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Opening Weekend Buck

09/20/2008

by Eric Kuehne

It was a rainy evening on September 14, 2008, the second day of the MN archery deer season. I was reluctant to hunt, due to the rain. However, the forecast showed things clearing up around 5:30pm. So I decided to hunt in the hopes that the forecast was accurate. Luckily by the time I got into position, the weather had started to clear. I had a good feeling about the evening, since the past 36 hours had been rainy. The deer just had to be on the move.
 
In years past, I’ve been known to hunt field edges during the early season. This year I decided to try something I’d been contemplating for years. After some serious scouting in early August I had made my decision to hunt deep in the woods, far away from any food plots. In August, I found what appeared to be a well-defined trail along a ridge line. I set up my new Family Tradition ladder stand near an intersecting trail and did some necessary trimming and clearing.
 
Due to all the rainfall the last day and a half, the woods were extremely quiet. The ground was wet so I knew I couldn’t rely on my hearing to detect approaching deer. I was in the ready position the entire night. I kept my bow in my hands and was scanning the woods from left to right like I was watching a tennis match. First I saw movement, and then I saw a respectable well-polished rack quickly moving down the trail. In an attempt to capture this moment on film I quickly hit the record button on my camcorder that was conveniently aimed towards one of my shooting lanes. I raised my bow to draw back and before I hit half draw, the deer had disappeared. My camera mount had shifted and spooked the deer from my 15 yard shooting lane. I finished my draw and continued to scan the dense woods for movement. It seemed like an eternity until I saw the movement I’d been waiting for. The deer made a loop away from me and to my surprise was back on the original trail in my 30 yard lane. I steadied my bow and squeezed the trigger on my True Fire release then I watched my Tracer knock hit its mark. The arrow sounded like I just shot a frozen pumpkin as it drove through the vitals of this early season buck.
 
After the standard half hour wait, I descended my tree and quietly walked to my 4 wheeler. I went and picked up my wife from her deer stand in hopes of having two blood trails. She was sitting in a pine tree overlooking some apple trees. To my disappointment, she didn’t see anything.
 
My wife and I went home and recruited help from a friend and my father. I’m partially color blind so I have a hard time finding blood on the ground. After taking up the trail we spotted the first blood within 25 yards. We continued on the trail and within 60 to 70 yards we found my Opening Weekend Buck. He wasn’t my career best, but it was a respectable main frame 8 point buck, netting near 125” Pope and Young score. What a great way to start the season!
 
I learned a lot from my pre-season scouting and breaking the old habit of hunting the field edge.
 
Equipment used:
 
Mathews DXT
Beaman Black Max Arrows
Slick Trick Broad Heads
True Fire Release
Tracer Knocks