MISSOURI PUBBY

Brandon Schrage - Missouri - October 19th, 2024

By: Brennen Nading (@nadingbr)

This past December Brandon and Dylan set their goals on hunting Missouri public land this fall. They made a trip at the end of the year to do some scouting and get boots on the ground on some of the pieces that they had eyed up using OnX. Their plan was pretty simple going into the season, no trail cameras, just reading deer sign and hunting "blind" if you will. On day 2 of their first trip, they wandered into a "new to them" piece of public ground to check out what appeared to be a water hole that they found e-scouting.  The water hole was located near a soybean field and tight to what they thought was going to be a good bedding area. With temperatures in the upper 70s, and plenty of tracks around the water, they thought this was as good of a spot as any to set up for the evening hunt. The boys climbed 2 sticks high in the only "tree" they could get in and settled in for the afternoon. A few does and fawns were on their feet early, and all of a sudden a great buck popped onto the field.  It was almost like the buck read the script!  He worked across the field straight at them heading for the water hole.  When the deer turned, Brandon drew and let his arrow fly. The shot was a touch back, so they played it safe and decided to wait until the morning to take up the trail. The buck made it just out of sight and was laying there waiting for them!  Brandon's biggest buck to date, and on public land to boot! This hunt was filmed on our RutLIVE series, if you missed it head over to our YouTube channel and check it out under the LIVE playlist.