Pre-rut techniques pay off
As a champion pit barbecue chef for a successful catering company, J.B. McCarty has seen his fair share of pork. To even things out a bit McCarty loves to sit in Lowcountry treestands looking for a little venison to cook, and on October 6 he used his grunt call to bring an “old monarch of the South” to within 80-yards. He placed the crosshairs on the 10-point and harvested a fine Lowcountry trophy buck, which he plans to have mounted.
McCarty is a DU member who lives on James Island, and he was hunting in Charleston County in an area called East of the Cooper and was along the Wando River. “This was my first time in this stand this year, and I climbed into my 15-foot tripod about 5:30,” said McCarty. Hunting on the edge of a one-year old cutover that was the size of at least three football fields, he figured the bluebird conditions would translate into seeing a buck late in the evening. But he didn’t have to wait that long to witness deer activity.
“I saw a doe at 6 p.m. moving through the brushy cutover moving in and out of view,” said McCarty, “so I began to focus my attention in that area.” Then about 6:45 he saw the branches of a tree swaying about 300yards away in the cutdown, and though he could not see any deer, experience led him to conclude that a buck was rubbing on it. The tree swaying lasted four minutes and then McCarty pulled out his grunt call and made three grunts.
“I have found that a grunt call to be more successful now, during the pre-rut phase, then actually during the rut,” said McCarty. Then at 7:05, and with the setting sun now behind the trees, the 10-pointer appeared in silhouette between McCarty and the sun. At 80-yards the big rack with the 18-inch spread was easily identified and McCarty reached for his .270 rifle. “If that deer had moved one foot to the right or left before I got set up for the shot he would have been gone from view,” said McCarty. An accurate shot left the buck in a heap in the small opening.
The 10-point weighed 152-pounds and has been aged to be 5.5-years old. “I fancy myself a pretty good judge of aging deer on the hoof, and this buck had a noticeable sag in his belly,” said McCarty. “I have let a lot of deer walk in this area over the last few years, and I feel like some dividends were paid with this 10-point buck, and I am thrilled to have taken him.”
To see photos of J.B. McCarty in his deerstand on 10/6 and a great photo of the 10-point rack that has plenty of character, visit the hunt report on the SouthCarolinaSportsman.com forum.
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