LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Got one picture of this deer on August 11th and that was it. Really figured he was never going to be seen again...
Took yesterday off work and the weather looked perfect. Headed back to the same tree Russ shot his giant and I had been hunting every chance I had. Smoked a yote at 25yds around 8am and at 11am saw a real good buck cruising on the ridge top. Grunted, snort wheezed... no response. Too windy. Hit the horns and he comes charging. I grabbed the bow but never got a shot, which was good, he's one that could be a giant in another year.
I had deer activity pretty well the entire time but at 2pm got down to make a move out of the timber and into a blind 150yds out in the corn field. Got setup with a decoy in front of me at 2:20 and had 8 deer in the field as I closed the door to the blind. The action was steady all day. Eventually a doe and her two fawns came out and that doe did not like the decoy. Two different times she came stomping in and then snorting away at that thing but she never cleared the field thankfully... or got any closer because I was going to kill her.
Around 5pm a litlte 2pt came over to the decoy and stayed inside 15yds of the blind for a while. I had lost focus on what action was happening in the field as I watched that little bucks reaction to the decoy but thankfully I remembered... it's the rut and this can't be all that's going to show up tonight! I spotted a big bodied deer in the distance and put the binos on it. Looked like it could be a nice buck. So I hit the horns while inside the blind. The 2pt buck spooked but the one in the distance didn't hear me. So I stepped outside the back of the blind and cracked the horns again. This time the buck in the distance instantly came charging in, full speed. I kept rattling as he was running until he crossed over a terrace at about 200yds.
It was a solid 4.5 junk 8pt that I had made up my mind I was going to kill. The buck worked in perfectly and came inside 15yds but never gave me a solid broadside shot. A second buck had also come in to the decoy and was standing at about 20yds... then I heard another deer approaching the decoy and that's when I turned my head and saw this fella. He came in all bristled up and was working on getting down wind of the decoy and pushing to a spot he'd get down wind of me. So once he got broadside I was taking the first shot I had. He was around 20-25yds, broadside, standing there. I'm at full draw and told myself to settle the pin. I shot him for 25yds, held a few inches behind the shoulder and the shot went off... He did a big mule kick and bolted away with the arrow sticking 2/3 - 3/4 of the way out of him! I almost threw up in the blind. He looked hurt and was charging for the timber edge, got to the edge and slowed down, looked a little wobbly, made a big circle in the field and I thought he was going down but he made his way into the timber.
I called Russ and Dad and it took 2 hours for Russ to get to the blind to help me look for blood. All I could remember was the amount of arrow sticking out of him. We had a hard time finding first blood but Russ picked it up where the buck made the circle in the corn field. It was minimal blood but there were bubbles in it! We found a couple more specs which gave us a direction he went into the timber. Not 10yds inside the timber we found my arrow, broadhead snapped off and it showed about 8" of penetration but really bubbly blood. My gut sank... I was confused at how I could not get more penetration but I knew I wasn't near a shoulder? I figured I had hit high, so loins which makes sense the arrow didn't pass through those tough loins... but if I got bubbly blood I must have gotten under the spine and in the chest cavity? We wanted to at least peak ahead a few more yards and see what the sign showed... we found a couple more specs of blood but it was minimal... then I shined my light ahead and saw him laying 15yds infront of us! Still can't believe it!
Rough gross score of 203". I'll rescore him tonight.
So here's the details on the shot - hit him high. Like a couple inches from him living and haunting me the rest of my life. Caught some lung, not sure if both, but the main artery had to have been cut. broadhead broke off and is lodged in his vertebrae... Slick Trick broadheads are crazy strong when it comes to hitting big bones in deer!
Took yesterday off work and the weather looked perfect. Headed back to the same tree Russ shot his giant and I had been hunting every chance I had. Smoked a yote at 25yds around 8am and at 11am saw a real good buck cruising on the ridge top. Grunted, snort wheezed... no response. Too windy. Hit the horns and he comes charging. I grabbed the bow but never got a shot, which was good, he's one that could be a giant in another year.
I had deer activity pretty well the entire time but at 2pm got down to make a move out of the timber and into a blind 150yds out in the corn field. Got setup with a decoy in front of me at 2:20 and had 8 deer in the field as I closed the door to the blind. The action was steady all day. Eventually a doe and her two fawns came out and that doe did not like the decoy. Two different times she came stomping in and then snorting away at that thing but she never cleared the field thankfully... or got any closer because I was going to kill her.
Around 5pm a litlte 2pt came over to the decoy and stayed inside 15yds of the blind for a while. I had lost focus on what action was happening in the field as I watched that little bucks reaction to the decoy but thankfully I remembered... it's the rut and this can't be all that's going to show up tonight! I spotted a big bodied deer in the distance and put the binos on it. Looked like it could be a nice buck. So I hit the horns while inside the blind. The 2pt buck spooked but the one in the distance didn't hear me. So I stepped outside the back of the blind and cracked the horns again. This time the buck in the distance instantly came charging in, full speed. I kept rattling as he was running until he crossed over a terrace at about 200yds.
It was a solid 4.5 junk 8pt that I had made up my mind I was going to kill. The buck worked in perfectly and came inside 15yds but never gave me a solid broadside shot. A second buck had also come in to the decoy and was standing at about 20yds... then I heard another deer approaching the decoy and that's when I turned my head and saw this fella. He came in all bristled up and was working on getting down wind of the decoy and pushing to a spot he'd get down wind of me. So once he got broadside I was taking the first shot I had. He was around 20-25yds, broadside, standing there. I'm at full draw and told myself to settle the pin. I shot him for 25yds, held a few inches behind the shoulder and the shot went off... He did a big mule kick and bolted away with the arrow sticking 2/3 - 3/4 of the way out of him! I almost threw up in the blind. He looked hurt and was charging for the timber edge, got to the edge and slowed down, looked a little wobbly, made a big circle in the field and I thought he was going down but he made his way into the timber.
I called Russ and Dad and it took 2 hours for Russ to get to the blind to help me look for blood. All I could remember was the amount of arrow sticking out of him. We had a hard time finding first blood but Russ picked it up where the buck made the circle in the corn field. It was minimal blood but there were bubbles in it! We found a couple more specs which gave us a direction he went into the timber. Not 10yds inside the timber we found my arrow, broadhead snapped off and it showed about 8" of penetration but really bubbly blood. My gut sank... I was confused at how I could not get more penetration but I knew I wasn't near a shoulder? I figured I had hit high, so loins which makes sense the arrow didn't pass through those tough loins... but if I got bubbly blood I must have gotten under the spine and in the chest cavity? We wanted to at least peak ahead a few more yards and see what the sign showed... we found a couple more specs of blood but it was minimal... then I shined my light ahead and saw him laying 15yds infront of us! Still can't believe it!
Rough gross score of 203". I'll rescore him tonight.
So here's the details on the shot - hit him high. Like a couple inches from him living and haunting me the rest of my life. Caught some lung, not sure if both, but the main artery had to have been cut. broadhead broke off and is lodged in his vertebrae... Slick Trick broadheads are crazy strong when it comes to hitting big bones in deer!
