Bow Hunting: Opening Day, Buck Down! (Episode 253 Transcript)

This is the video transcript. To watch the video for this episode click here.

GRANT: Archery season begins September 15th in Missouri and Adam and I were eager to get in the stand.

GRANT: It was a great feeling, to be back in a stand; safety harness on and bow hanging, ready to see some deer, but probably due to the warm temperatures at our location, our observations were limited, and all the deer we saw were out of range.

GRANT: Our hunt ended without us getting a shot, but the highlight came as we were headed to the truck, and received a photo on our phone of Seth Harker and a deer he’d just tagged.

SETH: Opening night of Missouri archery season, unfortunately, my brother couldn’t make it. I’m not gonna let that stop me. I’m gonna grab the bow, grab the camera, and I’m heading to the woods.

GRANT: Like Adam and I, Seth was eager to get in the stand during opening day. But due to work, his cameraman was not able to join him.

SETH: (Whispering) Well, we finally made it to the tree. Having all kinds of opening day problems. GoPro won’t work. We spooked three does out of the food plot – a flock of turkeys. None the less, we’re hunting a hidey hole food plot. We’ve got a nice little pond we built five, six years back. Um, we’re gonna set here, because it is opening day, self filming. You’re not gonna get to see what’s going on behind the tree, behind the scenes – whatever you want to call it. Still excited, good to be in a tree. We’re gonna enjoy it. We always do, so I’m gonna sit down, shut up, and hunt.

ANNOUNCER: GrowingDeer.tv is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops. Also by Reconyx, Trophy Rock, Muddy Outdoors, Non-Typical Wildlife Solutions, Eagle Seed, Nikon, Winchester, ScentMaster, Dead Down Wind, Antler Dirt, LaCrosse Footwear, Redneck Hunting Blinds, BloodSport Arrows, Prime Bows by G5, Outdoor Edge Knives and Flatwood Natives.

SETH: (Whispering) Listen.

SETH: (Whispering) What is he doing?

SETH: (Whispering) It’s a small buck, that’s generally with Rambler and Waldo.

SETH: (Whispering) Let’s hope they do the same thing, ‘cause if they do, they are in….trouble.

SETH: (Whispering) Man, I hope one of our hit lister’s show. We are in their wheelhouse. This is the bedroom.

SETH: It’s about 30 minutes before dark. I saw tines slipping through the cedars, hit record on the camera to see Waldo make his appearance into the food plot.

SETH: (Whispering) I put it to him boys. I put it to him. The Prime put it to him. Where’s Waldo? There he is, right there. Double lung. Opening night success! What do you say? Oh man! Filming myself tonight. Yeah! I just nailed him. I mean nailed Waldo. (Laughter) Dude, you had to work. I can’t help it. Yes. I thumped him good. Why would I be talking this loud, with this much light? If I..the deer is down. Right here, he ain’t, he ain’t going nowhere.

CHASE: Right here on this limb. He went in right here. Be hard to see blood in this.

SETH: Well, we weren’t finding much blood. I guess it’s where we hit that offside shoulder. We turned our lights off. I see a Lumenok up here. Don’t know if that’s where the deer is, but we’re gonna head towards the light.

SETH: He looks like a Jim Dandy, from here. Where’s that Lumenok?

SETH: Beautiful deer. Period. Wow. Look at that knot, dude. Look at that thing. Look at that.

AARON: Where?

SETH: Look. Wow. That is cool. What a beauty. Look. Where have we seen this before? And I’m not Ted Nugent, but we’ve got another sticker shot. Look at the G5 sticking up through. I mean, literally, blew that shoulder. Look at that G5 point.

AARON: That, that’s it?

SETH: What’s he gonna go, Chase? 40?

AARON: I can’t believe…

CHASE: Yeah. I’d say 145, 1, between 145 and 150.

AARON: I can’t…

SETH: Is that not cool?

AARON: What?

SETH: That paddle. You don’t have a knife? You want to use this one.

SETH: I don’t know. You better watch for it.

CHASE: That sucker is sharp, ain’t it?

SETH: They work perfect.

AARON: Dad, pop that.

SETH: I ain’t popping that.

AARON: Why?

SETH: Here. That’s a sharp knife, son.

AARON: Pop it.

CHASE: Which way we going? Should be a path, right over here.

