I settled into a stand yesterday at 3:00pm, located only 20 yrds from where I shot a buck last year on Nov 5th. The NW winds were marginal for this spot, but I had moved the stand 20 yrds SE of my 2023 location, specifically to get closer to a N-S ravine edge that got my scent above a trail between the 2024 tree and the ravine. Soon after getting settled, a young 4pt buck cautiously moved around the south side of the stand working his way to my W-NW. I continued to occasionally see the young buck in the cover to my west and also noticed a small doe around him. They eventually moved off to my SW.
About 4, I heard a loud grunt, also from a westerly direction. I was convinced the grunt had come from the NW, rather the from the SW location where I had last seen the young buck and doe. I scanned the area to my NW with my binos, but couldn't see any source of the grunt. With the cloudy and misty conditions, I thought a rattle sequence was worth a try to see if I could maybe move the unseen buck my direction. Within a couple minutes, this buck was coming in from the S on the trail between the stand and the ravine edge. I quickly scanned him in the binos expecting him to be the buck I had hoped to see on this W side portion of the farm. Although not that buck, I thought he looked like a solid mature whitetail and grabbed the bow.
The buck briefly stopped directly to my S, about 35-40 yards behind the tree, but soon continued on the trail walking towards me. I made the mistake of having my harness strap on the left side of the torso as I watched to buck from the right side of the tree. When the buck worked behind the tree to my left, I raised the bow over the tree and turned as far left as the harness strap would allow, managing to get it under my left armpit. Shot distance was only 18-20 yrds but I still managed to hit him poorly, much farther back that my aim point. The only thing I can think of is that I failed to check my sight bubble and had my bow hand canted to my right due to my torso being constricted by the harness strap.
The buck reacted harshly to the shot, letting out a loud grunt type sound. He wheeled to the SW and ran out about 60 yards slowing to a walk. Head was slightly down and tail was tucked and flickering, indicating he was hurt bad. After covering a short distance walking, he bedded down within bino range, maybe 85-90 yrds, with his head up. After a couple minutes, his head dropped to the ground. I saw him raise his head a few times but he was down for good within 10 minutes after first bedding down.
This buck may be the largest bodied deer I have ever shot. Dressed on the hook, the scale says 223-224 lbs. I have read that a live weight conversion estimate of 75% is reasonable, which would put this buck close to 300 lbs on the hoof.
Now over 60, I have started to think about how many years of this sport I have left to enjoy. I'm thankful for each opportunity I get to climb into a stand and hunt these great animals. I am also grateful for the friends this sport has brought into my life and the memories we get to share with each other every season.
God bless everyone and be safe out there.
