Kyle Monroe

This was only the second deer I had ever shot with a firearm. I hunted this deer on heavily pressured state land all archery season. I had trail camera pictures of him in a large oak flat in the middle of the night. I thought he was spending his days in a swamp that drops down almost 200 feet to a creek bottom. The seamp was only about 100 yards wide with the creek running through the center for miles in both directions. It was bulletproof for this deer because it was very difficult to get into the swamp undetected because it was very thick and on the north and south sides there was a very steep elevation change, which causes the wind to swirl constantly. On November 15th I was frustrated because I could not close the distance to bow range so I went out with my rifle. That morning it was very windy and 10 inches of wet snow had fallen overnight, so I finally had the upper hand to go into where I thought he was spending daylight hours. I was correct on where he was, but I was dead wrong on having the upper hand. I was able to get to the river bottom undetected, however the wind swirled and I bumped him. I was within 50 yards of him. I decided to back out, so I got in the river and walked the long way back to the nearest road. I found 5 large rubs where he was standing in the creek rubbing the alder trees. It was in a perfect pinch point, but I would have to let him calm down. I waited for the next storm to come into the area which happened to be on Thanksgiving Day. We planned our dinner for late, and I went after him again. This time I was pretty confident I would at least get a chance. There were probably 10 to 15 ground blinds with bait surrounding this bedding area but no one had shot him so I knew he must still be in the creek bottom because if he would have came out to the oak flats in daylight he wouldnt have made it to 5.5 years old on state land. He was living on an island where the creek split. To my knowledge no one had been in there since I bumped him. I arrived after daylight, because I wanted him to get back to his area and I would still hunt the 1.5 miles. The wind direction was perfect and ripping at 25 mph with some snow mixed in. The road I took to where I was going to parked crossed the creek that he was bedding near, 1.5 miles to the east. As I pulled up onto the little wooden bridge and I was elevated could see 50 yards into the alders. I stopped because I saw something move. It was a doe. She was walking away from the bedding area towards me. I sat there for about 10 seconds and then I saw him. He was directly behind here about 5 ft and all I could see was antlers on each side of the doe. I couldn’t see his body or his head, just his rack protruding outside the width of the body of the doe. I knew immediately it was him. He was not sticking to the plan the allowed him to grow this big. That doe was hot and she pulled him out of the bedding area. I needed them to turn around and go back the way they came so I just stepped out of the truck and they bounded off towards where I had planned on setting up.
I geared up my saddle and just 2 sticks because there were no trees big enough to climb over 6 ft. It was cold and windy so I had to carry extra clothes and food and water incase I was out all day or got wet. Its only a little over 1.5 miles but its brutal terrain. I knew I had to try to loop around and get in front of them in the creek bottom. I drove a mile or so up the road and walked in a way I had never been before. It was still tough terrain. I speed walked and tried to get to the bedding area before them.
I had on x on my phone so I knew where there were the last time I saw them. I climbed up where I would see them coming and the wind was in my favor. It was now about 11pm and its snowing sideways. The creek bottom is only 100 yards wide with the steep inclines on both sides and the wind started swirling back to where I thought the deer were. I had no choice. I climbed down from the tree and packed back out to the truck. I tried calli g friends to come set up with me to make sure they didn’t get out of the creek bottom, but no answer. I decided by looking over the maps my only real choice because of the wind issue is to go closer to where I saw them that morning. If she moved or he started bumping her it would be 50/50 chance I would see them because they would either go north or south along the creek. I climbed back up in a nasty crooked jack pine just high enough to see over the alders. I hung my rifle up., and looked at my watch. It was 1:30pm. I had about 4 hours until dark. I looked up from watch towards where they went the last time I saw them 4 hours prior, and there was a doe standing on alert coming my way. She was about 40 yards away. I reached for the rifle just to get ready and I heard 2 loud guttural grunts. I couldn’t see hom because it was so thick but he was close. The wind started blowing harder and the doe began to trot right towards me. I got the gun up, and she went through a big opening at 15 yards and went past me, getting dangerously close to down wind. I heard another grunt,and I could hear him raking the alders. At this point he was still around 40 yards walking quartering towards me. I got the scope on him. He was standing in an opening on alert. All I could see was his chest and neck. I wanted to wait for him to go through the lane at 20 yards that the doe did and have a broad side shot. With the wind being what it was I started to panic. I am an archery hunter, so I would always wait for my shot. For some reason I talked myself into taking the shot right at the base of his throat. I never take a shot like that. BUCK FEVER! I shot, and he mule kicked and jumped like 5 feet in the air. He took two big bounds and now his whole body and rack are 15 yards broad side in the opening. I was surprised that he didn’t drop or keep running. He was just looking around, confused. I have a bolt action 30.06, and I pulled the bolt back. The spent round ejected. It feeling like seconds minutes and i need to get another shot before he runs. I push the bolt back forward and it doesn’t go all the way forward and its jammed. Thankfully I am prior military and I knew that it was a double feed. I ripped the bolt back again, reached in my pocket and grabbed another round. I used the cap end to clear the double feed, and slammed the bolt forward. I raised the barrel. I put the cross air on his vitals. I couldn’t believe he was still standing there after all the chaos. I squeezed the trigger and he went straight down. My whole life I hunted over bait with minimal success. In the summer of 2021 I bought my saddle and decided to stop using bait. I learned so much that fall about how the bucks move around the landscape, and it is the only reason I harvested a 5 5 year old 10 point. It was a wild day pmaying cat and mouse but it was so much fun. I doubt I will ever top the story!