Big Buck Down

 

I have been hunting hard this year as it has been slow with the abnormally hot weather and the spread of EHD that has gone through the area killing a lot of our deer herd. I have only found one buck and doe dead from EHD, but have heard that some guys have found a dozen dead deer on one farm ranging from does to mature bucks. There are still plenty of deer in the area, but it will take years to build back a herd with good mature bucks in it.

Knowing that the pre-rut was in full swing, I needed to be in my Ameristep tree stand. Checking the weather for the morning, I was disappointed to see that the wind was going to be wrong for the farm and stands I wanted to hunt. I decided to take a gamble and hunt it anyway and just take every precaution to be scent-free. That evening I washed all my Banded Camo in Code Blue Laundry Detergent, dryed them with Code Blue dryer sheets then put them in a scent free bag. The next morning my alarm went off at 5 am and I jumped in the shower washed down head to toe in Code Blue earth scent body soap. Once I got to where I was going to hunt,  I got dressed outside the truck and sprayed everything down with Code Blue 360 scent eliminator spray. I grab my Elite Bow and made my way to my Ameristep stand. When I crossed the creek and was about 60 yards form the stand, I used a Code Blue doe estres scent drag in hopes of luring in a mature buck and to help cover my scent. I settled into my Ameristep and waited as I had a good half hour until shooting light.

As it was getting light enought to see, I grunted and rattled first thing and as usual this year nothing happened. I was sitting there second guessing myself, wondering if it had been a bad idea coming in here with the wrong wind as I had not seen anything move.  Then all of a sudden I heard a grunt come from the east of me! I stood up to look through the thick woods and I saw a nice big doe making her way straight to the stand. I grabbed my Elite, knowing from hearing the grunt and with the pre-rut being in full swing that there had to be a buck behind her. As I glassed through my Nikon binoculars, I could see a nice mature buck with a dark wide tall rack following right behind her as she led him straight to me. Elite in hand, Scotts Realese clipped and ready for the time do draw, I tried to hold back my excitment so I could concentrate on the shot. I waited until his head was behind a tree and drew back, letting him take a few more steps as I looked through my Spott Hogg Sight and kept that 20 yard pin right behind his shoulder. As he stepped into my clearing, I stopped him and released that Easton Arrow with Rage Broadhead and watched it blow straight through him. I watched him run off, but he only made it about 40 yards until he started to dance before taking a dirt nap.

My excitment was overwhelming, I couldn’t believe that had just happened as that buck had come from down wind of me. Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands, and with Code Blue scent eliminators I could say forget the wind and just hunt. Not that it will be a guarantee every time, but nothing else had worked this year I said what the heck, I might as well give it a shot. Thanks to Code Blue, it paid off and I took a nice mature 12 point Iowa buck that scored in the mid 150’s.

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