Not ‘shooting’ this buck comes with regrets

I really regret not “shooting” the spike buck I saw last Sunday during the controlled muzzleloader hunt at Madison County WMA.

I probably could have shot half a minute of clear, high-quality video.

Anyone may hunt deer with archery tackle at Madison County WMA, but you have to draw a special permit through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s annual computerized lottery to hunt with modern firearms and muzzleloaders. I’ve applied for both permits for years, and I finally drew one this year.

Madison County WMA contains two large parcels that cover nearly 14,500 acres between Huntsville and Eureka Springs. Its knobby ridges are forested with oak, hickory and some pine. It also has 136 wildlife openings planted with cool season grasses to provide additional forage for deer and edge habitat for other wildlife.

I am more familiar with the south unit, but it attracts a lot more hunters, so I chose to hunt the north unit. It is rougher and less popular. By getting away from the roads and deep into the backcountry, I figured my chances of killing a legal buck were very good.

A legal buck at Madison County WMA must have an inside antler spread of at least 12 inches or at least one antler that measures 15 inches. You only get fleeting glimpses in woods that thick, so I sought a couple of spots where I could get open looks.

With some arduous walking through steep, rocky terrain, I found three long, narrow openings on Saturday that had everything a deer would want. The area had thick, brushy cover, abundant acorns and a surprisingly large abundance of soft mast nearby. I found two big scrapes, and one 3-inch sapling that was freshly rubbed almost all the way around.

During my walkabout, I was distracted by a deep, bellowing that sounded really close. It finally dawned on me that it was the roaring of lions. African lions! My campmate, Doug Rininger of Pea Ridge, told me that there is an exotic animal menagerie a few miles to the north. A soft north wind made them sound like they were right close.

Rininger had been camping the entire previous week while he scouted and bow-hunted. We hit it off immediately and spent several enjoyable evenings sitting and chatting by the fire. A plant foreman in Rogers, Rininger is an ardent hunter whose tactics are similar to mine. He gets into the backcountry and covers a lot of territory. Neither of us asked where each other hunted, but we freely shared what we had seen.

Sunday was a beautiful day for hunting. The temperature was 31 degrees at dawn, but it warmed to a clear, sunny day with a gentle south breeze.

I sat against a big tree midway down a hill. At about 9 a.m., I heard rustling and footsteps in a thicket to my right. Five does darted across the clearing, but they were hunkered down so I could only see the tops of their heads over the thigh-high grass. I guessed they were running from a buck, but something on the other side of the clearing must have spooked them because they darted back across.

About 15 minutes later, I heard heavier footsteps to the right. They stopped. I heard a single, deep wheeze. That deer turned and walked away. I figured that was the buck, and I chided myself for not sitting against another tree 42 yards up the hill, but that’s a mistake you make when you don’t scout thoroughly beforehand.

An hour later, I saw a deer at the far end of the clearing. I glassed it with my binoculars and saw it was a spike buck. Hugging the left side of the clearing, it came up the hill. At 25 yards, it finally saw me. It lifted its head high in alarm, but it kept coming. Its expression reminded me of a little kid being invited by a department store Santa to sit on his lap for the first time. It looped warily around me no more than five steps away and continued up the hill.

I got that close to a deer a few weeks ago at Piney Creeks WMA, but I was concealed by brush. This time I was pretty much in the open wearing a hunter orange coat and cap. I was also wearing non-reflective Oakley prescription glasses, which kept the buck from seeing my eyes.

I had time to activate my iPhone long before that buck saw me, so I really regret not shooting video of it. I might never get a chance like that again.