Hunting The Rut: Tagging A Big Indiana Buck (Episode 208 Transcript)

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

GRANT: Knowing the stage of the rut is a huge factor in punching your buck tag. That information really helped Kable as he tagged a great Indiana buck.

KABLE: (Whispering) You on him? You on him?

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GRANT: There was a cold front forecast to pass over the Kentucky Proving Grounds, paired with the opening of Kentucky’s gun season, so Adam and I loaded up the truck and rolled east.

GRANT: We selected that stand because does that are receptive often try to find the thickest cover in their range to keep some of the younger bucks from pestering them all the time and older bucks tend to cruise those areas knowing that that’s the place where does might be bedded during this time of year.

GRANT: We were both focused on trying to pick up antlers in that area when I saw movement cutting through the tall native grass.

GRANT: The antlers were certainly large enough to hold my attention, but we couldn’t quite see the body, and I was very anxious as we were watching this unfold about 100 yards or less from our stand.

GRANT: Soon, Adam saw another set of antlers and we finally figured out that there were three bucks circling this doe that was obviously receptive.

GRANT: The larger of the bucks certainly carried antlers that could be on top of four year old, was pushing the younger two bucks out either side while he was trying to tend the doe.

GRANT: It was quite some time before we got a good glimpse of this buck and made the decision that he was three years old. While all this action is going on directly in front of us, another buck appeared to my right.

GRANT: This buck turned out to be another great buck, but didn’t have the body characteristics of a four year old. The landowner’s goal is to allow deer to express most of their antler growth potential, and that means allowing bucks to live to at least four and a half years old, or older.

GRANT: That afternoon, we watched several does, fawns, and young bucks either passing through the field or feeding in the field, but didn’t see any mature bucks.

GRANT: We did happen to see the same three year old buck pass through the back of the field, apparently following a doe.

GRANT: (Whispering) There’s a good one. Buck, buck. Yeah.

GRANT: It could be the same doe he was tending earlier, or he was starting to find another doe.

GRANT: Just before dark, we saw another doe enter another arm of the field, and I could tell she was acting a little nervous. In just a few moments, a younger buck appeared and started pursuing that doe.

GRANT: He bred that doe twice, which doesn’t surprise me when I see a younger buck breeding a doe. It’s often rumored that the biggest buck in the area will do most of the breeding of the whitetail does. Research has shown that whitetails use a different breeding strategy. In fact, mature bucks rarely breed significantly more does than immature bucks.

GRANT: Once again, we headed for the stand overlooking the thick bedding cover when we had another favorable wind.

GRANT: Once again, we saw another good set of antlers coming our way.

GRANT: Adam having a better look, informed me that it was the same buck we’d seen out of that stand just a few mornings earlier.

GRANT: (Whispering) Soon as I saw those antlers, I was so excited and when I figured out he’s a three year old, I was still excited. That was a great encounter. I hope we have some more encounters this morning.

GRANT: As the morning progressed, we didn’t see a four and a half year old buck. My buck tag is still open in Kentucky, and I look forward to heading back for some late season hunting action there at the Kentucky Proving Grounds.

GRANT: Kable and his son, Alec, love to hunt together. Like many of us, they’ve spent a lot of time working together on their property. They’ve planted food plots, and done all the actions necessary to enjoy the blessings of fall.

GRANT: You’ve probably had the same experience, but each fall certain areas just tend to be more productive than others. For Kable, this season’s hotspot has to be the place they call the Cedar Honey Hole. Located on the edge of a cornfield, this has been one heck of a hotspot.

KABLE: First time we hunted this spot, about three weeks ago, it was unbelievably productive. We had does, we had spikes, we had fawns, we had everything funneling into this, into this food plot.

GRANT: With more does needed for the freezer, the Cedar Honey Hole was ready to provide.

KABLE: (Whispering) Got her?

JOHN: (Whispering) Yup.

KABLE: (Whispering) Still got her?

JOHN: (Whispering) Yeah. (Inaudible)

GRANT: This hunt, Kable was reminded that mature deer, especially does, have lightning fast reflexes.

KABLE: (Whispering) That’s amazing.

GRANT: And it wasn’t long before Kable gets a second try on another mature doe.

GRANT: He made a great shot and provided more venison for the McAlpine freezer.

KABLE: I think we just got a good mature doe.

KABLE: I, uh, don’t ever waste any opportunities early in the season to take uh, uh some backstraps for the freezer. We, we eat a lot of deer meat. So it – it turned out to be a pretty good little hunt. We ended up having to recover her the next day, but uh, we got her and uh, everything went well and uh, it was really, really a fun hunt. Well, and I was talking to my cameraman, I said, “You know, we ought to go back and try the ole uh, Cedar Honey Hole again,” about oh, just about five days later.

GRANT: We all know secrets are hard to keep and it wasn’t long before competition showed up at Kable’s secret hotspot.

KABLE: (Whispering) (Inadubile) Got him.

