This is every late season hunter's worst nightmare.
If your state allows it, hunting the extreme late season can help you to salvage a season that otherwise might be a total wash. Hunting the deer is much simpler than the rut too. Just focus your attention on food sources and the trails from them to the bedding areas.
However, hunting the late season comes with some risks too. Namely, there is a chance that if you're hunting in January, that big buck may shed his antlers. It makes shooting does risky because it may be a shed-out buck. The other possibility is that the deer's antlers fall off after the shot.
The latter scenario is exactly what happens to Trevor of Brunk Outdoors on this late season Iowa hunt. One of his target bucks finally offers a chance on the last day. Trevor makes a good, clean shot only to find his buck lost both antlers once it finally hit the dirt!
This hunt had all the drama one could have while pursuing whitetail deer all crammed into a single hunt. First there's the fact it's the last day of the season. Add in a little additional pressure from the hunt coming down to the last three minutes of legal shooting light. To make things even tougher, have the buck linger just out of sight while an old mature doe walks up close enough to tap with the end of your gun barrel.
Simply put, Trevor was fortunate to get a chance at this buck at all. Chalk up points for a solid choice of spot to stand and a favorable wind working to his benefit.
Trevor and his group had a lot of history with this buck. We think the buck ended up getting the last laugh though. Trevor may have downed him, but the buck's pedicles were already loosening and with the trauma of the shot, they came loose as the deer hit the dirt. Well, at least that makes the removal of the antlers easier than normal! Also, you're never going to find a set of sheds fresher than that.
If you'll recall, this was the second bizarre hunt Trevor had in the 2020-2021 season. He also bagged a rather large buck that was acting rather strangely earlier in the season. We can safely say Trevor may have had one of the weirdest 2020 seasons we have heard about yet.
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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: 8 OF THE BEST STATES EVER FOR SHED HUNTING
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