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This year I had the opportunity to revisit Alva,
Oklahoma to once
again hunt with one of the good guys, Dustin Ernest of White Horse
Creek Guide Service. We had been talking throughout the year
about new stand locations and some decent deer he had observed and I
was excited about hunting the trophy whitetails of Northwestern
Oklahoma.
Anticipating this upcoming hunt, I had already packed a few days
before my departure. However the Tuesday morning of my scheduled
departure, work was dragging as I thought about my six-hour drive
from Dallas to Alva, my last two hunting trips there without tagging
a buck and missing a 130 class 7 pt on this same ranch last year.
Dustin runs a very comfortable and laid back operation. He goes out
of his way to make you feel welcome and even rents a house in town
for his hunters. It is just like being at home.
When I arrived in Alva, Dustin and I took a drive out to the
property to show me the new stand location that I would be hunting.
The stand was set in a thicket of trees between a winter wheat field
and a CRP field. This thicket was 90 yards at the deepest point and
about 300 yards long. During muzzleloader season, he sat in this
stand when a dark horned 8pt snuck in on the left side but did not
present a shot. Dustin was confident in this spot and told me that
if I spent some quality time in this stand that I will kill a good
buck. Always trust what an outfitter/guide says.
In contrast, Wednesday morning hunt was not very eventful. I saw a
doe and had a young 8pt walk up the fence line within 40 yards and
bedded down 35 yards in front of me. The wind picked up and rain
began to fall, I was not dressed for the rain, and so I got down and
headed to the truck. For the next two hunts I changed to a stand
location which over looked the winter wheat field. This is the same
stand that I missed the 7pt last year. The deer movement was very
slow. Dustin reassured me that my best chance for a good buck was
the first stand I hunted in on Wednesday morning.
Thursday night Chris Spears, Curtis Bray and Andrew Bohanan showed
up. Bubba Allan, JT Smith and Klint Gidion would show up Friday
about noon. All six were from Southeast Oklahoma. I had hunted with
Chris Spears and JT Smith last year and was looking forward to there
company again.
Friday was a chilly 29 Degrees. I was in the stand well before
daylight, so everything could calm down before it was shooting time.
I sat and watched birds chaise each other through the trees,
squirrels were hanging from the tree limbs trying to reach the last
of the nuts, and four raccoons were just running around with no
particular place to go.
Then at exactly 8:30, I swiveled to my left in the tree stand to
look up the trail and there stood a dark horned 8pt at 35 yards.
However, with the wind pattern that morning I would have to have
luck on my side to get a shot. Once he hit my scent line, it was
over. He backed up, jumped the fence and headed out into the wheat
field. All I could tell myself was that I had two more days to get
another chance. However I had said that same thing Thursday night
when this same buck came in directly in front of me at 42 yards on
the other side of a cross fence. The wind had been blowing from the
north all day at about 15 MPH but 10 minutes before this buck came
in, the wind died down to nothing. As the buck went to jump the
fence, which would of put him at 35 yards. He stopped and smelt the
ground then the top rung of the fence then back to the ground and
back up to the fence wire. He did not like what he smelled because
that was the exact spot that I had crossed. He walked out the way he
came. That morning I sprayed myself head to toe with scent killer
but forgot the soles of my boots and my gloves. That was one lesson
learned the hard way.
 After watching the dark horned buck leave for the second time I was
getting a mad at myself for not doing my job as a bowhunter and
being as scent free as possible. I figured my morning hunt was a
bust, but I would sit here in this tree until I could not stand it
any longer. Seven minutes later, I heard a stick break over my right
shoulder. As I turned my head to look, a crow flew out of the top of
a dead snag about 25 yards away. I decided it was him that made the
noise. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this white horned buck
running into the thicket 35 yards behind me and stop. I grabbed my
bow and got ready for whatever was going to happen. I reached into
my pock at grabbed my Primos doe can and give it three slow turns
and quickly put it back. I heard behind me. A big doe came running
down the trail that was 3 yards directly below me and to the right.
