When a small window of hunting time opens during the Delaware rut, HuntStand is there to point the way to a productive stand location.
The HuntStand Hunting app is all about helping you make the most of your valuable hunting time, and for yet another fine example we turn to Delaware’s Andy Brubacker. After a hard week of hunting Brubacker had decided to take an evening off to complete a few home projects, but when some free time emerged, consulting with HuntStand helped pave the way for a weekly Big Buck ALERT contest win. For his efforts in bagging a fine, funky-looking Delaware nontypical buck, Brubacker scores an ALPS OutdoorZ Bino Harness X with Vital X rangefinder pocket; the weekly win also makes him eligible for our Grand Prize Drawing: A choice of either a sweet new binocular, OR a cutting-edge riflescope, from hunting optics specialist Leupold (contest details below).
Here, in Brubacker’s own words, are the exciting hunt details:
“I normally take my vacation time the week before the Delaware shotgun season; I enjoy hunting with my crossbow before the ‘orange army’ invades the woods,” Brubacker wrote. “On Nov 6th, my fifth consecutive day in the stand, I hunted in the morning until just after noon. I hadn’t seen a deer all morning.“Planning on skipping the evening hunt, I decided to go back to the house to eat and try and get a few things done around the house. After finishing earlier than I had planned, I decided to check my HuntStand app, and found that we had a west/southwest wind. I decided to slip into a stand that was easily accessible, and would work with the wind. The stand sits on the edge of a food plot that is right next to a cut corn field. I didn’t have a perfect wind for the stand, but it was the best option with the limited time. I got in the stand at 3:15 p.m., with dusk set to arrive at 5:26 p.m.
“At 4:35 p.m. this buck suddenly walked into view from across the food plot, and worked a scrape situated 80 yards from me. I grunted at him a few times, but he kept working the scrape. After he finished he crossed a ditch and started walking away from me; at this point I used the grunt call to growl and snort-wheeze at the buck. After pausing and then walking a few more steps, the buck stopped and finally turned around. It took a few more calls to coax him in to 20 yards for the shot.“As I watched the Firenock disappear the buck jumped across a few rows of corn the farmer was kind enough to leave standing, for an effective screen from the road. Then the deer ran across the open field. At one point I felt he looked wobbly, but the deer continued all the way to the woods about 200 yards away. I was getting really nervous, the shot looked good but the buck shouldn’t have been able to make it to the woods!
“I called a friend to help track; I then walked to my truck and waited for help to arrive. An hour later we hiked back and found my arrow; everything looked promising and I knew right where the buck ran into the woods, so we drove the truck around to the edge and immediately found some blood. About 50 yards later, we found my buck. Apparently the deer was quartering toward me harder than I had thought. “The crossbow I used was given to me by my father-in-law as a wedding gift; he passed away earlier [in 2018] and this is the first deer taken with the bow since he passed. I know he was smiling! Thank you HuntStand!”
To enter the HuntStand 2018 Big Buck ALERT contest, simply send us a few clear, high-res. digital photos (three to five) of your 2018 buck along with a brief story of your hunt that explains how the HuntStand app played a part.
Be sure to tell us if your buck was known to you or a newcomer, then describe the area where your stand sits, or where the encounter took place, as well as the fateful day’s wind and weather conditions, and of course, the blow-by-blow account of the exciting action as it unfolded. Include your full name, age, successful hunt date and state, weapon used, and also be sure to include your mailing address. Your e-mail subject line should read: Big Buck Alert! Send your photo(s) and requested info to: [email protected]Team ScoutLook will choose 12 weekly winners that we will share with the extensive HuntStand community; EACH weekly winner will receive BOTH the Bino Harness X (valued at $49.99) AND Vital X rangefinder pocket (valued at $19.99) from ALPS OutdoorZ (see above).
In addition, at the end of the 12 weeks, all weekly winners will be placed in a drawing for our Grand Prize. The Winner will GET THEIR CHOICE of a Leupold BX-2 Tioga HD 8X42 binocular (shown above, a $389.99 value) OR a Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS riflescope (see below), a $389.99 value.
Still hunting the late season? Good luck out there from all of us here at Team HuntStand, and let us know when (and how) you score!