I've had some good fortune so far this season. On the 2nd morning out, I shot a really nice doe on my place to break the ice this year. But last Thursday afternoon was even better. If you don't like long stories, then you might want to move on to another thread!
This story starts at the end of the morning hunt. After an uneventful sit, I was getting ready to get down and decided to shoot my practice arrow at a leaf on the ground. When I drew, it immediately became apparent that my peep had mysteriously dislodged itself and yet remained in the string turned sideways. Good thing I had no shot opportunities that morning! I took it to the shop where they returned it to it's proper position and also repaired a frayed place in the serving. I took it home and it shot great.
That afternoon wasn't hot, but it was warmer than I care for - around 70. Fortunately, it was breezy because I had to venture into an area I hadn't visited since last season and it needed some trimming to make it huntable. I hung my steps and stand, pulled everything up and was going to put on my facecovering and gloves after I cooled down a bit.
That's when I saw the nice buck trotting my way.
He wasn't very far out when I first saw him (under 35 yards) and I had to turn quicker than I wanted to retrieve my bow. I don't know if he saw the movement or stepped into my scent stream, but he locked up nearly under my tree, swapped ends and began to run back the way he came. Inexplicably, he stopped to see what scared him right as I came to full draw . . . and he was in an opening quartering away. I adjusted my aim slightly back to get the correct angle and released. I smoked him!
He quickly disappeared in the brush, but I never saw him emerge from the other side. I was seriously hoping he didn't make it out of the woods and into the large cornfield (still standing) because the arrow buried into the opposite shoulder blade and never left him - I had no blood trail. I waited an hour and 15 minutes, but still had plenty of daylight, so I got down to begin looking. It took me under 3 minutes to see him piled up on the other side of a downed tree. He didn't make it 40 yards. He was laying on the arrow entry side and the arrow was buried to the nock . . . and unbroken. I accidently broke the arrow when I turned him over! He's a very nice 7 point - he's actually an 8, but one brow tine was broken off. Here he is . . .
Yeah, pic #2 was taken in the garage -sorry. I'm not crazy about those shots either, but it shows his beam length pretty well. Pics #1 and #3 were taken where he fell.
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Today' s small bucks are tomorrow' s trophies.
[image]http://www.whitetails.com/deer8.html[image]
DaveH I think sdhunter11 meant that will be a nice mount to hang in the garage. I dont think he was talking about where the pic was taken. Most of us I think do not really care where the pic was taken just so long as you get em on here for us to see.
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A man who loves his work, never labors.
2nd of season - not bad
