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Jesse's Hunting > Hunting Articles > Articles > Hunting With Jesse in Missouri
Hunting With Jesse in Missouri
Dave Blake - JHO ProStaff
- L.A. CA
October 29, 2007
Missouri Buck
The author with his Missouri Buck. This is the second of two deer the author took on the hunt at JHO Founder, Jesse James's family farm. |
My flight from Burbank to Missouri could have gone better. I got to the security X-ray only to find out I had forgotten to put my favorite pocket knife in my check bag and I didn’t have time to go back and mail it. I could only watch helplessly as the security agent took it back to the illegal item dumping ground.
The plane change in Dallas seemed to be going smoothly. I got on the plane and settled in when the pilot came on the intercom to announce that there was a hydraulic leak in the tail section, so we would have to change planes. We all de-planed and hurried to a different terminal where the new plane was waiting.
After an hour and a half delay I was on my way to St. Louis. Jesse picked me up at the airport that night and we drove the 3 hours to the farm the next morning.
With soybean and corn fields divided by strips of timber, creeks and levees, it is classic whitetail country in which Jesse and his dad, Ken, have built several deer stands and blinds in between bedding and feeding areas. The bedding area near the stand I sat in is a swampy area thick with vegetation and cover. I was a textbook set-up.
Jesse and I spent some time clearing brush around the stand and cutting some good shooting lanes. With all of the noise we made I didn’t expect to see much for a while, but shortly after Jesse left, a yearling doe came in and walked right in front of the stand. I didn’t have the heart to shoot her.
As the sun sank toward the tree tops a flock of turkeys came crunching by. It was turkey season, but they didn’t quite come close enough for a good shot through the trees. Shortly after the turkeys came by, a medium sized doe came out from the trees and crossed directly in front of the stand. When she presented the shot, I took it. The arrow passed through just under the spine cutting an artery.
She ran around the back side of the stand and stopped at a steeply quartering away angle. When she turned toward me a little more, I took another shot, sending the arrow through the sweet spot. She only ran about 18 yards from that point and dropped. When I got to her I found little button antlers on her head which made her… a him.
Had I realized he was a yearling buck I would have passed. As it is, he is now in my freezer and will help sustain my family, friends and me for the next year.
The next evening found me in the same stand around the same time. The deer waited later to get moving, but eventually a large young buck and a doe came out from the bedding area headed toward the soybeans. This was potentially my last night on the stand since rain was predicted for the next day and Jesse had to get back to the airport, so when the buck walked in front of the stand I let an arrow go in his direction.
The arrow went in behind the front shoulder and buried in the offside shoulder and the deer took off back the way he came. I was able to watch him from the stand as he ran about 45 yards and then piled up on the trail. The blood trail was obvious, but unnecessary since I could almost see where he fell from the stand… definitely a clean kill.
This buck’s antlers were tiny compared to his overall size. We estimated him to be about 165 live-weight. I feel fortunate that I was able to take two deer on this trip. As frustrating as hunting can be, there are times when nature decides to be generous. These are the times we need to be extremely thankful that we are still able to go out and hunt.
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