Missouri Whitetail Hunt- Part 2

Day 5

With little movement the evening before, day five found us traveling to the bowhunting-only section of public land we had been hunting some. Looking at OnX, I identified what I thought to be a pinch point between some ag fields in the conservation area and the river, so I headed in to check out the area.

Virgil planned to head up a ridge where he had had the encounter with the small buck a couple of days prior, and Brian was going to still hunt his way into an area where he had some scrapes and rubs.

I really hope to have a stand hung in this area next fall.

I wasn’t far in when I came across fresh sign, saw some rubs and scrapes, and even jumped a deer. When I reached the edge of the first ag field, I saw a deer headed my way. Soon, I saw it was a buck, but just a small spike, so I let him pass by at 35 yards. There were several more deer in the field, but the wind would be bad at this location, so I moved on toward my pre-determined location. I crossed a small slough to the edge of the following field and nestled in my pinch point along the river. Not long into my sit and barely after daylight, Brian texted saying he had shot a buck. I asked if he needed help, but he said he would give him some time as he was unsure of the shot. I told him I would sit until 9 a.m. and then head over to help him, Virgil agreed to meet us around 9:30 as well. I had several other does and turkeys in the area over the next couple of hours, but no bucks came by. At 9, I started working toward the truck with more light, saw plenty more sign, and found an excellent pinch point I hope to place a stand in next fall.

Plenty of sign in the area.

At 9:30, Virg and I met Brian back at the truck, and he told us the story of the buck. He was still hunting up an old grown-in two-track and spotted a deer ahead. He snuck closer for a look and, at 45 yards, could tell it was a good buck. He readied for the shot and hit the buck with his Wicked Ridge Crossbow. Brian had trailed the buck up the hill a couple of hundred yards before backing out. He was bleeding well, but going uphill, he was worried maybe it wasn’t a great hit. I was convinced the buck wouldn’t be far following the blood trail, as it was one of the best blood trails I had ever seen.

This was one of the craziest blood trail's I have seen.

To our surprise, the buck went 475 yards, bleeding profusely. The blood suddenly stopped, and we started wandering looking for more, when Virg looked down the hill and spotted him. He had turned straight downhill and hadn’t gone 50 more yards before expiring. Brian knew the buck was nice, but the buck was bigger than even he thought. The buck is beautiful with heavy beams and 13 scoreable points, including several shooting off the back of the main beam down low.

Brian's buck was truly a beautiful specimen.

We shared many laughs and high-fives and took many photos before cleaning the buck and getting him back to the truck. It was a great day, and I can’t honestly explain how great it was being there with Brian when he got his buck.

The extra points made this buck very unique.

That evening, Virgil and I returned to the area around the ag fields after helping Brian with his buck. I planned to try the new pinch point I had found, but another hunter was wandering around the area and the hunt was a bust. Virg sat in another spot and saw a couple does. As the sun set on that day, I knew regardless of the next few days, this hunt had already been an overwhelming success.  

The sun setting on a perfect day.