longspurs
Active Member
This story begins on November 3, at which time I rattled in a 130-class 10-point buck to 15 yards. Since I'd seen bigger deer in the area and knew there were bigger bucks on some other farms I had to hunt I looked him over and decided to pass him up. That same morning I grunted in a 130-class nine point as well and decision was the same ... wait.
That night and the next day I was torn. I haven't shot a deer with my bow since 2007 due in part to many reasons ... Last year, despite seeing several nice bucks, I never even drew my bow ... In 2008 I missed a 160-class 10-point that I had several years worth of sheds off of. Both years were extremely frustrating as it just never came together. Fast forward to the morning of November 5. As I walked out the door that morning to go back to the stand where I'd seen the 10-point two days earlier, I decided that if - God willing - I had a chance at that deer again I'd take it.
The morning dawned crisp and cold with a light north/northwest wind; perfect. I settled in after bumping a couple deer on the way in and hoped for the best. It wasn't long before the woods came alive. A small spike buck was really getting after some does, which attracted the attention of another small 8-point. In all, I had a dozen does and yearlings come past my stand, several of which literally walked a few feet from the base of my tree. Amazingly, none of the deer winded me and it was fantastic to sit and watch them get hounded by those smaller bucks.
Shortly before 9:00 the majority of the does had wandered off as well as the small bucks. Only a doe and a yearling remained about 50 yards away. I was just thinking about doing a rattling sequence when I heard footsteps ... not just any footsteps, but those of a deer walking with purpose. I caught movement about 80 yards away and pulled up my binoculars for a better look - it was the 10-point from two days earlier!
He worked his way up to about 40 yards and worked a scrape before turning to check out the doe and yearling. I hit the grunt tube but he never even looked. He sniffed them over for a few minutes before starting to walk away from me. I let him get to about 70 yards and hit the grunt tube. This time he stopped dead in his tracks. I hit it again and he snapped his head around, looking my way. As he turned his head back and took another step I gave him one more grunt; he immediately turned around and started coming!
I grabbed my bow and he ended up stopping at 20 yards just out of a shooting lane and facing my tree head-on. If he went to his left I'd have a shot exactly where he'd stood two days earlier. Instead, he went to his right and I had nothing. He came to another fork in the trail and this time he turned the way I needed him to. I came to full draw but he stopped. I held for as long as I could but he remained frozen and I was forced to let down. He was on the downwind side of my tree but I hoped my scent was going over the top of him. Finally, he started to walk again and I re-drew my bow. He was heading for a small opening at about 12 yards but when he stepped into it he was facing me head-on again. Not wanting to take the shot at such a terrible angle I remained at full-draw. After what seemed like an eternity he lifted his head from eating and turned ... I promptly hit the release and watched the arrow disappear through his vitals.
He ran for about 20 yards and then started walking. He came to a stop and his head went down as his rear end started to sway back and forth. He fell, but got back to his feet only to walk another 10 feet and bed down. Within seconds he was gone. He was laying a distance of 37 yards from the tree and had gone only about 25 yards after the shot.
I am more pleased with this deer than words can say. He gross scores right at 137 inches with an 18-1/4 spread. No, he's not a monster and yes he'd have been an awesome buck next year, but either way he's mine. It seems as though I've turned a new leaf as I've been so wrapped up in going after something huge for the past two years; maybe I even felt a little defeated up to this point. However, November 5, 2010, was everything bow hunting should be for this hunter ... a day and a hunt I'll truly never forget.
-Longspurs-
That night and the next day I was torn. I haven't shot a deer with my bow since 2007 due in part to many reasons ... Last year, despite seeing several nice bucks, I never even drew my bow ... In 2008 I missed a 160-class 10-point that I had several years worth of sheds off of. Both years were extremely frustrating as it just never came together. Fast forward to the morning of November 5. As I walked out the door that morning to go back to the stand where I'd seen the 10-point two days earlier, I decided that if - God willing - I had a chance at that deer again I'd take it.
The morning dawned crisp and cold with a light north/northwest wind; perfect. I settled in after bumping a couple deer on the way in and hoped for the best. It wasn't long before the woods came alive. A small spike buck was really getting after some does, which attracted the attention of another small 8-point. In all, I had a dozen does and yearlings come past my stand, several of which literally walked a few feet from the base of my tree. Amazingly, none of the deer winded me and it was fantastic to sit and watch them get hounded by those smaller bucks.
Shortly before 9:00 the majority of the does had wandered off as well as the small bucks. Only a doe and a yearling remained about 50 yards away. I was just thinking about doing a rattling sequence when I heard footsteps ... not just any footsteps, but those of a deer walking with purpose. I caught movement about 80 yards away and pulled up my binoculars for a better look - it was the 10-point from two days earlier!
He worked his way up to about 40 yards and worked a scrape before turning to check out the doe and yearling. I hit the grunt tube but he never even looked. He sniffed them over for a few minutes before starting to walk away from me. I let him get to about 70 yards and hit the grunt tube. This time he stopped dead in his tracks. I hit it again and he snapped his head around, looking my way. As he turned his head back and took another step I gave him one more grunt; he immediately turned around and started coming!
I grabbed my bow and he ended up stopping at 20 yards just out of a shooting lane and facing my tree head-on. If he went to his left I'd have a shot exactly where he'd stood two days earlier. Instead, he went to his right and I had nothing. He came to another fork in the trail and this time he turned the way I needed him to. I came to full draw but he stopped. I held for as long as I could but he remained frozen and I was forced to let down. He was on the downwind side of my tree but I hoped my scent was going over the top of him. Finally, he started to walk again and I re-drew my bow. He was heading for a small opening at about 12 yards but when he stepped into it he was facing me head-on again. Not wanting to take the shot at such a terrible angle I remained at full-draw. After what seemed like an eternity he lifted his head from eating and turned ... I promptly hit the release and watched the arrow disappear through his vitals.
He ran for about 20 yards and then started walking. He came to a stop and his head went down as his rear end started to sway back and forth. He fell, but got back to his feet only to walk another 10 feet and bed down. Within seconds he was gone. He was laying a distance of 37 yards from the tree and had gone only about 25 yards after the shot.
I am more pleased with this deer than words can say. He gross scores right at 137 inches with an 18-1/4 spread. No, he's not a monster and yes he'd have been an awesome buck next year, but either way he's mine. It seems as though I've turned a new leaf as I've been so wrapped up in going after something huge for the past two years; maybe I even felt a little defeated up to this point. However, November 5, 2010, was everything bow hunting should be for this hunter ... a day and a hunt I'll truly never forget.
-Longspurs-
