My 20 second WhiteTail Buck hunt

[Buckmeister]

My plan was as follows:
Drive in to my friends 170 acre private and remote property and arrive at 1st light Saturday morning, park the truck in an area where I have never seen any deer let alone the odd track, and hike into the area where I always see deer, pick a nice spot, do some calling and rattling, and then sit and wait to see what shows up. If that doesn't work, go and hike the trails quietly and see what I can find. Sounded like a fun day of hunting to me, right? I had seen bucks in there before and had found some rubs and scrapes earlier in the season so my hopes were high.

Here is what actually happened:
I arrived promptly at 7:00 am and missed first shooting light by about 15 or 20 minutes. The previous days had been cloudy and dark but this morning was clear and bright. Plus, with all the snow on the road and the previous nights cold temps, the road was icy so I took it a little slower going in. I parked my noisy diesel truck in the pre-chosen parking area. I opened the drivers door and hopped out, took a pee, and started gathering my gear. I grabbed my rifle, chambered a round and set the safety and then slung it over my shoulder. I went over my mental list: gloves?- check, hunting fanny pack?- check, deer calls?- check, binoculars around my neck?- check, rattling antlers?- check.
I was now ready. Still standing inside the door of my truck, I bowed my head and offered a prayer to God for safety and sucess. I opened my eyes and my hunt began. With my rattlers in my right hand, I grabbed the door with my left and began to close it slowly and quietly when all of a sudden I noticed a deer standing on the road, directly in front of my truck a short distance away and looking at me. I let go of the door (but I didn't latch it), grabbed my binos and had a quick look. "YES, it's a 5 point." I lowered the binos and re-opened the door so as to block the deer's view of me. I unshouldered my rifle, flipped open the lens caps, and took aim between the door and the A-pillar. At this time the deer wagged his tail and started walking off to his right like he didn't have a care in the world. I quickly macked at him and he stopped broadside beside the road. I placed the crosshairs behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. "DANG, the safety is still on". Off came the safety, took aim again, and squeezed off the round. He dropped in his tracks. From the time I said "Amen" till the time he hit the ground, only 20 seconds went by. I shot him at 58 paces. I turned the truck around, backed up to him, cleaned him up and loaded him in the back.
Here's the pics. First two are taken on site with my phone. Not huge, but a nice deer by any means with weak G2's. Scores in the 130 range. Enjoy!

[Buckmeister]

I ended up walking the trails afterwords anyways just to see what else was in there. I did not see any other deer and the only track I found were his. After I unloaded him, I went back out to see if I could fill my doe draw in a different area. No success there, but did notice a fair bit of large buck track moving down from higher elevations. The bucks are now on the move!!!!

[tomahawk]

Looks like your prayer was answered!

[sapper]

You gotta love it when you get an answer to prayer that quickly.
Nice job.

[Freshtracks]

Congrats ... great looking buck ... so how did that prayer go?

[bowhunterbruce]

well at least your prayer was answered so you were able to enjoy the rest of your day without anymore interuptions lolcongrats on a beaut.what region were ya seeing them moving in?
bruce

[hunter1947]

Sometimes I think that there is someone above that is looking over you and is with you on your hunts .
This kind of thing has happened to me a few times as well.
This WT buck you got is one fine deer you got ,will help fill your freezer up for sure ,congrats to you .

[Ruger4]

Nice buck , looks like a big heavy body too , lotsa eats there

[Buckmeister]

congrats on a beaut.what region were ya seeing them moving in?
bruce

seeing them close to your location

Nice buck , looks like a big heavy body too , lotsa eats there

This dude was just covered in fat and well fed. Some alfalfa fields not too far away.

[Blainer]

I gotta try that prayer thing.
Good on ya,nice buck.