By Louie Stout
Brian Watson with a nice buck.It could have been an unfortunate déjà vu for Brian Watson last October when a 10-point buck came crashing through the brush beneath his tree stand.
The Niles insurance agent left work early that day to do a little “field work” in a private, Cass County woods. It’s something he does 2-3 times a week during the deer season.
He climbed into his tree stand, and as he reached for the rope to pull up his bow that was still on the ground, he heard the noise.
“A nice buck came in grunting and smelling the ground not 15 feet from me,” Watson recalled. “I froze.”
You talk about Murphy’s Law.
As a safety feature, Watson ties a rope to his bow (which is on the ground) and around his waist to free his hands while climbing a tree. Once safely into the tree, he pulls the bow to him.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t that long ago when he faced an identical dilemma - a mature buck sauntered within range before Watson got settled. He tried easing the bow into the tree but it began to sway, the buck saw it, and scrambled away.
“I wasn’t going to make that mistake again,” said Watson, who sat motionless until the deer sauntered out of sight. “Sure it was frustrating, but I thought about how cool the encounter was, that it was still early, and I might get another opportunity.”
It was the pre-rut and the buck was obviously staking his territory and stalking does. The experienced hunter figured the buck might loop back by his tree before dark. He had hunted the 20-acre woods before and knew it often held quality bucks.
Once he retrieved his bow and readied an arrow, he began blowing lightly on his grunt call in short sets every 15 minutes.
Grunt calls mimic another male in the area. Mature bucks with breeding on their minds often become fightin’ mad, will drop their guards, and rush in to defend their turf.
“After my third set of grunts, he came busting in like a freight train,” said Watson. “Once he stepped into an opening, I dropped him. It was the same buck I encountered earlier.”
The avid bow hunter has learned that patience is a key to success and it paid off that day.
But so did his calling tactics. Watson is convinced his grunt strategy is what brought the buck back into range.
“So many guys get so excited they think they have to really grunt loudly and often, but that’s not natural,” he explained. “I really believe my grunting lightly and minutes apart, plus waiting patiently and not spooking the buck, improved my chances.”
The mature 10-point buck will likely make the Pope and Young record book as a typical rack.
“It ranks right up there with some of the nice bucks I’ve shot,” he said.
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