An Epic 4 Day Weekend

Alright guys, I hesitate to even put this out here. I have experienced a whole bunch of negativity with things like this before, so I hope that doesn't happen again. But, I just got back from my 4 day rutcation, and I had the most epic weekend of hunting ever. I was chasing my number 1 buck, "dagger." Over the course of 4 days I had 5 encounters, two shot opportunities, and one blood trail. This is a long video, but if you have the time I feel like it is worth the watch. TONS of lessons learned on this hunt, hope anyone that watches will be able to learn from my mistakes. 

Thanks mudbucket!

Really nice video, my son and I both enjoyed it. Good luck to you and your family the rest of the season. Especially your father. The excitement he showed when you woke him up was awesome.. Again best of luck to you in the future..

I thought about it, but he was at about 100 yards and if he turned around to look he could have most likely pegged me in the tree I was in. 

no, i thought when he was walking towards the woodline when you snort wheezed at him. 

Do you mean rattling to stop the deer? I utilize rattling at certain points. I rattled 5 minutes before I originally saw the deer the first time. 

WOW !!!!  that was awesome.

i have 1 question. did you think about rattling at all ?

i know it all happens so fast that sometimes there is no time.

still a riveting show. 

thanks for that.

Thanks guys, and Long Barrels. 2 years ago I took a 54 yard shot out of this same stand. (I referenced that shot in this video) The deer was standing still, it wasn't windy, and it surely wasn't tall grass, so I'm not sure where that came from eyesman. And the deer did make it on to the neighbors property, but we were able to retrieve it. It was a killing shot, and I was able to recover the deer. However I did learn my lesson. It is something I won't be doing again. With archery tackle, a lot can go wrong at that distance. Especially if the deer is alert. That is why I decided to pass this deer the first time I saw it at 50 yards. 

Excellent video. Raw emotion. I felt like i was there for the whole thing. If you have never questioned your decision on a shot or botched a "gimme", to which there are none in bow hunting in my opinion. You either have not had enough opportunities in the woods, your time will come, everyone's does, or are kidding yourself. It's the extreme downside to this sport we enjoy oh so much.. great job, A+ for showing the good with the bad. Looking forward to seeing the next video, the good. Best of luck, helluva deer. 

I rarely watch any YouTube videos, but took a shot this one. I think it was very well done. 

Excitement gets the best of all of us sometimes. If it doesn’t, you should probably hang it up. Clearly you didn’t seriously injure that buck, which is the second best scenario.

As someone else mentioned, you have a beautiful cabin and what appears to be a very above-average piece of land with some excellent bucks. Add to that a wife who encourages you to hunt and I’d say life is pretty darn good. Hang in there. This will happen again. It’s just how it goes. We’ve all been there and keep moving forward.

Cheers to an excellent gun season, friend. 

Long barrels, I do remember a video from about a year ago where the shooter took a 50 plus yard shot on a deer walking in waist high grass. It was quite windy also. If memory serves me right the blood trail was weak and went onto a neighboring property where the shooter couldn’t get permission to track. There was a lot of negative feedback about things done wrong. Don’t know if it is the same poster or not.                       As far as the first shot in the video that started this thread it seems the shot was hurried. The shooter here confirmed on slow motion video he hit low. Things that can contribute to a low hit are rushing the shot, underestimating the distance and when shooting from an elevated stand the arrow most often strikes below the aim point. It was very fortunate to see that deer again. The second shot was a buck fever panic shot at a moving deer, those never turn out well. Much for the shooter to learn from his mistakes and work to correct them may lead to success in the future. 

Correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't you have a video last year that you took a long shot or something went wrong that took a lot of criticism? 

Thank you so much CaseDog! I have a whole bunch of videos on my YouTube channel that take place at the cabin. It is my favorite place in the world. 

I truly enjoyed the video! I almost felt as if I was along with you for your rutcation! 

It looks like you have a true paradise to hunt with some nice plots and stand locations! 

I’m extremely jealous of your cabin as that looks truly beautiful and peaceful! 

Don’t be so hard on yourself-as you know so many things have to go right when you’re talking archery and it just didn’t happen!

I’m hoping you get a crack at old dagger during gun season because I’m looking forward to seeing the sequel!

Keep up the good work and again I truly enjoyed watching!

Fantastic videos.  You will need to be able to relax during the moment further.  There should be no pressure on yourself to get the kill.  

Consider smiling to yourself when in the moment, and think about how happy you are to just see the buck and have the chance.  As opposed to thinking this is the biggest buck I have ever had a chance at.  

I definitely enjoyed the editing and commentary though.  We were all there with you, and feeling the same pain.