It was the day after Thanksgiving when my friend, Danny (Bubba) Glenn, and I left for our much anticipated whitetail bow hunting trip to Illinois. It was the week before the second gun season and the rut was still going strong. We were so excited as we drove the nine hours to get to Shawneetown, Illinois. When we arrived we met up with our good friend Billy George, who shares the 65 acre lease with my brother Dale Parker. The first day and a half of hunting was slow with not much deer activity except some does and smaller bucks. The temperatures were in the 60's during the day and had the rut shut down it seemed.
On that second morning I was perched high in an oak tree in a thin strip of woods overlooking a cultivated bean field on my left side, a cultivated corn field to my back and a small weed field and wood lot to my right side. Shortly after daylight I saw a spike come out of the woodlot about 80 yards from me and traveled across the weed field to the strip of woods I was in. I pulled out a doe-in-heat bleat can and called him right in to me. I watched him pass within 10 yards of my tree looking for that doe. After about an hour I spotted another spike coming from the same woodlot, crossing the same weed field in the exact same place as the previous spike. I again pulled out the doe-in-heat bleat can and called this buck to within a few yards of my tree.
I didn't see anything else the rest of the morning, but as I was sitting in the tree I began putting the pieces of the puzzle together in my mind. Both deer came from the same woodlot on the same path. I thought to myself, "I need to check this out." So, when I came down out of the tree I did just that. And, I'm glad I did! As I walked down the edge of the strip of woods to where I saw the two bucks cross I walked down what we in South Alabama would call a "cattle trail." It was a very well worn out deer trail. I found numerous rubs on small oak trees and scrub brush in the weed field as well. When I got to the point across from where the two bucks had come out of the woodlot I found where two "cattle trails" came together. As I walked farther down the strip of woods I found even more rubs. It was perfect, a well used intersecting trail with a long rub line. I knew a stand had to be hung at the intersection of the trails.
When I met up with my hunting buddies later that morning I told them I found the perfect spot to hang a stand. The rain began pouring down, but that didn't stop us. We went out to remove a home made lock-on from a tree in a different area and moved it to the spot I had found. We were soaking wet, but we hung the stand and trimmed shooting lanes with high expectations.
As excited as I was to have found the spot and set it up, I was even more excited to let my guest, Bubba Glenn, hunt out of it first. He had seen fewer deer than we had on our first couple days, so I felt like he should be the first to hunt it. And, he did. As a matter of fact he hunted it for three hunts. Each time he had deer all around him, but mostly does, yearlings, and some spikes. He could have easily filled his doe tag but opted to hold out for a buck. Each time he watched the deer filter into the woodlot close to another lock-on (called the "Scott Stand" in memory of Scott Worley who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2005) about 100 yards away at the opposite corner.
After the rain stopped the weather made a turn for colder temperatures. The overnight low would be in the lower 30's. On our fourth morning we woke up to a beautiful frost on the ground. This is where the story gets fun. Bubba, Billy and I were standing around the truck discussing where each would hunt that morning. Billy was heading to another lock-on we had hung earlier in the week and Bubba decided not to go to the spot I had found, but instead would go to the "Scott Stand," since that's where he saw most of the deer movement his prior three hunts. Billy asked me, "Where are you going Hubert?" I told him I was thinking of going farther down the levy to hunt from a lock-on my brother had hung earlier in the year. I asked him what he thought, and with a solid look on his face simply shook his head "no." I asked, "Where do you think I should go?" He said, "You need to be in that lock-on we hung in the rain." "Do you think so?" I asked. With a voice as serious as could be, he said, "I know so." So, off I went to the stand.
As the sun broke through the sky I noticed the wind was blowing from my location straight into Bubba's stand. Keep in mind we're only about 100 yards apart and could see each other in our stands. I wasn't feeling right about possibly messing up his hunt with my scent blowing into his hunting area. The thought ran through my mind that I should ease down out of my tree, slip back out of the woods and move down to where I was originally going to hunt. As I contemplated the move for several minutes knowing it would be good daylight soon I noticed the wind had shifted directions. It was now blowing from Bubba's stand to mine. I waited to see if it would change back, but it didn't. I told myself, at least I won't mess up Bubba's hunt and decided to stay in place.
About 20 minutes after daylight I saw a deer walking across the middle of the cut bean field about 300 yards out moving toward a large wooded area. Through my binoculars I saw that it was a buck, but couldn't tell what size. I tried to call to him several times and he finally heard my grunt call. He stopped and looked my direction then walked some more. I turned the doe-in-heat bleat can and he again looked my direction, but didn't commit to come my way. I tried several more times with him only looking my way. I decided to hit the rattle bag a time to see what he would do. Wow! When I hit the bag that buck shot out of there into the next county. I was shocked. I thought Illinois bucks were suppose to come running to the sound of antlers crashing together. Boy was I wrong!
