The morning temperature was knocking on the 20 degree mark and the wind speed seemed to increase by the minute. My pickup was covered with frozen sleet or snow and everything was frosted over. Daylight came at a crawl. Forty minutes of not seeing any deer made my warm fireplace seem very tempting. So I went to the house and took a break with some hot coffee and watched the flickering glow above the fireplace logs.
A little after noon I noticed some deer in my neighbors oat field adjacent to my place. So I slipped out, just in case. Once in my blind I got my gear situated and sat down. I looked around and then stared at the trees ahead where I knew a hot scrape had been during the rut.
A minute, maybe two, a buck walked into my blinds viewing window. A big one, and another was a few steps behind him. The lead buck was the long tined, 10-point with lots of kickers sticking out.
He hadn’t been around for a few weeks. I took his picture seconds after he got to the scrape.
When he finished throwing dirt and working the numerous overhead limbs he stepped ahead and paused to look around.
Stuck Up Buck turned to his left and walked slowly through the trees, all the time getting closer to me.
He stopped and pawed the ground again and rubbed his forehead on a limb above him.
I bumped the zoom up a little on my camera and got the last picture as he stood and checked the thick woods ahead, standing at a slightly quartering forward angle, and then he let the trees swallow him up and he went on his way.
Last year I noticed this buck for the first time when I hunted at the H2O Water Seep and he came to drink 15 yards in front of me. I saw him some more too. This year he was a star in my food plot with his long tines in velvet. And early on I passed on him because I had Number 9 on my list.
Last year I figure he was 3 1/2. This year makes him 4 1/2. All he has to do is stay out of the way for three weeks and we could meet up when he’s 5 1/2.
Stuck Up Buck, you made my day.
