Heavy 8 Pointer Down

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Rattling some huge antlers  and a well placed Buck Fever Synthetic Scrape were all that was needed.

Alfie set up 120 yards east of me to rattle the antlers. We could easily cover the entire area south of with our rifled  slug guns during the  controlled shot gun deer hunt.

In late October I set out a Buck Fever Scrape line was along a well worn deer trail between the both of us. SpyPoint Pro-X Trail photos confirmed activity mostly in the morning on their way to a bedding area.

Early morning fog and zero wind were ideal for rattling in a an eight point buck the day before checking out the Buck Fever scrape and licking branch we set out the the week before.

So we thought why not try for buck number two as fresh tracks and rubs were present.

A North West wind should still work for our location.    8 point Buck caught investigating our Buck Fever Scrape and licking branch on SpyPoint Pro-X Trail Cam

 

Alfie tickled those well worn antlers at 06;45 and in seconds out stepped a huge 4 1/2 year old bruiser directly east 120 yards away.

He raised his head to scent and looked in my direction 170 yards away. Advancing into the clover field another 10 yards.

The Buck Fever Rut I had spayed in a well worn scrape forty minutes earlier had gotten his attention and certainly  had his attention or riled him up.

He then caught site of  Alfie raising his Browning Auto up and turned toward the safety of the hardwoods.

A single shot echoed across the clover field  as the buck turned to flee then quickly disappeared into the cover of the  forest edge.

We gave the buck some time before starting our search as it was only 7 am

Tracking a fresh blood trail is often time consuming and requires persistent patience.

Twenty minutes later  after widening the search for signs of blood I was about eighty yards into the pine forest where it became hardwood and found a good blood trail that was more easily followed.

Until then there were doubts about the hit. Luckily it was still early in the day, no rain forecast to eradicate any fresh blood trail.

There are tools available to track wounded deer but we didn’t require any at this time. A roll of toilet paper worked just fine on this trail. When heavy rain is active sign is often difficult to spot.

The buck was headed to the low lying swamp and had only stopped in three spots.

We continued our search now about 250 yards from where it was shot.

The hardwood gave way to river swamp area with four foot high reeds and swamp grass.

The blood trail was still visible on the pushed over reeds and grass.

Movement about 60 yards into the swamp caught my eye.

The almost invisible antlers edged slowly away from our position through the long brown grass.

We backed off to allow the buck to expire instead of pushing it deeper into the swamp.

Twenty minute later the buck was located under a cedar tree.

Alfie's-8-Point-Buck
Alfie's-8-Point-Buck

 

 

 

About Peter Wood 1194 Articles
As an avid lifelong angler and hunter, Peter’s outdoor knowledge and experiences keep expanding through his hundreds of hours of hunting and fishing podcast interviews with like minded experts. He has received numerous national writing awards. With thousands of outdoor pictures on Ripple Outdoors and many full-length articles with outdoor magazine and video clips you might say that he not only enjoys his outdoor lifestyle, but he’s quite the fanatic! In 2015 he earned fifth overall on the King of the Wood Contest hosted by Canada In The Rough team, pretty good for a baby boomer deer hunter. His buck was also one of the top bucks taken that season. Through Peter’s deer hunting seminars or by attending outdoor trade shows, like the Toronto Sportsmen Show and The SWOC Big Buck Show, he has connected with thousands of like minded people that love hunting and fishing. As a volunteer or member of local and national outdoor groups like QDMA, SWOC, Outdoor Writers of Canada, Archery Trade Show Association he continues to learn and hone his craft. Read his many articles, listen to his podcasts and rifle through thousands of photos on Ripple Outdoors. Discover Peter’s latest posts about outdoor gear, destinations, how to articles and interviews and you’ll be a better angler and hunter for the experience.