The 2nd half of the 2019/2020 season was just rough. It all started with the shotgun season. If you haven’t read about that yet, click here. After that, I just couldn’t get on very many deer. When I did, they either weren’t close enough or came in after legal shooting light. I also had a great habit of having fawns underneath me.
Check out some other articles of Matt’s Hunts:
2019/20 Deer Hunting Season: 1st Half – 1 Doe Down
Late Season Buck – Tagged Out
The closest I came to harvesting a buck was at my local funnel spot. I have had the great pleasure of watching 2 particular bucks hang out in that area for the last 2-3 years. I believe the bucks are about a year apart in age. The younger of the 2 is the buck you see in the photo at the top of the page. This year, he is sporting a really tall 10 point rack. Based on all of my trail camera photos I believe this deer to be 3 1/2 years old. If he is able to survive the injury he got this fall, he will be an exceptional deer this coming fall. His older counterpart has a wider rack with shorter tines and only sports 8 points. In fact, the younger deer would easily outscore the older buck.
Regardless of that, I was really hoping to get a chance at the older buck this year. I had a few different encounters with both of these bucks during the 2nd half of the 2019/2020 season. All of which were really fun. All of which also kept me in the tree until well after dark to make sure that they had moved on and I could get out safely.
The Final Hunt Of The 2nd Half Of The Season
Capping off the season was my final hunt on the final day of the season. As I followed the mature buck tracks through the woods, I made the mistake of thinking that the deer had gone farther away than they had. I was 15 yards from the tree I wanted to climb when I saw the first buck. He was standing and staring straight at me. I stood completely still for roughing 15 minutes before the 4 bucks (2 of which were definite shooters) bounded off out in to the marsh. It was a heart breaker. I knew I had just ruined the last (and probably best) chance at harvesting one of those mature bucks. On the upside, it’s also highly likely that both bucks will be around next fall! Check out the video of my hunts below and head on over to our YouTube channel for more!