muddy
Well-Known Member
When my dad asked me if I wanted to go hunting, I was hesitant at first. I was tired from school, I had homework, and so on. But I didn’t get many chances to go out during archery season because of sports. So we headed out to the woods. He asked me if I wanted to hunt in the stand we had set up overlooking the bean field, or if I wanted to go farther back on to the property. I chose the bean field because neither of us had hunted it much, and I wanted to see what was there. The stand had originally been set up for observation, so we could see what was coming in and out of the field. So I got into my stand and my dad hunted from a bean field on the other side of the timber.
Not much happened that night, there was a light breeze and the temperature was comfortable, so it was a pleasant hunt. I got set up in my stand and even propped my legs up so I could get a little sleep in. It got closer to dark and I hadn’t seen anything, and was getting a little discouraged. About fifteen minutes before dark, a monstrous doe came trotting through the woods on my right. We had the stand set up so we could shoot towards the field on the right, but hadn’t thought about shooting back into the woods. As a result there were very few shooting lanes. By the time I got my bow in my hand, she was past shooting range. I tried grunting at her, but she had no intention of coming back my way.
Just after she was out of sight, I heard a deer following where she had run through. I was so intent on shooting her, I hadn’t even considered that she was being followed. The buck walked into a small shooting lane 15-20 away, and was smelling the ground. I drew back on my bow, but had trouble getting it aimed towards him because I had my safety harness on wrong. I was leaning against the strap trying to get a better angle. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to set up for the shot, because I knew if he moved past that lane, I wouldn’t get one. I let the arrow go and it hit him in the spine, dropping him on the spot. I got down and finished him off, at the time I didn’t really think about how big he was, so I was never really that nervous. I called my dad, and had him drive the truck back into the field. We drug him to the edge of the woods and took some photos, then took him home.
My dad got another deer from that stand later in the year, with the deer coming from the same spot. We’ve since had the buck mounted and hung up in our new den. It’s great to be able to walk downstairs and see him, and remember the great story behind this once in a lifetime buck.
Not much happened that night, there was a light breeze and the temperature was comfortable, so it was a pleasant hunt. I got set up in my stand and even propped my legs up so I could get a little sleep in. It got closer to dark and I hadn’t seen anything, and was getting a little discouraged. About fifteen minutes before dark, a monstrous doe came trotting through the woods on my right. We had the stand set up so we could shoot towards the field on the right, but hadn’t thought about shooting back into the woods. As a result there were very few shooting lanes. By the time I got my bow in my hand, she was past shooting range. I tried grunting at her, but she had no intention of coming back my way.
Just after she was out of sight, I heard a deer following where she had run through. I was so intent on shooting her, I hadn’t even considered that she was being followed. The buck walked into a small shooting lane 15-20 away, and was smelling the ground. I drew back on my bow, but had trouble getting it aimed towards him because I had my safety harness on wrong. I was leaning against the strap trying to get a better angle. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to set up for the shot, because I knew if he moved past that lane, I wouldn’t get one. I let the arrow go and it hit him in the spine, dropping him on the spot. I got down and finished him off, at the time I didn’t really think about how big he was, so I was never really that nervous. I called my dad, and had him drive the truck back into the field. We drug him to the edge of the woods and took some photos, then took him home.
My dad got another deer from that stand later in the year, with the deer coming from the same spot. We’ve since had the buck mounted and hung up in our new den. It’s great to be able to walk downstairs and see him, and remember the great story behind this once in a lifetime buck.