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He's Back!
Posted By Bill Winke at 12/21/2009 12:00:00 AM
Filed under: journal
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This is him.  He looks a little gaunt in this photo, but if you look at the other shot, he looks
a lot better.  Probably just the camera angle and rigors of the rut.  I don't think this buck
will die this winter if I am not able to get him.  It is good to see he is still out and about.

If you remember back to Episode 18 (and I surely do, it was a painful show to put together) you will recall the big basic eight-pointer with the big bases and stickers off the G2s that gave me the slip.  Well, he showed up on the trail camera when I pulled the card yesterday.

 

He is in the same basic area where I saw him a month ago and this is the first I have seen him since.  However, I have not hunted there a lot nor have I been running the camera there regularly so he may have been around the whole time. 

I can go back to hunting him today.  The shotgun seasons are over and the muzzleloader season is in.  I have a muzzleloader tag and a bow tag left over from the early bow season.  If I choose, I can also fill the muzzleloader tag with my bow. 

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His body looks better in this photo, but you can see where
the arrow hit him, just forward of the shoulder.  There
appears to be scar tissue and possibly a small infection, but
overall he looks no worse for wear.
So in effect, I have either a gun tag and a bow tag or two bow tags depending on how I want to play it.  I can legally carry both the gun and the bow to my stand as long as I wear the required orange. 

 
I am not sure yet what I am going to do on this buck.  I think I will try to take him with the bow (if the wind cooperates) and leave the gun at home.  I need a west or northwest wind to make it work and the first such wind is scheduled for Thursday.  Granted, that is a long time from now and the forecast could change five times between now and then.  I may not be able to get away with hunting Christmas Eve, but it would be a pretty cool time to shoot this buck.  Certainly, a memory I would not soon forget.

In the meantime, I will be more than happy to occupy myself with the buck we call "No Name".  I need an east or southeast to hunt him effectively and we have three days of east forecast starting with today.  So this afternoon will likely find me setting up stand across from the trail where Tim Herald saw the buck come into the food plot at the end of Episode 23.  It should be interesting.  I expect to see him tonight.  Can I connect, that is the question.  I'll let you know.