Well, here it is. My first deer taken on the first day. Saw him go into the corn from my stand in the morning and went back that afternoon to try and get him. About 20 minutes to sundown he comes out of the corn about 150 yards from where he went in. He played around in the bean stubble for a while and I didn't shoot him. He then went back into the corn for a few minutes and came back out. I figured he was giving himself up for me, so I shot.......and missed! He stood tall and I shot again and he took off running. I panicked because I only had one shot left in the clip (the only thing I don't like about my Tikka T3). I fired, he ran another 50-70 yards and made a goofy jump as he disappeared into the corn.
I called Adam and lamented that I missed my buck, but I was going to check for a blood trail in case I hit him. I found him in the first row of the corn right where he jumped. I think he was dead when he hit the ground on that jump. Oh yeah, I did launch a couple long shots at a doe before I went to check for the buck.
Anyway, that's the story of my first buck. It was a nice buck and I'm glad I got it. But looking back on it, I kinda wish I would have let him go and tried for a bigger one. There's lots of corn in up there and in a week or so there would be less cover and more of an opportunity to see bigger bucks. Oh well, it's a decent 4 X 4 and I've given myself a good chance to get a bigger one next year.
You know, looking back on that night, I kinda had the "buck fever" I've been hearing about for years. I don't think I could have passed on this guy anyway. Oh yeah, probably shot him at about 150 yards.
If you want to hear a good story, ask Adam (farmingdakota) about the doe he got that day.
