Well, my father and I decided to sit the two stands with the best sign and see how the water affected movement. We didn't hunt the morning for fear of bumping out anything in the area with us pushing water in the dark to get to our stands so we had a chance to sleep in and get our heads in the game for the afternoon hunt.
We went out early Saturday afternoon as we knew it would take some additional time to get to our stands that are approximately .75 mile from where we park. We took our time and waded to our stands to be set by 3:15 or so.
Around 5:15 I had a dark rack fork horn that was bedded about 50-60 yards from me on some high ground walk directly to me. He was a legal buck and I was excited to get a shot. However, he walked right to me and ended up at 10 yards but didn't offer me a chance to move without being seen. He took a turn south and walked directly away from me as I listened to him trudge through the water for about another 100 yards.
Around 6:45 I heard something walking from the south towards me, tromping in the water. I figured that it may be the same fork horn coming back to bed and I stood up and got ready. As i listened, I worked to find the source of the sound in my nocks. I eventually saw the ripples in the water and finally a racked buck. As soon as I saw him I knew it wasn't the fork horn and that he was a better buck. I watched as he walked closer and closer and finally decided to turn east. As he turned to walk east I stopped him broadside with a grunt at 30 yards. I let it fly and the arrow flew true.
He mule kicked and ran tail down until he piled up about 30 yards away. I got to watch him fall from the stand. Was great to not have to try to track him in water. 100 grain slick tricks performed flawlessly again.
Thanks for lookin'
Stand
Sign
Buck
