Wisconsin Water Buck

It is very common for noted deer authorities to talk on hunting food sources early season, high traffic areas during rut and food sources again for late season. However there is one factor that is often overlooked. WATER! This past weekend was the opener for the Wisconsin Bow season and I am already tagged out! In my DD Bowhunting DVD I gave a tech tip on putting in water sources close to my permanent stand locations. I do that using either small Rubbermaid horse tanks or kiddy pools from a Wal-mart. I burry them level with the ground and take fresh water to them with my Yamaha Rhino and large garbage cans. It is a well proven tactic, believe me.

Here at my property I have to be very wise and offer things that my neighboring properties don’t have. It is nearly a mile to the closest water source and I know that by me having water close by helps keep deer close by. I own 10 acres of land, that’s it, but on these 10 acres I have shot a trophy buck every year for four years now. I credit that firstly to doing my homework, secondly by supplying proper added nutrition and a food plot that is best after the frost. Most importantly though is also having the water for the hot times! This past week has been crazy hot here for the Midwest. The thermometer is over 80 degrees which is nearly 14 degrees above normal. I have had my eye on a buck I call Bigboy since August when he first made an appearance in a nearby soybean field.

Of course it was a neighbor’s land the timber he was using I can’t hunt and worse yet is hunted by someone else! However, I decided to put out some attractant that I have a lot of faith in called BoneDmonium. It’s an attractant but also a high powered bone grower and I have seen deer react well to it time and time again. Attractants work well to take pictures of the bucks you are curious about and also to take inventory of the bucks don’t see. (Please make sure attractants are legal in your state before using them) In this case though I could tell by the long feeding habits of Bigboy that his body was craving nutrition to support the bone he was putting on his head. I put out a Bone pile and a scouting camera on my property some 350 yards from where I located Bigboy. Thing was I had to leave for my Alberta adventure so I was gone for nearly two weeks. I got back and loaded the scouting photos. It took a few days but sure enough Bigboy came in! I kept chumming’ the Bone pile and kept a fresh card in the camera. I got pics, pics and more pics of him. I got some during daylight hours but to be honest most were all well into darkness. By the looks of it he was feeding the Soybeans on the neighbors until 9 pm or so and then coming onto my property. Eventually his velvet came off and then he went totally nocturnal and disappeared.

I was really bummed because I thought I would have him patterned for opening weekend. For nearly a week prior to season I could not get any pics of him. To be honest I had all my attention on the bean fields and was being discouraged. Acorns started to fall so I wrote off Bigboy and started to focus on other options. I went up above my house where I have my permanent stand to check for sign. There was good sign but one thing stood out to me. My water tank was dry. Right away I walked back and loaded 100 gallons of water into the back of the Rhino and drove up to give a fresh fill. The next day was opener!

For the first couple days of season I sat in the bean field hoping for possible shot. I have permission on the till ground but not in the timber so I had to resort to lying low in the mosquito infested soybeans peaking up through the beans every so often. I had several doe’s pass by less than 20 yards away which was really cool. However, the bucks were not anywhere to be seen. On the 3^rd day I went up to the water station and refilled the water. It had obviously been in heavy use. Then I thought it would be a good idea to throw a camera and some Bone up there as well. The next day I went up and checked the camera. Guess who was there!

That night I couldn’t hunt because my boy had football and I had to coach. However the next night I was there. The water tank looked to have had at least 20 gallons missing again. I had a good feeling about this one. I went up in the UA Capture and All Season Pants. It was freaking hot man, I was glad to have on what I did. 15 minutes before dark I look over and here was a dandy 8 point drinking the water. I got the camera on him and filmed him drinking for several minutes. Then he walked over to the Bone pile and ate and got his picture taken. I was happy to see something but was just about ready to pack up when I looked over and here was Bigboy and another really nice 8 point sucking down some water. By now the first buck had wondered right under me so every little move I made he stopped to look up. I had to move so slowly and the whole time I was worrying about both the fading shooting light and poor shot angle. I pulled my bow inch by inch from a seated position and finally got to full draw. Bigboy was quartering to me slightly so I held the pins. Suddenly the buck under me spooked and jumped off. Bigboy took a step away from the drinking tank and looked under my tree towards the spooked buck. He was now broadside so my pins moved into the hot spot and my green tracer nock streaked through the evening sky into his pump house. I was shocked and then so pumped! Probably the most excited I have been here in Wisconsin to be honest. I have years of photos of this buck and great photos of him this year as well. He went from totally nocturnal to totally tagged and bagged all because I had the two things my neighbors didn’t. Added nutrition and fresh water were the nails in the coffin!

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