I took last Thursday and Friday off to do some hunting. I ended up heading to my parents in VA. We only have about an acre of woods behind the house that we can hunt there. We used to hunt the whole woodlot of about 150 acres, but don't have permission any more. Didn't see anything on Thursday. Ihad only planned on hunting the morning on Friday. Still hadn't seen anything as of about an hour and a half after sun up on Friday. I figured I needed to be proactive and bring one in, so I took out the rattle bag. I did one moderately aggressive session of about 15-20 seconds. That's all it took. I heard some trotting from behind my tree. It looked to be a little 4 pointer. He was coming straight at me and couldn't decide what side of the tree he was going to come out on. Then he started angling to one side, and I had to turn around. I turned and he stopped about 7-8 yds away behind a tree two over from the one I was in. He stood there for about 30 seconds. Then he started trotting again still heading in the same direction. As soon as he started moving again I drew back. I didn't get on him until after he stopped again right behind another tree facing away from me. He just stood there and stood there. I must have held for at least a minute, it seemed a lot longer though. Then he turned and started trotting back the way he came. I "bawed" at him and stopped him. I found his shoulder and released. The arrow didn't make the mark I was aiming for but ended up spining him in the neck. I think from holding so long I rushed and didn't follow through on the release. He dropped right there. I didn't have a clear view for a follow up shot from the tree. I gave him a few minutes to expire but no dice. I got my stuff and climbed down. I slowly made my way over and had his belly facing me. His head was turned facing away and he couldn't see me. I got to about 10yds away and took the follow up shot. The shot was good entering just above the centerline of the sternum and burried into his spine again. It looked like a hose of blood coming out. I have never seen such amounts of blood from a deer. He didn't last 30 seconds after the second shot. I was impressed with the blood loss from the second shot, but still can't guage the penetration since I din't get a broudside pass through angle.He ended up being a knarly racked 5 pointer. A four pointer with a sticker off the base. I am guessing 2 1/2 years old as yearling there typically only become spikes. I need to quit spining deer with my bow as this is the 3rd out of 4. It's meat on the table though. I will post a pic as soon as my Dad forwards one to me.
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Win. Model 70 270 WSM
Bear Instinct
CVA Optima Elite ML & .243 barrel
First Deer of Year & First w/ Rage 3 Blade
J/K
