Well, you don't see this every day!
Every hunter knows during the rut big bucks get riled up during the rut and will aggressively attack any rivals they see. Sometimes, this includes people's deer decoys or 3-D archery targets that have been left sitting in a backyard. Many videos have been captured of angry bucks demolishing these look-alikes.
It likely happens more often than we realize and as further proof we present today's hunting video from bowhunter Shane Simpson. He's hunting in Minnesota with a bow during the firearms season when he spots a shooter at first light with something weird stuck in its antlers.
The buck closes the distance quickly and gives the bowhunter a shot. It ends up being a thrilling hunt as the arrow comes off the rest and the buck nearly bolts.
What a wild hunting video. We see lots of amazing hunting videos here at Wide Open Spaces, but we have never seen one quite like this. That big boy was spoiling for another fight when crossed that marshy area. Even though he just won another battle with a fake deer. Meanwhile, some poor bowhunter probably knows his or her target was attacked by a rutting deer, but is wondering what happened to the midsection of their favorite 3-D target! The buck did not seem to mind he was carrying a little extra weight.
This buck was as rutted-up as they come. And it was probably the only reason he got a second chance at this deer after the arrow fell off the rest. Kudos to Shane for keeping his composure on that one. Most hunters would probably not have recovered to make the shot.
We don't know about you, but if it was us that shot this buck, I'd put that 3-D core back on the antlers and have him mounted that way. Talk about a one-of-a-kind mount you'd get out of it! A true conversation piece for anyone who sees him.
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For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: THE AXIS DEER AND HOW THEY'RE IMPACTING PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES
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