GRANT: The replay shows just inches from the fur, that fawn nabber survived as the arrow deflected just ever so slightly off a cornstalk.

GRANT: It’s always good to watch deer from your blind, or treestand, and study their actions for clues.

KABLE: We had a button buck and a spike out in front of us, they started getting jumpy. And they bolt off. And they didn’t smell us, we didn’t do anything wrong. I looked to my cameraman, I said “I bet there’s another, I bet there’s another coyote coming.” And he pops out right in front of us.

GRANT: Kable doesn’t like competition, so that south Indiana boy decided to take matters into his own hands.

KABLE: (Whispering) Okay. You on him?

GRANT: This coyote ducked right into Kable’s well-placed BloodSport Arrow, and that’s one less deer stressing machine roaming around Kable’s property.

KABLE: If we have an opportunity to kill a coyote, we do it. Um, we may not hit it, but we’re gonna shoot at it and I don’t care if it’s with a gun, or with a bow, or with a slingshot, or with whatever. They’re really hard on fawns, and they’re just uh, they need to be controlled just like everything else needs to be controlled. So, we do that.

GRANT: It was a wet November 6th morning with a cold front approaching, and Kable had that good feeling, so he went back to the Cedar Hidey Hole.

KABLE: We had a storm front coming through last night and uh, it was raining, nasty, uh, it was just uh, it was just looked like a good night to be out deer hunting. You know you just, it was November 6th and you know these are the times that you just wait for all year long.

KABLE: Well folks, it’s, uh, November 6th. We’re back here in uh, southeastern Indiana, sitting in a blind. It’s pretty warm, uh, it’s about 60, 60 – 61 degrees out but we have a cold front moving through right now. Looks good, looks good. We should uh, we should get some movement tonight, I hope.

GRANT: Suddenly, Kable caught movement in the standing corn. It’s game on for Kable, once again.

KABLE: (Whispering) Don’t move. See what he does here. Don’t move. Are you on him?

JOHN: (Whispering) No. That blind’s in the way.

KABLE: (Whispering) Don’t move. Are you on him?

JOHN: (Whispering) No, that flap’s in the way.

KABLE: (Whispering) Okay.

JOHN: (Whispering) (Inaubible)

KABLE: (Whispering) Okay. Turkeys are flying away. Something scared the turkeys up there. It might be a coyote.

JOHN: (Whispering) I think so.

KABLE: (Whispering) You got him?

JOHN: (Whispering) Yeah.

KABLE: (Whispering) Okay just chill out. Just make sure you get ’em. Those turkeys don’t – he’s a pretty good deer. Oh he’s a good one, yeah. You, you got him? You on him? Okay. Stay on him. You on him? You on him?

JOHN: (Whispering) Yeah.

KABLE: (Whispering) Stay on him.

KABE: I think we just smoked a big one. (Whispering) Wow.

KABLE: I think we got a dead deer, um, I think we’re gonna go on after him, get on the blood trail. It’s raining right now. Uh, we’re gonna get after him before uh, this rain washes the blood away. Good blood. Really good. Really good blood. Really good. Good. Good. Good. Oh, oh, oh. White belly. White belly. Right there, there he is. Beautiful. He didn’t, John, he didn’t go – he didn’t go 75 yards. Look at that. (Laughing) Look at that. I couldn’t pass that up, folks. You know what? We have no trail cam pictures of this deer. He just uh, think he just came in, cruising. He knows that was a really good doe hotspot right there. He came in, walking through the corn, walked right through the middle of the corn and uh, got a T3, red carpet treatment right through him. Look at that deer. Nice kickers – nice stuff – pretty good mass. Awful hard deer to pass up, I’ll tell ya. It looked picture perfect, it was just beautiful and uh, I need to thank my wife and my son, and my cameraman, and Grant, and everybody else uh, that uh, had a hand in this. Very gratifying when it happens. It doesn’t always happen, trust me, I’ve gone many years without killing a big deer. Um, but when it comes together it’s uh, it’s a great, it’s a great feeling, great accomplishment.

GRANT: Congratulations, Kable, on a great southeastern Indiana buck. Hard work and dedication has paid off in a big way for Kable, and we look forward for more hunts from that family as his son Alec is up next in trying to fill his Indiana buck tag.

GRANT: Whatever the stage of the rut is where you’re hunting, take a few moments to enjoy Creation and most importantly, slow down and listen to what the Creator is saying to you. Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.tv.

GRANT: Not only does the entire GrowingDeer team love mid-November because of the hunting action but it’s also when we celebrate the anniversary of GrowingDeer.tv. Four years ago, we started making weekly episodes of GrowingDeer.tv year-round. We’ve never had a repeated episode, and each week we strive to share with you the latest information about deer hunting, deer management, and what we do throughout the year. Thanks for watching.

GRANT: I knew the conditions were good, so we went back to the Cedar Hidey Hole. Cedar Honey Hole.