I sat back down and settled my nerves. It was about 40 minutes later while I was sitting there with my bow across my lap enjoying the beauty of the morning and occasionally looking around that I looked to my left down the edge of the thin strip of woods I was in along the weed field. It was amazing! All I saw was a head full of antlers coming through the low overhanging limbs. It looked huge! The buck was only 35 yards from me walking down one of the "cattle trails" that would bring him to within 12 yards of my stand. I began to panic, do I stand up or stay seated for the shot? Now only 25-30 yards from me would he see me if I stand up? I decided to stay seated. I looked and saw I had only one opening for a shot while seated. I calmed down and knew I had to grunt him to a stop in that one and only spot. We had plenty of 20, 30, 40, and 50 yard shooting lanes cut, but we didn't anticipate closer shots under the branches. As he was 15 yards from the opening I drew back on my Parker Ultralite 31 compound bow equipped with a Muzzy Zero Effect arrow rest and Tru-Glo five pin sights. I watched him through my peep sight with my 20 yard pin on his vitals until I saw his head pass through the small opening then I softly grunted, remembering from watching a Primos hunting video once that a loud grunt at close range could spook a deer and make him run. He stopped immediately and looked my direction. I quickly settled the pin right behind the front shoulder and squeezed the trigger on my release.
It was so close I didn't see what happened with the arrow. The buck trotted out into the weed field about 40 yards with his tail up and looking around as if he was simply spooked by something. I began bleating with my mouth to get him to stop. He trotted another 30 yards doing the same thing, acting as if nothing was wrong with him. I then hit panic mode. Did I miss? I watched him casually walk toward the end of the weed field when I heard Bubba start grunting with his grunt tube. As the buck made it to the end of the weed field Bubba hit his snort-wheeze and the buck stopped, looked over in his direction then walked out of the weed field through a 10 yard wide strip of woods into the cut corn field. I lost sight of him then, but I could hear Bubba grunting, snort-wheezing, and rattling. I was in disbelief. I just missed the biggest deer of my life. What went wrong kept going through my mind. I replayed the shot over and over. I even drew my bow back two or three times to mimic the shot. At this time I saw more branches than I had seen while making the shot. Had I hit a limb I didn't see? I was a nervous wreck. As I watched in the place I last saw the deer I caught a glimpse of him again. This time he was heading right back into the weed field toward Bubba. I thought, "Well I had my chance, I'll just sit here and see what happens." "How am I going to tell all my hunting buddies that I missed a monster at 12 yards?"
I sat there for what seemed like forever listening to Bubba grunt, snort-wheeze and rattle. I couldn't stand it any longer, I had to call him on his cell phone. I asked, "Do you see the buck?" I told him, "I just shot at it and I think I missed." He said he saw it go down in the corn field and when it went into the weed field that it went down again. He assured me I hit it. He suggested I get down, look for my arrow and check for blood on it. What a relief when I got down and found my arrow sticking in the ground right where the two "cattle trails" intersected. It was covered with good sign. The 100 grain Thunderhead had passed right through the buck. I called Bubba back and told him it was a good hit. We both eased out of the woods to give the deer plenty of time to expire. We sat back against two trees and relived the moment by telling what each experienced. I made the shot at 7:40 and it was now 9:00. We went to where Bubba last saw the deer go down and there he was. Words can't express the feeling of what two boys from south Alabama saw that morning. Lying in the edge of the weed field was a beautiful, heavy antlered and heavy body 11 point. We must have taken 40 photos with my digital camera there. That was, of course, between jumping and giving each other high-fives. This was by far one of the best hunts of my life.
But, the story doesn't end there. It gets better. Bubba stayed with the deer, and when I got back to the truck Billy was waiting for us. I told him we had just dragged the "biggest doe" we had ever had to drag. He said I wasn't going to believe what he had on video. He was so excited. As we drove to where we could load up the "doe" I watched the video he had taken from his morning hunt. Believe it or not, he had video footage of the big buck I had just taken. But, I didn't let him know it. I kept him believing I had shot a doe. The buck had come out about 35 yards behind Billy in a thicket of limbs and branches where he couldn't get a shot. All he could do was get video of it. It was amazing watching my buck on video. Billy said the buck was headed my way and I should have seen it. I wanted to spill the truth so bad, but I kept it in until we pulled up to where the buck was laying. He couldn't believe it, the buck he had video taped only 35 yards from his stand was laying on the ground. It was a hunt all three of us will remember for a long time to come. Billy was nice enough to let me have the video to take home with my buck.
The rest of the day I replayed the whole hunt over and over in my mind. It was at this point that I realized why the first buck I saw that morning ran out of the county when I rattled to him. He knew what bruiser was around and didn't want to have any part of him. The 11 point weighed 220 pounds with not an ounce of fat on him. He scored 152 6/8 P&Y. It's a hunt I will remember for the rest of my life. I'd like to thank Bubba Glenn for making the trip with me. I'd also like to say a special thanks to my brother, Dale Parker, for allowing me to hunt his lease and capturing a hunting memory that will be cherished forever. And, lastly thanks to Billy George for convincing me to hunt in that stand with a simple headshake "NO."
Note: The very next day Billy harvested a beautiful 11 point with his long bow at 17 yards while he played the wind and stalked it bedded down with a doe. The buck scored 163 2/8 P&Y. I have attached a photo of it as well.
My personal information:
Hugh Parker
912 Van Avenue, # 1421
Daphne, AL 36526
hughparker@plasmine.com e-mail
