patience pays off

Today was opening day for deer firearm season in Indiana. I found myself in the tree stand about an hour before daylight ready and excited to bag a buck. Around 7:30 a nice rack buck came cruising through about 50 yards away but  I could not get a shot off , I was sure that was the one for me. Then a few minutes later a hunter across the way shot that deer.

Around 8:30 the farmer decided that he would begin picking the corn with his tractor. Needless to say, I was certain that my hunting was done as the picker drove right up against the woods I was hunting in. I climbed down around 9:30 and decided to still hunt the woods .

As I entered the back end of the woods this buck pictured above was standing at the edge of the woods ready to run across the open field as soon as anyone entered the woods.

I squatted down at about 80 yards and literally watched him bed down, get up and rub the trees and scrape the ground for the next 2 1/2 hours. He was bedded down with a doe. I began to crawl slowly on the ground to get to within 50 yards and was going to sit there until the evening, He would get up every so often and eat but I could not get a shot off because it was thick to shoot. I considered firing many times but decided that it was worth waiting him out. It's amazing the prayers that go up to God in that long 4 hour wait. I fired off a few texts and actually was giving updates with my family and two hunting buddies.

I knew my only chance was for him to get up and walk towards me, because if I got up it would flush him and the doe out of the woods. After what seemed like an eternity he and the doe started towards me and that was the end of his day, as my Remington 870 12 gauge dropped him. There were many moments during the wait that I wondered if I would ever get a shot. I sure am glad I waited him out!