8 December 2008
Iowa Deer 2008 - Day 3
Posted by Darrell under: Whitetail Deer .
It wasn’t nearly as cold or windy today. In fact, it got up to the mid 40’s. It felt like we were in the tropics. Anyway, you could call today “Dana’s Day”. He was the star of the show and Chris and I were the spectators.
Dana always claims to be a “meat hunter”. The size of the rack doesn’t matter as much as putting meat on the table. Since he doesn’t buy store bought meat and eats only what he kills, putting meat on the table is pretty important for him. Well…. today I got to see a “meat hunter” catch a great case of buck fever!
The morning began with Dana lined up on a giant buck that was tending 9 does. The only problem was that he was 200 yards out (which is a long ways for a shotgun). Anyway, Dana had plenty of excitement really early and although we didn’t close the deal on the giant, I had a great time just spectating. To give you and idea of what a healthy case of buck fever can do to a guy, I’ll just tell you that we had to return to our hunting locale to retrieve Dana’s gun (somebody completely forgot it!).
Our next hunt was also pretty cool. Dana and I were drivers and Chris was blocking. Since I don’t have a buck tag, I’d decided not to shoot a buck unless it was a real monster (in Iowa you can party hunt which means you can shoot a buck even if you don’t have anymore tags as long as someone in your party is willing to tag it for you). I didn’t want to use anyone else’s tag unless it was a monster.
I had a nice 8 point at 20 yards that I let walk. I don’t know why but I really enjoy letting deer walk. The fact that I know I could have taken it and didn’t is as rewarding as actually taking it (I know, its weird). Chris almost got that buck, but after offering himself to me, he wised up and lived to see another day.
On the next hunt, I was one of the drivers while Dana was a blocker. Dana was in the same spot where he got his buck on Saturday AND where he got his buck last year. Anyway, we saw lots of deer while driving. I had a 8 point and a 6 point and a doe at 60 yards. Again, I chose to let them go. Dana closed the deal on a big bodied 7 point. His “meat hunter” instincts kicked in and another deer was down.
We had lunch and headed out to the Danker place. We saw 17 deer on this farm and 3 bucks. I had one of the bucks and 8 does at 200 yards. He wasn’t the biggest buck I’ve ever seen and I let him walk. Although, realistically, if I had decided to take him, the 200 yards separating us would have made it difficult.
Dana had these same deer run across a corn field to him (about 800 yards). The hung up below a terrace about 300 yards from him. From my vantage point, I watched as Dana did his best imitation of a worm and crawled up to the backside of the terrace where the deer were. He popped over the terrace and took a huge doe. It was pretty cool to watch.
He jumped 8 more deer, including a big buck (one I would have gladly shot) before we made it out of the field. I got to watch those 8 deer cross into the section North of me. If only I could have been a mile to the north. Oh well.
We spent the last hour actually still hunting. It was almost like back home, except I was on the backside of a terrace watching a brushy ditch. Nothing. Then, on the way back to the house we saw a monster buck. He was one of the deer that the locals all talk about. He was grazing peacefully in a bean field about a 1/2 mile from where we had spent the evening hunting. That is hunting.
Here are the tallies for the day:
Keast
1 Buck (huge shooter), 9 Does
Grandma’s Timber
1 Buck, 3 Does
Chris’s New Lease
2 Does
Ranch Timber
3 Bucks, 5 Does
Dana got a 7 point buck
Danker
3 Bucks, 14 Does
Snapp Timber
Nothing
Maries 80
1 Giant Buck
42 Total Deer. 9 Bucks. 2 DEAD DEER (1 buck, 1 doe).
Many of you reading these posts probably wonder how we can see so many deer and harvest so few. As hard as it is to believe, these deer are hard to kill. You can see deer 2 or 3 miles away and you are limited to hunting with slugs. Seeing a big buck and getting to within slug range are 2 different things.
The forecast for tonight is snow. They are calling for 4 to 6 inches which has us all excited. I’m hoping for a monster buck tomorrow, but regardless, this has been a great hunt here in Iowa.
Here is a picture of Dana and his deer:
2 Comments so far...
Arthur Says:
9 December 2008 at 7:02 am.
That is pretty cool. I totally know what you mean about the feeling of letting deer walk. I have had plenty of deer - that I could have shot easily - and for some reason decided to let them go. It is a great feeling.
I would say that Dana did pretty good for himself.
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