By Kaleb Comstock
Many people around the Midwest say that November 7th is their favorite day to be in the deer hunting woods. While that might be true for a lot of people, my favorite day to be in the deer hunting woods is December 4th. All jokes aside, December 4th has been a very good date for me when it comes to killing mature deer.
This all starts back in 2020. Much like this deer season, 2020 was a rough year for me. I really didn’t have a target buck going into the season and as the season progressed I never had a target buck on my river farm until November 17th. On November 17th, I had a new random buck show up. In 2020, the agriculture field at the river farm was a cut cornfield. I knew going into late season, if this new 10-point buck stayed, my highest chance to kill him was going to be in that cut corn field. On December 3rd, I went to scout the river farm by glassing from a distance and sure enough in the final half hour of light, the big 10 stepped out in the cornfield, standing 40 yards in front of my tree stand. Using that knowledge and knowing December 4th was the exact same weather conditions, I made my move. I rushed out of work and got settled in the treestand by 4:00pm, as luck would have it, the first deer in the field was the big 10. I couldn’t believe it, 4:35pm and my target buck was already standing in the field at 30 yards. The big 10 fed out to 45 yards before I was able to get a shot off. Making probably my best shot ever on a whitetail, my arrow buried right behind his shoulder and he ran 150 yards and crashed just inside the timber.
Kaleb with his 2020 buck shot out of the same tree as Bubbles.
Skip ahead to the 2022 season. Going into the 2022 season, I had a couple of target bucks early on but by the second week of November, I was left with zero target bucks. On November 1st, I had a new big 10-pointer show up on camera, Brennen Nading from the Breaking Point was at my house and he randomly named the buck “Bubbles.” I had gotten “Bubbles” on camera the morning of November 3rd, so I made my move that evening. I went in to hang and hunt and ended up rattling Bubbles to 15 yards. Instead of taking the trail I was set up to shoot, he came between me and the river, directly downwind of where I was sitting. Three more steps was all I needed for a clear shot, but he got my scent before that happened. After this encounter, Bubbles seamlessly disappeared. Zero pictures of him, zero encounters. I was left without a buck to target for the entire month of November.
After a close encounter with Bubbles on November 3rd, he disappeared.
November 28th
I had pretty much given up hope for the 2022 season in Nebraska. I was only taking my recurve bow to the tree, trying to accomplish the goal of shooting any deer with a recurve. On the morning on November 28th, I woke up and checked my cell cameras like I do every morning, except this time, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Bubbles was back, standing in a scrape on the edge of the cornfield. 25 days later, Bubbles made his way back to the river farm. I immediately started planning on how to capitalize on Bubbles being back. As I am at work that day, my cell cam went off at 11:45 am, a picture of Bubbles chasing a doe. Knowing he was there, I made my move on the evening of November 28th. I am fairly confident the entire sit Bubbles was within 100 yards in front of me, locked down with a doe. I watched a smaller buck try entering the thick cover and heard the loudest snort wheeze and could see a big bodied deer in the cover running the smaller buck off. So dang close, but not close enough. After November 28th, we had a major cold front push in. The cold front brought snow, wind and cold. Ideal conditions for sitting the corn field corner stand, where I killed in 2020. That Tuesday, November 29th the sit yielded no sign of Bubbles. I elected not to hunt the final day of November and as luck would have it, Bubbles feeds out of the corner right in front of my stand I sat the previous night. The game of cat and mouse continued.
December 4th
On the morning of December 4th, I woke up and checked my cell cameras, just like I do every morning. I was ecstatic to see Bubbles leaving the corn field, headed south to bed, right before sunrise. I was making my move that evening. Something just felt special all day. I don’t know if it was the fact that the last time I had a picture of him right before sunrise was November 3rd, the night I almost killed him, or if it was the fact that I killed on December 4th two years prior, out of the exact stand I was going to sit with basically the exact same weather conditions. Truthfully, it was probably a combination. As the night rolled on, the deer started moving and pouring out into the cornfield 100 yards north of me. Legal light was ended at 5:23pm and the deer started hitting the field about 5:00. I had a group of does that started staring hard towards the corner, where I was expecting to see Bubbles come from. I peaked my head to the left and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Bubbles was standing in the corn field, less than 30 yards away. Light was fading quickly, I turned on the main camera, turned on my B camera, then went to range him. 25 yards. He took a couple more steps, and I readjusted my camera. It was now or never. I got drawn back and Bubbles stopped perfectly, 25 yards away. I settled my pin and let it fly. I felt great about the shot but was confused upon impact. I couldn’t see my arrow in the ground or sticking in him. What happened? I thought to myself. Bubbles ran 40 yards and stopped. Didn’t act hit or hurt or anything. I completely thought I somehow messed up my opportunity. It seemed like an eternity went by of watching Bubbles just standing in the corn field looking around. Finally, I see his rear end getting weak and watch him bed up and die 70 yards away from my tree. The hunt for Bubbles was officially over.
The hunt for Bubbles finally came to an end on December 4th, 2022.
December 4th has truly been a special day for me. To be able to kill two mature bucks on the same day, two years apart is pretty special. To kill two mature bucks out of the exact same treestand two years apart on a small river property is something I would have never thought would happen. I think from now on out, I need to make sure I can hunt December 4th every year because it has been my best date to deer hunt when it comes to killing big mature whitetails.
