After I don’t know how many years of doing a Simmons’ Duck Report, here’s a first. Yep, this big boy made his last mistake Sunday morning. I’ve been watching this big eight-pointer since October and hunted him over 20 times, but never ended up in the right spot at the right time. Until today.
As freaked out as this makes some of my duck hunting buddies, yes, I’ve been deer hunting. It kind of shows how bad this duck season has been so far, but I have to tell you, this was a blast, too. Here’s the story (followed at the end by today’s “duck” news):
Yesterday I got a text of this deer at the feeder well after daylight. It is one of the only daylight pictures I’ve seen of him. I knew I had to go this morning and see if he repeated that. I walked in 3/4 of a mile well before daylight to make sure I didn’t spook him. Sure enough, about 8 a.m. he stepped out of the woods about 350 yards away and looked right at me for several minutes. Then he took about four or five steps and did the same thing. As he got closer, he stopped and looked, smelled up in the air and took a few more steps, then repeated it. Oh my goodness. It took him an hour to get to the feeder.
Along the way, he just kept coming straight. At 200 yards, I had a good rest and felt good about taking a shot, but he never turned broadside. One time he turned and stepped into the woods. I thought it was over. But in a few minutes, I saw a sapling shaking violently. He almost knocked the thing down making a rub. A few minutes later he stepped out straight toward me. He got close to 150 yards and a spike stepped out in front of him. He turned sideways, but the spike was in the way. He needed to move about a foot, but wouldn’t. Every once in a while, he would turn and look straight at me.
Then, the spike moved and another deer came out behind him. He turned and looked at that other deer and showed me his shoulder. That was his last mistake. I nailed him right in the shoulder and he went down where I hit him. Man, that was exciting. He had eight points and was pretty symmetrical. They scored him at the store at 159 3/8, which is the biggest eight point I’ve ever killed by far.
I had to work for him and a deer doesn’t get that old or that big by being stupid. I don’t know how many times he ever saw open ground during the daylight hours. Now, with that and the holiday rush behind me, I can get back on the ducks.
DUCK REPORT:
Yes, I remembered this is a Duck Report. The duck report today is similar to the last few days. We heard some good reports, but the consensus is that if you want to kill more than a handful, you better be prepared to stay out there a while. Some folks are killing right up until noon. There are still a lot of teal and for the most part, the ducks we’ve got have been here a while. There’s still too much water and now we are looking at more rain. There are some more flight ducks and more big ducks like mallards and gadwalls showing up.
We’re just over halfway through the season, so we’ve got a ways go to. Stay tuned. And be safe.
