We had another very successful season here at WOTO! Below this paragraph I will have a breakdown of how the season went in our eyes, the number of clients, kills, wounded deer, and people who did not get a shot as well as whether just the nature of the beast of "hunting", a passed shooter and then nothing afterwards, if we messed something up, or if someone refused to listen. I lay it all on the line whether us or anyone, we are transparent which I believe helps both the outfitter and clients, or future clients all understand and communicate better when hunting and for all to know what to expect.
Firstly, we started the season off by opening week of archery putting a giant 17pt buck on the ground with a bow that ended up grossing just a hair over 187''! Lets just say that it set the bar high for the rest of the season and we kept killing mature deer the entire season, with exception of a few bucks that did get misjudged or it "happened so fast" that it was either take the shot or let it walk and a couple passed on, and a couple were shot. It happens to the best of us, no matter the experience level, buck fever/adrenaline can get to us!
We booked a total of 28 hunters throughout the season which included archery, muzzleloader, and rifle clients.
Archery season: We took 11 archery guys and we had 7 kills, 2 wounded bucks(one 10pt over 160'' and a solid 8pt that would have scored 135-140"). 2 did not kill; 1 of which was a very good and patient hunter and passed a few in the 130's because he saw a monster 170-180'' buck that was just out of range several days, and he decided to wait it out for that buck and never got a chance. The other hunter decided he would walk around after we dropped him off in his stand and try to spot and stalk even when we told him not to. We caught him out and about once, and reiterated that this will not work because he does not know the area, patterns, property borders etc. We didn't know until after he left and we pulled other cameras that he had been walking around every day and never listened...a method that will surely lower your chance on harvesting a mature animal with a bow.
Muzzleloader season: We took 5 guys during muzzle, and all 5 killed! The biggest of the season was killed and he had 14 scoreable points and grossed 191''. The next largest during muzzle was 153'' and the other 3 bucks killed were 134'', 144'' and 140". All respectable bucks and all 4yrs or better aside from 1 buck.
Rifle season: As always, rifle season had the highest number of clients booked with 12 rifle hunters for the 3 sets of 4 day hunts that we do. We killed 7 bucks, 2 guys wounded bucks, 2 regulars of ours that only shoot bucks over 160+ passed several shooter bucks ranging between 140-155" with one of them being a buck we saw later on that was regrettably passed on, with that being said they are 2 of the most disciplined and intelligent hunters we have had and they are booked with us for the 3rd straight season! 1 guy did not get a shot on a buck over 140'' and he being a regular and a very close friend now, I personally let it affect me and moved him from one side of a huge wheat field to another several different times playing cat and mouse with a big buck that we all saw several times but never within range. He wanted to move to other side as well, so it wasn't a forced move however after one move and the buck literally being within range of where we were the previous day, I should have made the decision to stick to the one spot and not move again...Instead I made the call to keep switching and shouldn't have. He is booking again this season, however I feel I made the mistake and let the pressure affect me and so I made the decision for him to come back not as a paying client, but on me as I know we would have killed the buck if I would have went with my initial game plan. Everyone else had a shot opportunity aside from him.
All in all, it was a great season that we will strive to repeat year after year! Anytime we can book 28 guys and harvest 7 bucks over 155'', 2 of which being booners, and having 2 more bucks over 150'' passed on, and a 160+ hit but not found and the rest of the bucks all aside from 2 being very nice and respectable 140+'' bucks...that makes for a great season with a lot of happy hunters! I would also like to thank our hunters for making the good decisions, and good shot placements because without that, we wouldn't look good at all! So let's bring on the 2019 deer season as we are already pumping out protein and minerals and waiting for the antlers to grow!
-Brett Carden