It's October
By Roger Raglin
It’s October! Enough
said. By the time you read this if
you haven’t yet been bow hunting from your favorite tree stand it’s probably
because of one of two things. Either
the season hasn’t opened up yet or you broke your leg!
I have only one main prayer that I speak daily.
“God watch over my children today.
God please don’t ever let me die during the month of October. Amen.”
I have to admit that to this day I still get a little nervous that last
week in September.
In all the excitement that comes with the opening of bow seasons, don’t
overlook something that just might help you fill that deer tag the very first
week. Don’t rule out mid-day
movement of that buck you are hunting. He
may not cruise far, but it isn’t uncommon for all deer to at least get up and
stretch a bit through the course of any given day.
Somewhere between the hours of 11 and 1 P.M. is an ideal time to just
simply stay put in the woods for a while. Just
plan on eating a late lunch. That’s
what I do.
During the first week of the season last year, I was bow hunting with an old
friend of mine Ron Thompson. Early that morning we glassed
up a huge buck that was crossing the prairie. The buck was about 500 yards away but we could see him
clearly and followed his travel. Finally
the buck disappeared from sight as he entered a brushy thicket near the top of a
steep canyon. Ron stayed behind to
glass to make sure the buck didn’t blow out the other side or cross through
the bottom of the canyon. I made a
wide circle entering the thicket not far from where we last saw the big Kansas
monster.
I spent several hours working very slowly downward along the steep slopes.
I stopped frequently to glass and check for sign.
Three fourths of the way down the hill I decided to se up and just wait.
Shortly after 11 A.M. here he came.
The buck was extremely relaxed as he casually fed on newly fallen acorns.
You could tell he wasn’t going far and he sure wasn’t in any hurry to
get there. But he did manage to
cover about 75 yards or so over the next few minutes.
Then suddenly the buck heard a soft thump sound.
He felt a quick sting. Seven
minutes later somebody in the woods screamed, “Jimney Xmas!”
The buck grossed a little over 190 Boone and Crockett points.
As usual I ate a late lunch that day too.
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