Tales from the Timber: Waiting pays

Waiting paid off nicely for bowhunter Jeff Weller of Coal Valley last fall.

Though the temptation was no doubt there, Weller waited until Nov. 1 to hunt a Mercer County stand he has deep in the woods that overlook a designated deer sanctuary on his property.

He had good video of a big buck feeding in one of his food plots from mid-October but had never seen the bruiser before in person. That changed on Nov. 1.

Weller set up a buck decoy 20 yards from his stand and then set up.

“I was watching a dozen turkeys when movement caught my eye about 130 yards down a hillside. Through my binoculars, it looked like a good deer,” Weller said. “I grunted and snort-wheezed. The deer paid little attention and continued to feed.”

That’s when Weller realized this was the 12-pointer he’d seen on video (which actually wound up being officially scored as a 13-pointer).

“I grabbed my rattling horns and banged them for about 10 seconds,” Weller said. “The deer immediately began walking up the hill. He saw my decoy and began to circle up wind.”

When the deer got to within 42 yards, Weller stopped him.

The buck would having a small broken drop tine and an insect hole in the bottom of its right beam. The rack measured 177 7/8 inches after having grossed 190 1/8.