SETH: We let the Prime Bow bark, the G5 eat, and we have got a big deer on the ground. Tickled that he didn’t do what he did last year, and he is a magnum deer this year. He’s put on mass. That’s just what they do, when they get older. And he is definitely an old specimen. When they get four, they are on the hit list.

GRANT: Seth is, obviously, a great hunter and off to another great season. I look forward to sharing more of his hunts, throughout the year.

GRANT: (Whispering) Let’s try this.

GRANT: (Whispering) Wind is perfect. I like an eight/nine mile an hour wind that’s constant. It’s perfect to hunt. It’s the first time we’ve hunted this hidey hole food plot. This was a wheat patch this summer. We’ve got it in shape, got it planted, and we’re in the middle of a big hardwood area. Acorns aren’t falling yet, so we do expect to see deer. Second reason is there’s an east wind. A front just passed through. When you hunt an east wind, in the afternoon, your back is to the west, so you’re not starring into the sun. You’re sitting in the shade. A lot of conditions are just right for success tonight.  First mature doe we see tonight, or mature buck, I’m launching an arrow.

GRANT: About 6:45, Adam caught the first movement of a deer moving toward our field.

GRANT: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

GRANT: The younger does and yearling buck entered the field, head down, and started eating the Broadside. But the older doe was clearly alert. Her head was up, and she’s doing what I call periscoping – looking around, not at us, but actually, the opposite direction, as if she’d heard something down in the woods.

GRANT: I learned years ago, through ugly experiences, not to take a shot at deer 30 plus yards that are alert. Even with the quietest bow, there’s a good chance they’ll duck that arrow.

GRANT: It was obvious the mature doe was 20 or 30 pounds heavier than any other deer in the field, including the yearling buck. And having recently been told by Ms. Tracy, that we needed more venison in the freezer, I had my sight set on that mature doe.

GRANT: (Whispering) Yeah. It’s perfect color all the way through. She’s not far.

GRANT: Right through here. Here, here, here, here. A lot of blood, right in here. Oh yeah.

GRANT: Big doe. Right here. Magnum doe. Look at the cut in there. That’s the entering side and look at that cut. That is a magnum.

GRANT: My gosh. Cut right through a rib, on entry. Right there. I love hunting hidey hole food plots. Catch deer going to get a quick bite, before they go to a larger food plot, and it worked out perfectly tonight.

GRANT: Per Tracy’s request – she said she wants some fresh venison. We produced tonight, a good feeling. Let’s get this process started.

GRANT: Using this gut hook on a swing blade knife, I had no worries about busting the rumen. Makes it a cleaner job for me – better tasting meat for the family.

GRANT: See that dark spot right there?

DANIEL: Um-hm.

GRANT: That’s the developing egg, right there.

DANIEL: Really?

GRANT: Yep. So, it hadn’t been in fertilized, yet, but she’s a lot closer than I thought she’d be.

GRANT: I put my knife – lay it on the bone, and then, just go right down the bone.

GRANT: Not only did this hunt provide my family with some fresh venison, there were some great lessons. Clearly, this doe yielded much more venison than the yearling buck. And the second lesson is, I always aim right where the white and brown hair meet, very low in the vital zone. That’s low on a deer – but I assume almost all deer are gonna drop just a little bit. If they don’t drop, I’ve made a great shot. If they do drop, I’m still in the vital zone. That’s exactly what happened on this deer. She dropped seven, eight, nine inches in the 31 yards the arrow was traveling.

GRANT: The first week of season here in Missouri proved to be very successful for the GrowingDeer Team. A nice buck tagged and fresh venison in the freezer. I hope you have a chance to get outside and enjoy Creation this week, and most importantly, take time and be quiet, and listen to what the Creator is saying to you. Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.tv.

SETH: Not get my GoPro to work, so I found, I didn’t find nothing out. Why…(Laughter) (Inaudible)

ADAM: Earlier in the hunt, I could not get that stinking GoPro to work, so I got no secondary camera.

SETH: Wanted to throw it out of the tree, over the hill. Earlier in the hunt, I could not get my GoPro to work. No. Yeah. Yeah. I could not. You ready? Earlier in the hunt, I could not get my GoPro to work, so I did, why do I keep saying “I found out”? I didn’t find out anything.