Well, I have been hunting for a very long time (40 years), but Saturday evening was a memorable hunt, when everything went right. Every morning before going to the woods, I check the nightly activities on my Reveal cameras. Friday night was very active, with many does and a nice eight pointer feeding in a hardwood bottom that I had scouted after last season, and hung a new lock-on stand in. I've never hunted from a lock-on, but I knew where I wanted a stand, and there wasn't a good tree for a ladder stand, as the hill was too steep for me to face the direction I wanted. I had placed a mineral block in a strategic spot and kept it freshened through the year.
So, Saturday morning, there was a nice eight pointer in the bottom, so not wanting to run him out, I went to my Sawtooth oak trees. All morning my phone notifications were going off, as the deer were still in the bottom, feeding on acorns that have started falling. At 8:00, I had a picture of a buck that had walked in behind the camera, and briefly stuck his head out. It looked like a pretty nice deer. A few minutes later, I got another, but about 50 yards away, and to the left. He was circling. The next pic came in and he was almost behind the camera again. This time, he showed his head enough to determine that he was a 10 pointer. In all of these months, we have never seen him. With that, I decided that I was going to commit to this spot for the rest of archery season.
Last night, I went to the stand about 4:30. When I got in, I decided to not hang my bow on my tree hook, but to put it in front of me on my stand. About 5:30, a big doe came from my right, and gave me a 20 yard shot, but I didn't take it. 30 minutes later, here comes a three pointer, followed by a spike. They walked in and started feeding. They fed to 15 yards in front of me, when they both snapped their heads up and looked across the swampy bottom to the ridge to my left. I could see a flash of something, but couldn't identify it. They fed for a few more minutes, and did the same thing. This time I could see antlers coming down the hill. The two small bucks watched as this 10 pointer walked to within 30 yards of them. I couldn't do anything, as there were too many eyes watching. The 10 was very wary as he slowly came in, but stopped after a few yards and stomped. I figured he was gone. He stood there for a short time, and took a few more steps forward, and stopped with his head behind I big tree. I couldn't see his head, so he couldn't see me. With the two bucks still right in front of me, I drew back, found my pin, and released my arrow, in about two seconds. I couldn't believe I got off the shot, and saw the arrow hit him, and heard the thud. I watched the blood spot appear on his right side, as he ran off with my arrow.
I climbed down after about 10 minutes, and went back to the house to get tracking supplies and my tracking dog. We went back 40 minutes later, and Bella went straight to him. He already had flies on him, so he died quickly. The quartering front to back shot did a lot of damage. He certainly isn't some huge buck, but for our place, he is pretty good. He weighed 185 pounds, live, and is the first buck I have shot with a compound bow since 1987. Needless to say, I am pretty happy about him. I told my wife that this was a rare case where everything went right.
So, Saturday morning, there was a nice eight pointer in the bottom, so not wanting to run him out, I went to my Sawtooth oak trees. All morning my phone notifications were going off, as the deer were still in the bottom, feeding on acorns that have started falling. At 8:00, I had a picture of a buck that had walked in behind the camera, and briefly stuck his head out. It looked like a pretty nice deer. A few minutes later, I got another, but about 50 yards away, and to the left. He was circling. The next pic came in and he was almost behind the camera again. This time, he showed his head enough to determine that he was a 10 pointer. In all of these months, we have never seen him. With that, I decided that I was going to commit to this spot for the rest of archery season.
Last night, I went to the stand about 4:30. When I got in, I decided to not hang my bow on my tree hook, but to put it in front of me on my stand. About 5:30, a big doe came from my right, and gave me a 20 yard shot, but I didn't take it. 30 minutes later, here comes a three pointer, followed by a spike. They walked in and started feeding. They fed to 15 yards in front of me, when they both snapped their heads up and looked across the swampy bottom to the ridge to my left. I could see a flash of something, but couldn't identify it. They fed for a few more minutes, and did the same thing. This time I could see antlers coming down the hill. The two small bucks watched as this 10 pointer walked to within 30 yards of them. I couldn't do anything, as there were too many eyes watching. The 10 was very wary as he slowly came in, but stopped after a few yards and stomped. I figured he was gone. He stood there for a short time, and took a few more steps forward, and stopped with his head behind I big tree. I couldn't see his head, so he couldn't see me. With the two bucks still right in front of me, I drew back, found my pin, and released my arrow, in about two seconds. I couldn't believe I got off the shot, and saw the arrow hit him, and heard the thud. I watched the blood spot appear on his right side, as he ran off with my arrow.
I climbed down after about 10 minutes, and went back to the house to get tracking supplies and my tracking dog. We went back 40 minutes later, and Bella went straight to him. He already had flies on him, so he died quickly. The quartering front to back shot did a lot of damage. He certainly isn't some huge buck, but for our place, he is pretty good. He weighed 185 pounds, live, and is the first buck I have shot with a compound bow since 1987. Needless to say, I am pretty happy about him. I told my wife that this was a rare case where everything went right.
