I'm mostly a lurker around here. I like to visit an read. But thought I'd share my success story for this year. It's the best buck I've shot. I've seen better bucks in the 25 or so years that I've hunted, but they're usually high tailing it in the other direction. I'm lucky enough to have a friend with some land near my home with access to several thousand acres of public huntable land adjacent to his. And I've managed to convince my him to start hunting. He's been out with me quite a bit the past 2 seasons, but has yet to connect.

My buddy and I hunted hard on Friday. In the woods at sunrise and out of the woods at sunset. All told we laid eyes on 11 deer and I interrupted a buck making a scrape right at the end of the day before heading out to glass the fields prior to shooting light disappearing. Everything I could see, that wasn't a brown and white flash running through the woods, was bald and since we can't shoot does, I was happy just to be seeing deer. We saw the first one at 6:10 am, just before shooting light, and later watched a tiny doe feed in a pasture for the last 15 minutes of the day.

On Saturday, I again headed to my friends for sun up. I knew he wasn't going out, so I decided to sit rather than still hunt on the frozen leaves. I again started the day seeing a doe in one of the pastures on my way to the woods and glassed the field edges for a few minutes making sure there wasn't a buck hanging close by, nothing.

After that, I headed out to the area I wanted to sit. It was noisy walking in the woods so I used a bunch of old log roads and got close to where I'd jumped the buck the previous night and found a comfy tree to curl up against. It was cold with a gusty wind and anything I could do to stay warm would help. So I used the tree as a wind break and hunkered down.

I had a close call (and no shot) with a 4 point chasing a doe. The doe almost ran me over. But it was entertaining to see him chase her here there and everywhere for nearly a half hour. After that, it had calmed down for a little while and decided I'd hit the rattle bag hard to overcome the noisy wind. I figured with bucks running does, it couldn't hurt. Within 2 minutes of rattling, I caught some movement to my left and this guy came walking in to see what the ruckus was. I didn't let him get too close. He was walking right toward me and as soon as he presented a decent shot, I took it.

I shot him with my Ruger M77 MII chambered in .308, using some handloaded Hornady 165 BTSP's over IMR powder (I don't recall the exact recipe at the moment). He's not huge and he's not even the best deer I saw this year, but he was the one that gave me a good shot and he is the best buck I've ever taken. So I'm tickled. It was a great morning in the woods. I saw 3 different bucks, 2 different does, saw the buck running the doe (something I'd never actually witnessed before) and heard the same buck grunt, another first. If I could change only one thing, I would have liked to have had my buddy with me. I'd really like to see him get his first one!

Well, I've got 2 archery tags to try and fill now. So maybe I'll get a couple more days in the woods with him and see if we can't get close enough to one for him.

Thanks for reading...sorry if I was a little long winded.

Rob

outstanding good for you bringing new pople in to hunting . nice deer hope he tasts good. very good story not to long at all.

A good story(holds the readers interest) is difficult to make too long. Yours is not too long at all.

Congratulations on the Deer. And I do hope your buddy gets his too.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

Good story. Good job, and thank you for posting. I never get tired of seeing the new posts with success stories.

Nice job and good to see another local here on AR!

What section are you in? I'm out of MA, but mostly hunt unit M (seacoast area and a bit inland) while hunting NH.

KG

In at least some units in NH (M, where I hunt, for example), you can buy them online or OTC for 5 bucks a pop, until they sell out. So, the answer's yes.

KG

Weidmann's Heil and congratulations, nice buck and well told story!

Technoman26,

Congrats on your success.

We hunted opening day weekend near Danby, VT and saw only one doe that Saturday, on Sunday we hunted out of the camp hear Wardsboro, VT and saw nothing. That location is just to the West of you.

On one beech ridge that used to produce game I saw no feed. The forest is mature there with little edges. There were no beechnuts, no acorns and no pine cones. I did not even see a pine squirrel or a woodpecker.

Thanks guys. I feel fortunate to have good land to hunt and have had some good luck to go with it the past few years.

Kamo Gari - I mostly hunt in the following WMU's (where I have friends or family): H1, H2, I1, I2, J2, K and a little in A where my in-laws have a camp. I grew up in the southwest corner of NH and have my Dad and my best friend from high school still over there so I hunt there often. It's longish drive just to hunt, but spending time in the woods with Dad and my friend is worth it. They both also come over this way (to Concord) to hunt from time to time.

j-a-h - In NH "we" do things a little differently. In all units EXCEPT M (the one Kamo Gari mentioned), does are managed by using "either sex days". For instance, the first 2 days of the firearms season in the unit I shot that buck in were either sex days and then the remainder of the season is bucks only. And the state varies the number of either sex days in each unit based on herd management goals. M is the exception because it's mostly a urban area with small tracks of land to hunt and a high deer population. The state has been trying to decrease the number of animals in that unit for for a few years and will sell you doe permits.

Savage99 - I've been in that are of VT a bit but not for hunting. A friend of mine likes to mountain bike up there and it seems each time we go for a ride, we see deer. But I think like in NH, your can be thick into them or see none at all! And I've had years it's been the later. And like you noticed, in ouor area too, the mast crop this year left a little to be desired. No beech nuts, no acorns.

Thanks again everyone! Like I said, I'm tickled and feel very fortunate. Now I just need to get close enough to shoot one with my recurve bow. But the first order of business is getting my friend to put a tag on one!

Rob

PS - look for another post soon about the moose hunt I went on with my high school buddy who was drawn for a tag this year. I try to find the picture and get it posted soon.

Techno,

Nice deer. The hunt sounds very satisfying.

Technoman26,

Your success has been a wake up call to me. I have grown lazy about scouting up North. I live in CT and have a good spot to hunt here and I have not put the effort into Vermont that I could have.



VT scene. No deer in the picture. Well at least not from the road.

Congrats on the deer and thanks for a great retelling of that day!

Technoman,

Congratulations from a fellow Granite Stater. Great buck and a story to match. I too have two archery tags, and an antlerless tag in M left to fill, and I'm working in NY this week! Who thought that was a good idea. I'm glad the .480 Ruger was a bang/flop.

Lee