Daver
PMA Member
I only recently purchased a deer decoy and tonight was the only the second time I have used it. But man oh man, it will not be the last!!
I had several does and fawns milling about below me and in front of me with quite a bit of shooting light left, hoping for a big boy to make an appearance. Lo and behold, a big buck shows up in the bean field about 150 yards away from me chasing a doe. The biggest problem I had is that there were so many deer out in the field that people were seeing some from the road as they drove by and were slowing down to watch. I was concerned that they would spook at some point and blow the whole deal. A black truck slowed way down and appeared to be looking back at the big one, yikes, but they moved on thankfully.
The buck closed the distance himself to about 75 yards and I used the ol' TrueTalker to grunt at him and get him to see the decoy, it appeared to work. I grunted several times and he came walking across the open bean field as though pulled on a string. I came to full draw when he was about 30 yards away and closing. He was so focused on the decoy I think I could danced a jig in my stand and he wouldn't have noticed.
The only problem was that he was facing me this whole time. Now he is at 15 yards and turns broadside, but appears ready to pound the poor decoy. I shoot, a little too quickly in anticipation of him spearing the decoy and spooking, and I am sure I have a good hit as I can see the arrow hit him. Funny thing though, he jumped about 10 feet, now on the other side of the decoy, and again appears ready to ram the decoy. Jeez, did I miss?! I nock another arrow and whack him in the right shoulder. He runs off with the second arrow sticking out, the penetration is definitely sub-optimal. I can see him for about 50 yards and then I swear I heard a big crash. What happened, was he hit good, did I miss him the first time??
I climb down and find my first arrow, it looks good, covered in blood. So he was hit and then was still going to take on the decoy?! Yikes. I walk across the bean field and attempt to find the blood trail where I last saw him, only nothing... Am I in the twilight zone here or what??
Knowing the ditch in front of me is where I think he crashed I decided to look for him a little. I found him after only 5 minutes at the bottom of the snaggiest, thorniest section around. Believe it or not, I smelled him from downwind, he is that rank.
He is an awesome animal, I don't even have a good guess at his weight, a real brute, huge neck and body. I know he has to be way over 200 pounds. I had to get help and two of us together could barely move him uphill. We eventually rigged a tow rope and pulled him up the hill with my truck in 4x4. It was all we could do to get him in the truck.
We got several good pictures, I will post when I get them. He is a basic 4x4, with four kickers on his left side, so a 12 point altogether. G2's of 11", 20" inside spread, 22" main beams, good mass. I quickly rough scored him and he should be right around 150". No matter what the score, he is a king and I am tickled pink as I write this. Now off to bed and sweet dreams of a monster buck hunt that went perfectly.
Oh yeah, I have already loaned my decoy to another friend who will be going out tomorrow. Decoys and the TrueTalker do work!!!
I had several does and fawns milling about below me and in front of me with quite a bit of shooting light left, hoping for a big boy to make an appearance. Lo and behold, a big buck shows up in the bean field about 150 yards away from me chasing a doe. The biggest problem I had is that there were so many deer out in the field that people were seeing some from the road as they drove by and were slowing down to watch. I was concerned that they would spook at some point and blow the whole deal. A black truck slowed way down and appeared to be looking back at the big one, yikes, but they moved on thankfully.
The buck closed the distance himself to about 75 yards and I used the ol' TrueTalker to grunt at him and get him to see the decoy, it appeared to work. I grunted several times and he came walking across the open bean field as though pulled on a string. I came to full draw when he was about 30 yards away and closing. He was so focused on the decoy I think I could danced a jig in my stand and he wouldn't have noticed.
The only problem was that he was facing me this whole time. Now he is at 15 yards and turns broadside, but appears ready to pound the poor decoy. I shoot, a little too quickly in anticipation of him spearing the decoy and spooking, and I am sure I have a good hit as I can see the arrow hit him. Funny thing though, he jumped about 10 feet, now on the other side of the decoy, and again appears ready to ram the decoy. Jeez, did I miss?! I nock another arrow and whack him in the right shoulder. He runs off with the second arrow sticking out, the penetration is definitely sub-optimal. I can see him for about 50 yards and then I swear I heard a big crash. What happened, was he hit good, did I miss him the first time??
I climb down and find my first arrow, it looks good, covered in blood. So he was hit and then was still going to take on the decoy?! Yikes. I walk across the bean field and attempt to find the blood trail where I last saw him, only nothing... Am I in the twilight zone here or what??
Knowing the ditch in front of me is where I think he crashed I decided to look for him a little. I found him after only 5 minutes at the bottom of the snaggiest, thorniest section around. Believe it or not, I smelled him from downwind, he is that rank.
He is an awesome animal, I don't even have a good guess at his weight, a real brute, huge neck and body. I know he has to be way over 200 pounds. I had to get help and two of us together could barely move him uphill. We eventually rigged a tow rope and pulled him up the hill with my truck in 4x4. It was all we could do to get him in the truck.
We got several good pictures, I will post when I get them. He is a basic 4x4, with four kickers on his left side, so a 12 point altogether. G2's of 11", 20" inside spread, 22" main beams, good mass. I quickly rough scored him and he should be right around 150". No matter what the score, he is a king and I am tickled pink as I write this. Now off to bed and sweet dreams of a monster buck hunt that went perfectly.
Oh yeah, I have already loaned my decoy to another friend who will be going out tomorrow. Decoys and the TrueTalker do work!!!
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