JUSTIN OOSTERBAAN
SADDLE: DIY Saddle
LOCATION: Michigan
It was my firstborns due date, October 28, but she was just going to have to wait. I was in the woods by 2:30 after it rained most of the day. The radar was ominous. I walked into where I had shot my buck last November 12th. I wanted get in earlier because last time the sign was getting old. It didn’t disappoint; there were scrapes the whole way. This place is a jungle with briars, and I have to take deer trails into little islands of openings. I accidentally walked past where I wanted to hunt, and thought I screwed up an entry route at a big intersection. I set up 75 yrds from last year, then down came the rain. It down poured for about an hour, but I knew this place could produce.
A few minutes after the rain died down I saw a spike feeding in the distance, and at first I thought how I should really put meat in the freezer since this could be my last time out for a while, but luckily he never came close. 30 minutes later 3 small does seemed to catch my ground scent where I had walked past my setup, they walked away before deciding it was safe and came through. Had one been mature, it would have died, they slowly meandered through. About an hour before legal shooting light ended, it began to get extremely dark. The radar showed that another band was on its way.
It was now or nothing,I had been practicing every shred of restraint in my body. There is nothing more that I like to do than pull out the rattle and let loose. I’ve only ever called in a 6 point, but right now I’d be extremely happy with that, so I let er rip.
I grabbed my bow, and put my other hand in my pocket to keep it warm, and almost immediately snagged the thumb trigger on my saddle. I watched in horror as my release tumbled to the ground. I frantically dug through my bag and got my backup hooked up.
Soon I heard some twigs snapping from where the does came through, and a spike walks out. Meat in the freezer or believe in this amazing place? He followed the path out of my life.
Less than a minute later, he came from 8 yards to my right grunting the whole time, but I didn’t have a shot till he was at 20 yards quartering away. I stopped him and sent my arrow. It looked good, but dribbled out funny. He hopped off, not on a sprint. As I was packing up it really started raining, but the first 20 ft of the blood looked good then started to pour. He ended up going about 100 yards. My amazing 9 month pregnant wife volunteered to bring my deer cart since I had forgotten it.
2 years, 2 sits, 2 bucks. I like this spot.