OneCam
Well-Known Member
Last fall I hunted nearly every day of the bow season and wasn't having much luck. I target practiced at my hunting location all summer, and was amazed at the number of deer in the area, but when hunting season arrived, they all seemed to disappear. I saw a lot of sign, but with the mild fall temperatures not forcing them to change their summer habits, I could not seem to nail down when they were moving. On the morning of November 17th, nothing indicated to me that it would be any different than the previous 6 weeks of the season.
I checked the wind direction flag outside my window before leaving that morning and noted that it was out of the southeast, perfect for intercepting any deer moving from their night feeding to daytime hiding places. Upon arriving at my parking place, I donned my Mossy Oak camouflage, doused my deer drag with Tink's #69, and made my way through the darkness to my tree stand. I sprayed the area down with Back Woods Fox urine for a cover scent, knocked an Easton Gamegetter II tipped with a 3 blade Satellite 125 onto my - 70s vintage Bear Whitetail Hunter, and settled in to wait.
It began getting light about 6:30 and I began to scanning the woods around me for any sign of movement. Nothing was rustling that morning, not even the raccoons or opossums that I had frequently seen. I was beginning to get discouraged because I had seen a lot of deer at this time of the rut the previous year, and had taken one exactly a year ago that day.Â
About 7:00 I checked my watch, noting what time a small fawn wandered by. I needed to leave my stand a little after 7:30 each day to get to work on time and I remember checking my watch again at 7:12, thinking I was going to get skunked again. Less than two minutes later, the woods erupted with sound and movement.
I peered through the trees to see what was causing all the commotion and spotted two or three does about 50 yards away. They milled around for a minute and retreated out of sight, only to hastily come back into view. They made their way through the trees to the clearing edge that I was hiding in just around the bend, nervously checking their back trail all the while. I, too, kept an eye on their back trail and was excited to hear more commotion heading my way. It was a nice 6 or 8 point hot on the tail of another doe. As I watched him chase her through a ravine in my direction, I began to get positioned for a possible shot.
Meanwhile, the first set of does had rounded the bend of the clearing, keeping an eye on the action down below as they made their way toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the lead doe perking her head up, pointing her ears straight ahead, and looking right at me. My heart sank at the thought of being spotted, but in the same instant I heard something behind me. I slowly turned my head over my left shoulder and nearly fell out of the tree in shock. A buck of a lifetime was a mere 20 yards away, standing in the wide open. This monster had snuck in behind me and also was watching the smaller buck chasing the doe in the ravine below. He decided he wanted in on the action, put his nose to the ground, and began walking a line that would take him right past me!
I turned my head back around just far enough to make sure the does weren't any closer or spooked and began to make the 270 degree left turn I needed to make to get a shot. Navigating the bow and arrow around limbs and branches was tricky, but I found myself in position just as he entered a shooting lane. I drew back and shot him broadside at 10 yards. The arrow passed clean through as he bolted. I was shaking so bad I had to drop to one knee and didn't even knock another arrow. It all happened so quickly that I wasn't totally sure where I had hit him. I was literally praying under my breath that the shot was fatal as I scanned the brush that he had run into. He had only run about 15 yards, stopping out of view for what seemed an eternity, and then walking into view again. After walking another 15 yards toward a confused doe, he turned back toward me, took two steps, and kneeled completely down. At that moment I knew he wouldn't be getting up again. I quickly got out of the tree, but waited a few minutes before approaching him. The double lung shot had painlessly killed him in less than 5 minutes, a mere 30 yards from where I first hit him.Â
My target practice and persistence had paid off. He wasn't a huge bodied deer, but had enough meat for the winter and enough antlers for a lifetime. The deer has 22 measurable points and scored 196 3/8 on the Pope and Young Non-typical scale.
Equipment used:
Bear Whitetail Hunter - 70s vintage
Sight designed by my father
Easton Gamegetter II #2219
Satellite 125 grain 3 blade broadhead
Tink's # 69 Doe In Heat
Back Woods Fox Urine
Mossy Oak Camo
Taxidermy by Joe Meder/Kodiak LTD
I checked the wind direction flag outside my window before leaving that morning and noted that it was out of the southeast, perfect for intercepting any deer moving from their night feeding to daytime hiding places. Upon arriving at my parking place, I donned my Mossy Oak camouflage, doused my deer drag with Tink's #69, and made my way through the darkness to my tree stand. I sprayed the area down with Back Woods Fox urine for a cover scent, knocked an Easton Gamegetter II tipped with a 3 blade Satellite 125 onto my - 70s vintage Bear Whitetail Hunter, and settled in to wait.
It began getting light about 6:30 and I began to scanning the woods around me for any sign of movement. Nothing was rustling that morning, not even the raccoons or opossums that I had frequently seen. I was beginning to get discouraged because I had seen a lot of deer at this time of the rut the previous year, and had taken one exactly a year ago that day.Â
About 7:00 I checked my watch, noting what time a small fawn wandered by. I needed to leave my stand a little after 7:30 each day to get to work on time and I remember checking my watch again at 7:12, thinking I was going to get skunked again. Less than two minutes later, the woods erupted with sound and movement.
I peered through the trees to see what was causing all the commotion and spotted two or three does about 50 yards away. They milled around for a minute and retreated out of sight, only to hastily come back into view. They made their way through the trees to the clearing edge that I was hiding in just around the bend, nervously checking their back trail all the while. I, too, kept an eye on their back trail and was excited to hear more commotion heading my way. It was a nice 6 or 8 point hot on the tail of another doe. As I watched him chase her through a ravine in my direction, I began to get positioned for a possible shot.
Meanwhile, the first set of does had rounded the bend of the clearing, keeping an eye on the action down below as they made their way toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the lead doe perking her head up, pointing her ears straight ahead, and looking right at me. My heart sank at the thought of being spotted, but in the same instant I heard something behind me. I slowly turned my head over my left shoulder and nearly fell out of the tree in shock. A buck of a lifetime was a mere 20 yards away, standing in the wide open. This monster had snuck in behind me and also was watching the smaller buck chasing the doe in the ravine below. He decided he wanted in on the action, put his nose to the ground, and began walking a line that would take him right past me!
I turned my head back around just far enough to make sure the does weren't any closer or spooked and began to make the 270 degree left turn I needed to make to get a shot. Navigating the bow and arrow around limbs and branches was tricky, but I found myself in position just as he entered a shooting lane. I drew back and shot him broadside at 10 yards. The arrow passed clean through as he bolted. I was shaking so bad I had to drop to one knee and didn't even knock another arrow. It all happened so quickly that I wasn't totally sure where I had hit him. I was literally praying under my breath that the shot was fatal as I scanned the brush that he had run into. He had only run about 15 yards, stopping out of view for what seemed an eternity, and then walking into view again. After walking another 15 yards toward a confused doe, he turned back toward me, took two steps, and kneeled completely down. At that moment I knew he wouldn't be getting up again. I quickly got out of the tree, but waited a few minutes before approaching him. The double lung shot had painlessly killed him in less than 5 minutes, a mere 30 yards from where I first hit him.Â
My target practice and persistence had paid off. He wasn't a huge bodied deer, but had enough meat for the winter and enough antlers for a lifetime. The deer has 22 measurable points and scored 196 3/8 on the Pope and Young Non-typical scale.
Equipment used:
Bear Whitetail Hunter - 70s vintage
Sight designed by my father
Easton Gamegetter II #2219
Satellite 125 grain 3 blade broadhead
Tink's # 69 Doe In Heat
Back Woods Fox Urine
Mossy Oak Camo
Taxidermy by Joe Meder/Kodiak LTD