudden a buck popped into view out of the riverbottom - and he was headed right in my direction! He was about 500 yards away when I first saw. After a close look at him with my binoculars I could see that he was an 8-point and looked like a shooter. With him was another 8-point, although a young one.  Two bucks approaching my spot I watched those bucks for about the next 45 minutes as they slowly worked their way in my direction, feeding all the while. As they got closer, they appeared to be heading towards a trail that would lead them by me out of range. Sure enough, once they reached the woods belt where I was, they were about 50 yards away. I watched the bigger buck demolish a small cedar tree. Since his testosterone was apparently up, I decided to try my grunt call and see if that would bring him closer. It did get his attention enough for him to take a few steps in my direction, but when he didn't see another deer he lost interest. He kept on in the direction he was going, and shortly I heard branches snapping as he beat up on another tree out of my sight. I figured he was gone for the evening, and I was actually watching the 3rd young buck of the evening work his way towards me when I heard footsteps from the direction the bigger buck had taken. A few seconds later I saw him cautiously coming towards me. I guess his curiosity got the better of him, but he still looked hesitant. I grunted once more and that was all he needed. He started coming steadily towards me then. I couldn't see him, but I could hear his footsteps as he got closer. I drew my bow right when he was about to step out into the open. He came into the open and stopped, but the angle was straight-on, so there was no good shot. He stood there for about a minute, all while I was drawn, and then he finally turned slightly and started walking almost broadside. I bleated at him right before he went behind a bush, and he stopped, giving me the opportunity I needed for a shot. I held tight behind his shoulder and released the arrow. The shot was about 12 yards. The arrow hit right where I was aiming and disappeared. The buck whirled and started running back towards the river, but he only made it about 75 yards, where I watched him crumple! I was prepared to be here for a week, but I never mind when I'm able to punch my tag with a nice buck on the first evening of the hunt! My buck was a nice 8-point with a 16-inch inside spread and strips of dried velvet hanging off of his antlers. And, he was butterball fat. Should be great eating.  Picture taken shortly after my buck went down   Picture taken the next morning Hunt Conclusion All I can say is I'm glad I came back after my initial hunt here 2 years ago. I hope to be back here next year at the same time. 
Joshua Flournoy owns and manages the Livehunts.com web site. Joshua resides in east Texas with his wife and four children. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1997 Hunting Information Systems, All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this information is provided to you.
