November 29, 2015
Location: Texas Hill Country
Time: 2:22 P.M.
Wind: 6-8 MPH ENE
Temperature: 48 Degrees Fahrenheit
Moon: Waning Gibbous
Pressure: 29.77 Falling
My morning hunt offered plenty of action. Rain once again fell from the sky, but I wasn't about to sit in the lodge. My November quest is starting to wind down, and I'm already daydreaming about 2016.
Situated in a pinch point between twin massive stands of oaks, I watched a beautiful 8 point saunter past my stand. The buck was on a mission, and he soon returned, only this time he was hot on the heels of a young doe -- too young to let an arrow fly at. A few minutes later another 8 point, this one much smaller, came down the same trail.
A half-hour had past since the young eight strolled by. The clouds had thinned and the rain had stopped, and that's when he appeared. His sheen black coat glistened in the now-emerging rays of Texas sunlight. His horns -- horns that twisted and spiraled -- were mesmerizing. He was, in a word, stunning. Until that moment I'd never seen a black buck in the wild, and NO this isn't a high-fence hunt. This ranch boasts a good population of multiple exotics -- exotics that can come and go off the ranch as they please. The buck didn't hang out long, and he was gone before I could fixate my binos on him.
That ended my morning venture, but on the way back to the lodge Mike Stroff Sr. (Mike's dad) pointed out a herd of axis deer. These white-spotted beauties commanded my attention. Mike Sr. noted that I could shoot a doe axis, so that's my mission for this evening. Having skewered several whitetail does already this season, I decided to set my sights on something new. Of course if a plump, old whitetail doe ventures into my evening axis perch, it's likely will let a Maxima BLU fly.
