ksarcher
PMA Member
PMA guys, this is "old hat" to you.
I woke to up to a windy Sunday morning on the 18th of October and almost went back to sleep. After a 10 day trip and semi-recovery from jet lag, I REALLY wanted to get back in the game. So….I got up dressed and drove to the farm I had planed to hunt.
I setup in a hedge row over looking an uncut milo field. As daylight started to break, I could make out a couple of bucks sparing at the edge of the field. My hopes for a good morning sky rocketed. As the light improved I started seeing more deer in the milo feeding. After almost an hour of glassing the field I spotted him on the far side of the field in a small pasture over looking the field. I instantly knew he was a mature buck by the immense size of his body. His non-typical antlers were the first I had ever seen while hunting. This area does not produce a lot of NT deer for some reason.
After watching him for a while he jumped the fence into the milo and almost vanished in the tall crop. I watched him feed slowly to my left at about 300 yards. The wind was gusty from the south and offered me a chance to get close if I could just see him bed down. The terrain is very uneven and after a few minutes he disappeared from view. After loosing sight of him I decided it was best to just back out and come back in the evening.
I got back out early and walked to the far side of the field to the spot I had spotted him that morning. I setup on the fence line of the small pasture at the very spot he had jumped the fence. I found his tracks and decided to follow them to get a better idea of the direction he had headed that morning. At 6:00 P.M. I looked across the field and spotted him standing on a terrace in the field surveying the milo. I went to my knees and watched him feed for a few minutes then bed down.
I have had success in the past when conditions are right to stalk right up to deer in uncut milo. So… off I went into the wind very slowly carefully watching the spot he had bedded just in case he stood again. I had marked the spot with a fence post on a fence line about 50 yards behind his location. I moved only when the wind would gust and the sounds from the rustling milo leaves covered my movement. After closing the distance to just a few yards from the spot, I slowed my pace to an inch at a time until finally I spotted his tines less that 5 yards in front of me. Luck was on my side once again because he was facing away from me and had no idea I was there. I had my recurve bow ready to draw in case he stood and moved to side a few feet to get a better angle for a shot. I made a mistake and moved a step to my left without waiting on a wind gust and he heard my movement. He jerked his head around and started to rise. I let him get up and made a very quick shot as he bolted. At 4 yards how could I miss? When the arrow hit him he did the dreaded high leg kick and I knew I had hit him too far back, I watched as he jumped the fence into the pasture and vanished over the hill. I could see an exit wound in front of his back leg and knew I had to back out and wait till morning.
After a sleepless night I rounded up a couple of friends and headed back to the spot to start the track. After following his track for 200 yards or so, we found him under a cedar tree. I hate the fact that he suffered through the night, but sometimes things just don’t go perfect.
He is my first animal with the recurve and I couldn’t be happier with him. I learned along time ago sometimes you just have to make things happen on a mature buck because you may never get another chance.
This was taken by another bow hunters camera but he shared it with me.
I woke to up to a windy Sunday morning on the 18th of October and almost went back to sleep. After a 10 day trip and semi-recovery from jet lag, I REALLY wanted to get back in the game. So….I got up dressed and drove to the farm I had planed to hunt.
I setup in a hedge row over looking an uncut milo field. As daylight started to break, I could make out a couple of bucks sparing at the edge of the field. My hopes for a good morning sky rocketed. As the light improved I started seeing more deer in the milo feeding. After almost an hour of glassing the field I spotted him on the far side of the field in a small pasture over looking the field. I instantly knew he was a mature buck by the immense size of his body. His non-typical antlers were the first I had ever seen while hunting. This area does not produce a lot of NT deer for some reason.
After watching him for a while he jumped the fence into the milo and almost vanished in the tall crop. I watched him feed slowly to my left at about 300 yards. The wind was gusty from the south and offered me a chance to get close if I could just see him bed down. The terrain is very uneven and after a few minutes he disappeared from view. After loosing sight of him I decided it was best to just back out and come back in the evening.
I got back out early and walked to the far side of the field to the spot I had spotted him that morning. I setup on the fence line of the small pasture at the very spot he had jumped the fence. I found his tracks and decided to follow them to get a better idea of the direction he had headed that morning. At 6:00 P.M. I looked across the field and spotted him standing on a terrace in the field surveying the milo. I went to my knees and watched him feed for a few minutes then bed down.
I have had success in the past when conditions are right to stalk right up to deer in uncut milo. So… off I went into the wind very slowly carefully watching the spot he had bedded just in case he stood again. I had marked the spot with a fence post on a fence line about 50 yards behind his location. I moved only when the wind would gust and the sounds from the rustling milo leaves covered my movement. After closing the distance to just a few yards from the spot, I slowed my pace to an inch at a time until finally I spotted his tines less that 5 yards in front of me. Luck was on my side once again because he was facing away from me and had no idea I was there. I had my recurve bow ready to draw in case he stood and moved to side a few feet to get a better angle for a shot. I made a mistake and moved a step to my left without waiting on a wind gust and he heard my movement. He jerked his head around and started to rise. I let him get up and made a very quick shot as he bolted. At 4 yards how could I miss? When the arrow hit him he did the dreaded high leg kick and I knew I had hit him too far back, I watched as he jumped the fence into the pasture and vanished over the hill. I could see an exit wound in front of his back leg and knew I had to back out and wait till morning.
After a sleepless night I rounded up a couple of friends and headed back to the spot to start the track. After following his track for 200 yards or so, we found him under a cedar tree. I hate the fact that he suffered through the night, but sometimes things just don’t go perfect.
He is my first animal with the recurve and I couldn’t be happier with him. I learned along time ago sometimes you just have to make things happen on a mature buck because you may never get another chance.
This was taken by another bow hunters camera but he shared it with me.
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WOW!!!
