Fun hunt that ended in success

I'll keep it short, but suffice it to say that this was one of the most exciting hunts I've been on in awhile. With the aid of lots of doe estrous and some mixed calling, I was able to aggravate this buck into bawling and tearing up some trees before he headed my direction, making a scrape and urinating in it on his way to my tree where I stuck him at a whopping 3yds. And as they say, the rest is history. I will try to give more details when time allows.

Sounds exciting, looking forward to hearing [reading] the rest....

Fantastic, congrats!!!

Here are the details of the hunt:

Made a trip to favorite WMA Tues thru Thurs of last week. This time of year it is the beginning of the prerut phase of the breeding season in Area 6 of Louisiana and one of my favorite times of the season to be in the deer woods there especially with the cold front that had moved in.

The first morning found me in an area that had produced in years past during this time of year. So I set up in the dark in a spot where a faint brushline crossed a dried up lake bed onto a ridge that deer typically used to skirt this dried up lake. The morning sit produced no sightings but I could see several fresh rubs from the stand. So at midday I got down to do some scouting. I followed the rubline to a spot where it made a turn north to cross a saddle in the next ridge over. Where the rubline turned was a larger concentration of rubs bordering a very thick area of button brush that jutted out into the dried up lake. There were also two scrapes in the vicinity. I figured the buck was probably bedding close by so I snuck out but made note that when the wind was right I would be back.

The afternoon hunt and the next day's hunts were uneventful, with me only seeing a small spike Wednesday morning. But Thursday morning, according to the weather reports, should be perfect for my newly discovered ambush spot. So that is where I set up that morning.

Before I climbed into my stand I scented up a drag with plenty of doe estrous and made my way thru the saddle to my stand location and hung the drag as well as an additional scent wick soaked with plenty of doe estrous urine.....like they do on tv(I was not stingy with it at all) Morning broke cold and calm (27 degrees), with a slight northeasterly breeze.....perfect. As dawn was breaking I could hear limbs breaking as animals made their way thru the saddle to the north of me. The first hour of daylight proved uneventful. I decided to perform some calling.....grunts mixed with the estrous can to simulate a buck chasing a hot doe. I did this about every 30 minutes until after one such episode (9 am) I heard something I had only experienced on hunting videos......a loud buck bawl/roar. I answered him with a grunt of my own and heard in response, constant grunting and brush thrashing. I stood slowly and grabbed my binoculars. I saw 2 raccoons high tailing it out of the thick button brush 80yds behind me. Following them was the sexually frustrated buck I had just heard in the thicket. He proceeded to annihilate more brush and small saplings. When he paused I gave a short grunt from my grunt tube. He looked my way, tested the wind and then headed in my direction. He came at a steady pace in my direction stopping at 30yds to freshen a scrape and work the overhanging limb with his small antlers. He continued directly toward my tree and when he passed behind a tree between us I drew my bow. When he emerged he was still facing my direction and presented no shot. At 3yds he made a slight turn like he was going to head toward the saddle and that's when I sent the 160gr Simmons Landshark thru his chest. He made a mad dash for about 60yds, stopped, and then continued out of sight at what I can best describe as a confused pace. He zigzagged thru the brush, changing direction several times before I lost sight of him.

Then came the adrenaline rush and confusion. I grabbed my binoculars to inspect the arrow and was horrified to see no blood on the arrow, just fat and hair. I knew I had heard that unmistakable sucking chest wound sound when I released the arrow but the evidence was refuting that. I waited an hour before getting down. I proceeded to follow a decent blood trail for 250yds before I finally found my prize lying dead. I can't explain the lack of blood on the arrow but he was able to run such a long way because at the steep shot angle I only penetrated 1 lung. But luckily the broadhead cut it from top to bottom almost completely cutting his left lung in half and exiting at the bottom of his chest. I was so weakened by the highs and lows of this experience that it's a good thing this WMA allows retrieval of game with an atv because my body was spent. This a hunt that has made a lasting memory with me and once again renewed my faith in calling.....at the right time.

great report - excellent woodsmanship - and those sharks are the best.
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Nice write up & congrats again on the public land buck. The word is people are calling them in left & right in area 6 with the dirty little doe.