The Buck Stalker Deer
It was November 27, 2008 Thanksgiving Day, I hunted that morning and seen some deer but no shooters. So, I went home and got my wife and kid then we all headed over to my moms house for Thanksgiving dinner. Well, at about 1:00 pm I decided to go back and hunt that same afternoon. I killed a nice 9 pt. two years early on my Thanksgiving evening hunt in the same patch of woods. I got to my sweet spot and decided to still walk an oak ridge, as I started up the first ridge I caught movement about 100 yards away. I got on a knee and looked through my binoculars. I seen a doe feeding on white oak acorns. I stayed still and watched her, a few minutes later I seen another deer... it was a buck and it was a shooter! I stalked him for about 20 yards. The leaves were dry and I was being too loud so I decided to take the shot, with nothing to prop on I free handed it. I had him in my scope then the doe got in the way. That went on for a few minutes, as they fed back an forth. Finally, I got the shot and I let the ole Knight 50 Cal. rip.
Saturday 22 November 2008 was a lot of firsts for me in my 33 year hunting career. I was fortunate enough to bag my second buck during the Maryland bow hunting season. I've bought a bonus tag every year in Maryland anticipating shooting two bucks in the same year, until recently the money I have spent on bonus tags was just my contribution to Maryland DNR without bagging a second buck. In 2008 it was a Novemba to Rememba!! I headed to the stand around noon, based on the temperature being around 30 degrees all day I suited up with my cold weather gear for a 5 plus hour hunt. At 1300 hrs a doe brought a nice eight point by my stand. He wasn't big enough to fill my second tag. I didn't start seeing deer again until 1500 hrs. I videoed some small bucks, does, and button bucks while waiting for a chance at Mr. Big. About 1600 hrs a doe came running by my stand at about 45 yards heading away from my stand. I grabbed my camera to catch some rut activity on video. I saw a large bodied deer in the thicket and could only assume he was the one following the doe. I kept the camera on him waiting for him to step out.
For my christmas present/senior trip my dad blessed me with a hunting adventure to Canada. I had to wait 11 months, until November 1st, to really unwrap my present. When the first arrived we flew into Saskatoon Sk. and slept there at a hotel that night. Our guides from Clear Sand Outfitters came pick us up the next morning. We took a nice 3 1/2 hour truck ride out to the middle of nowhere. The camp was nice along with some cool weather. 
It started this summer when I took stock of my arrow supply. The attrition of previous seasons left me with three crooked hunters with strange flight characteristics. The situation called for an order to Allegheny Mountain Arrow Woods. I asked Bill to send me 4 dozen tapered Douglas fur shafts. When the order arrived there were 49 dowels. As I put the dowels through the process of building the shafts into arrows, I wondered if the extra shaft might have special lucky qualities.
It was November 3, 2008 I busted out of work early to get set up based on the Moon Guide time of 4:22. I walked to the stand at 2:45 jumped a deer going in. Was set up by 3:00. About 4:00 tons of geese started flying over and landing in the field behind me. Three does hopped by reacting to the flocks of geese honking and flying over. It was noisier than downtown D.C. Finally the geese stopped flying in and the woods started to settle down at about 4:15. I started making doe bleets every 15 minutes and about 4:45 I could here deer walking through the woods in the distance. I thought I heard a buck grunt but wasn't sure, then a doe busted out past me at about 4:50. Then I heard the grunt again, but it sounded what I thought to be a small buck. A couple minutes later a nice eight point walk in the open and started thrashing overhead tree limbs on a holly tree. I decided he was a shooter but two things were working against me, he was following the doe that just past through and he was heading away from me.
