sureshot
The Hunt Never Ends....
If you'd rather watch the video of Alex's first bow buck, simply click here: Alex's First Bow Buck VIDEO
From the day I met my girlfriend, Alex Abens, she expressed an interest in bow hunting. Knowing how talented and driven of an individual she is (when she wants to be
), I knew she could pick it up fast. Two years later, with the deaths of many critters to her name by gun, including turkeys and a monster 150inch 8 pointer, Alex had yet to connect on her first ever whitetail with a bow. Going into the 2012 archery season, she was bound and determined to accomplish this goal, and kill her first buck with a bow.
As the sun was rising to the east, we were just parking the truck. We were running behind, but didn’t let that get us down as we knew that deer would be moving all day. We quickly made our way to Alex’s favorite tree stand, and were setup in no time. Within one minute of climbing into the tree, I looked to the south and saw a buck working his way through the CRP (where we had just walked). Alex had yet to pull her bow up, and had to do so very quickly as the buck was heading in our direction. After getting everything ready (in a frantic hurry), Alex grabbed the rattling antlers and hit them together. The buck, who was now working towards the east, stopped on a dime and stared in our direction. I just knew he was going to come in, and it wasn’t more than 10 seconds later that he was on a line to our tree.
At 15 yards, Alex brought him to a stop and released her arrow. I watched as the arrow hit him a bit back, square in the liver. Immediately blood started to spew out of him, and I told Alex as he ran over the hill, ‘That buck is dead.’ We were more than happy, as this was Alex’s first bow buck, and although not the biggest whitetail in the woods, would be one that she would never forget. Every hunter out there remembers their first deer, and it’s always a special memory regardless of the size. We waited around 5 hours and with the help of Geoff Everly, started up the blood trail. At first, the blood was good, however, 125 yards in it started to die off. At 200 yards, we found what no hunter ever wants to find. A bloody bed with no deer in it. Deep down inside, I knew we had jumped him, and learned a valuable lesson that I won’t soon forget; Give a liver shot deer more than 5 hours no matter how much he’s bleeding. To be honest, I’ll treat them like a gut shot deer from here on out and give them 16+ hours as a good rule of thumb.
We ended up looking the rest of the evening and the next day. We scoured up and down hills, through creek bottoms and thickets, but came up with nothing. I felt horrible, as I knew it was my decision to start following the blood trail when we did, which ultimately led to a jumped up buck that was unrecovered; however, this was not just ‘a buck,’ this was someones first.
I told the neighboring landowner about what happened, as I felt Alex’s buck had likely expired on his property. I knew he was in the area quite often, and that he had just a good of chance as anyone as finding it. On Wednesday, I received a phone call from him stating that he had found Alex’s buck. He woke up that morning and heard crows going crazy in the bottom below his cabin. A quick look later and he had found Alex’s buck. Both Alex and I are very grateful for him finding her first deer.
To say that I’m proud would be a severe understatement. There is nothing in the world that compares to experiencing such a moment together with a loved one. Alex, from one bow hunter to another, I want to say congrats, and welcome to the ‘addiction.’
From the day I met my girlfriend, Alex Abens, she expressed an interest in bow hunting. Knowing how talented and driven of an individual she is (when she wants to be
As the sun was rising to the east, we were just parking the truck. We were running behind, but didn’t let that get us down as we knew that deer would be moving all day. We quickly made our way to Alex’s favorite tree stand, and were setup in no time. Within one minute of climbing into the tree, I looked to the south and saw a buck working his way through the CRP (where we had just walked). Alex had yet to pull her bow up, and had to do so very quickly as the buck was heading in our direction. After getting everything ready (in a frantic hurry), Alex grabbed the rattling antlers and hit them together. The buck, who was now working towards the east, stopped on a dime and stared in our direction. I just knew he was going to come in, and it wasn’t more than 10 seconds later that he was on a line to our tree.
At 15 yards, Alex brought him to a stop and released her arrow. I watched as the arrow hit him a bit back, square in the liver. Immediately blood started to spew out of him, and I told Alex as he ran over the hill, ‘That buck is dead.’ We were more than happy, as this was Alex’s first bow buck, and although not the biggest whitetail in the woods, would be one that she would never forget. Every hunter out there remembers their first deer, and it’s always a special memory regardless of the size. We waited around 5 hours and with the help of Geoff Everly, started up the blood trail. At first, the blood was good, however, 125 yards in it started to die off. At 200 yards, we found what no hunter ever wants to find. A bloody bed with no deer in it. Deep down inside, I knew we had jumped him, and learned a valuable lesson that I won’t soon forget; Give a liver shot deer more than 5 hours no matter how much he’s bleeding. To be honest, I’ll treat them like a gut shot deer from here on out and give them 16+ hours as a good rule of thumb.
We ended up looking the rest of the evening and the next day. We scoured up and down hills, through creek bottoms and thickets, but came up with nothing. I felt horrible, as I knew it was my decision to start following the blood trail when we did, which ultimately led to a jumped up buck that was unrecovered; however, this was not just ‘a buck,’ this was someones first.
I told the neighboring landowner about what happened, as I felt Alex’s buck had likely expired on his property. I knew he was in the area quite often, and that he had just a good of chance as anyone as finding it. On Wednesday, I received a phone call from him stating that he had found Alex’s buck. He woke up that morning and heard crows going crazy in the bottom below his cabin. A quick look later and he had found Alex’s buck. Both Alex and I are very grateful for him finding her first deer.
To say that I’m proud would be a severe understatement. There is nothing in the world that compares to experiencing such a moment together with a loved one. Alex, from one bow hunter to another, I want to say congrats, and welcome to the ‘addiction.’
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