Then her fawn came running right behind her. They both ran past me
onto a little hill about 15 yards in front of me.
All of a sudden, I hear more noise coming down the trail to my left.
I got a glimpse of the white horned buck running in. He stopped half
way behind a cedar tree three yards away. All I could see was
mid-body back. I came to full draw and for a split second I thought
I could shoot between the cedar branches and get a good shot, but I
decided not to take the risk. I moved my bow over to the other side
of the tree. My thinking was to stop him with a grunt when he came
out the other side. When that buck looked up and saw that doe and
her fawn on top of that hill. He was on the move as he came around
the tree on a brisk walk. I centered the pin on his front shoulder
and grunted twice but there was no way he was going to stop. When
the buck turned to follow the doe up the hill, he paused for a
millisecond and I took the shot. When I released the arrow, he
lunged forward to chase the doe. He was quartered away going up the
hill. My arrow entered just to the right of the spine at last rib
and only got 16 inches of penetration. I watched as that buck ran to
the top of the hill and stop about 30 yards away. He was so
interested in that doe he did not know he was hit. He took off after
her again. My heart sank when I saw my arrow sticking out of him in
a place that it should not have been.
 As time passed I watched for any sign of him. I knew there was not
going to be a blood trail because my arrow entered high and did not
exit. I caught a glimpse of three deer running though the trees. In
my mind I was yelling at the buck to run and run hard. I wanted that
broadhead to do as much damage inside his chest cavity as possible.
Through the only opening in the tree branches, I could see the doe
and her fawn running directly away from me in the wheat field with
that buck on her tail. Just before they ran over a little rise in
the field, the does went to the right and the buck hooked a left. I
could tell he was not running well and I knew this was going to be a
long day.
As I sat in that tree stand watching them run off I became
frustrated at myself and wondered if the shot was good enough to put
him down. I literally threw my stuff out of the tree to the ground
and headed to my truck. I met up with the other hunters and told my
story. Curtis Bray from SE Oklahoma had shot a slick 4pt. We decided
we would give my buck at least three hours before looking for him.
We processed Curtis’s buck and took it into town to be checked in.
After a grueling three hours we went looking. All we could do was
head in the last direction I had seen him run. First, we checked out
a small island of trees in the middle of the wheat field. He was not
there so we headed to the big thicket of trees. As we walked, I
found a fresh set of tracks heading in that direction. The plan was
to have Chris and Curtis walk the backside of the trees incase we
jumped him. They would see if he ran out the other side. Andrew and
I would follow the tracks into the trees. We walked less than 20
yards in and I heard Andrew yell, “There he is, he’s dead”. I ran
over to my right and there he was; my biggest buck ever!
Jered's 125" class
Oklahoma 8pt field dressed at 184lbs.
I would
like to thank Dustin Ernest for his friendship and the trust he has
in me to let me loose on his property with the keys to the gate. I
know the more I hunt with Dustin the more my taxidermy bill will be
in the future. Also I would like to thank my new friends and hunting
partners from SE Oklahoma. If you are interested in a great place to
hunt with a great guy, you must call 580-327-7888 and book a hunt.
You can visit his web site at
www.whitehorsecreek.com
for more information. White Horse Creek Guide Service has over
21,000 acres of Prime Northwestern Oklahoma hunting land. There is a
high success rate on trophy Whitetail Deer and Rio Grande Turkeys.
Many packages are offered during a variety of seasons that include
rifle, archery and black powder.
Aim hard – Have fun,
Jered Kimmel
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Additional Video Photos |
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JT Smith had a
great Friday evening hunt, taking an 8pt Buck & Rio Grande
Turkey.
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170"+ whitetail
buck taken by a black powder hunter earlier in the season. |
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Curtis Bray
took this slick 4pt cull buck on the same hunt. |
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