well I couldn't slip up to bama this weekend to hunt the cold front, and coincidentally got an invite to hunt a 25k acre tract of public property about 45 minutes south of me here in manatee county,fl, and knew the weather would be cooler here as well with a North wind. They only sell 100 spots per hunt, and usually have 10 or so no shows, so the land-hunter ratio is still pretty good. Was a little hesitant, but my buddy who actually works at the park, and does a lot of the prescribed burning along with checking in of the deer killed, assured me we would see deer. Also mentioned that the manatee county record for best scoring whitetail was taken off the property last year @ 131" 8 point. This past weekend was opening day of ML season, and historically, this was when the rut was really kicking in. We left from the parking spot, and an hour and a half later, arrived at the 1st ladder stand, where I'd be sitting. It was a 4.2 mile hike from the parking spot. He continued on and was probable 1/4- 1/2 mile away. I started the hunt off by getting blown at by a doe, probably due to the sweat I worked up on the hike in. went on to see 2 other does, but no bucks. My buddy, however was able to connect an old warrior of a buck. It took him 3 shots from the ML, but he was able to seal the deal. Only his 2nd deer ever, and couldnt be more excited for him. Have to give him credit,the 1st shot was from 65 yards with open sights on his ML. Normal weights on the deer killed there ranged from 125-170/185 for a buck. This deer weighed in at 174lb without an ounce of fat on him. After my buddy shot the first round at him, he said the deer dropped, then got up and ran directly at him and bedded down right in front of him. he wasn't sure at that point if he'd hit him or how well if he had, so instead of firing another round right away, he snapped some pics with his camera. Ended up finishing him off shortly after taking the pics. Had a really great time, and was a heck of lot closer and cheaper than driving up to bama.

View from my stand:


Pics of the buck taken after the 1st shot:

Man that's awesome! First question is where did the first shot hit the buck.
Second question, who in the heck carried a ladder stand 4.2 miles into the woods?

That's a dang good deer for Florida! How the heck did y'all get it out 4.2 miles?

Nice deer and story. I hope y'all keep the limited permit selling for public land hunts in Florida though

I thought the 1st shot was a little back based on what I saw,but I didn't stick around for the entire cleaning. He thinks he nicked the heart and went into the stomach from him being quartered towards him. Not 100% sure though..
You're allowed to leave 2 stands in the woods mon-thur,park is closed Fridays before hunts




We ended up having to drag it about 3/4 of a mile to a closer gate on another portion of the property. On Hunt days, the only gate you're allowed to enter/exit is the front gate by the check station; my friend,however,is an employee on the park and therefore we were able to access the other gate just for the retrieval. The hike in and out about killed my feet. Crossed 2 pretty good sized creeks,and the boots let water in shortly after crossing the 1st one. Still had a good time and even saw 2 other bucks on the walk in,1 of which a shooter,but I'd already shot my ML to unload it. Park went to a 3 on one side restriction about 4 years ago,so they're reaping the benefits of that as well. Buck quota for a weekend Hunt is 4 bucks,so since there were like 8 or 9 killed that sat morning,the sat evening Hunt and all day Sunday is only small game-pig/yote. I really think they're on the right track. They do a ton of prescribed burns on this property too

That's a dandy Central/South Florida buck.

The rut was kickin in? Weird seems it should be later. Nice deer though

Pretty rack,good deer!

Well it looks like his 1st shot did graze the heart. Can't believe this old deer didn't die after that. He was alive for a good 15-20 min after the 1st shot. The other 2 shots were both off. One was down on the lower leg-think he was excited,and the last shot was back in the guts. Here's the pic of the heart he just sent me

^^^^^^Jeffrey Dahmer would be proud.

Great deer

Great story and buck

You got to really be mad at them to walk 4 miles!

If the first shot got him in the heart (like I see in the last pic), then he should have been dead with 1-2 minutes tops. Having said that, nothing deer do really surprise me any more. They are very resilient animals. Congrats to your buddy on a nice buck.

what kinda bullet is he shooting?

Think he said he was shooting powerbelts. He's 100% sure that was the 1st shot was that 1. 2nd was extreme lower leg,3rd was in the guts and made a clear mark on the side of the deer that isn't seen in the pics he took after the 1st shot. I think it was just a tank of a deer. Either way,he'll be going up on my buddies wall.

Very nice deer, but a 4.2 mile hike to your stand???

If I had to choose between hiking 8.4 miles round trip or peeling potatoes, I guess I'd just peel the potatoes.

that's a nice swamp deer, congratulations to your buddy!

To be honest,it really wasn't that bad. I had a really good time for my first real time Hunting deer in my homestate.

And that is why you don't ever have any meat to go with your taters