Well,
As always, I take the last week of PA's Archery season off so that I
can dedicate my time to hunting, as I don't seem to be able to get out
much with work. Today started my vacation. The weather was a chilly 38
degrees and windy when I loaded up the Jeep. A bit of a late start put
me in my stand right before sunrise.
About 2 hours passed without much action. A few turkey and a squirrel
kept my attention for a little bit.
A familiar sound of footsteps got my attention. They were coming from
downwind of the scent bomb that was placed about 15yds from my stand.
A glance in the direction of the footsteps revealed a deer. I couldn't
place antlers on it right away due to it being behind a bush, but as
soon as it cleared, I could tell immediately it was a legal buck. At
this point, it made a turn uphill and head straight to my scent
canister. Where he was going to end up put him right in line with a
small oak limb that was hanging in front of me. My choices were to
stay seated and shoot from a sitting position or wait till he moved
into one of my other shooting lanes. I chose to sit. He walked behind
a large oak tree and gave me the opportunity to draw my bow. Soon
after he cleared the oak, he looked straight up to me. I held my draw
until the scent canister got his attention back. He started to nuzzle
the scent canister. That's when I settled my 10yd pin on his front
shoulder and let it fly.
The arrow made contact, but it was a bit lower than I had hoped. (I
probably should have put the 10yd pin a bit higher on his shoulder.)
The buck took off up the hill toward the powerline I was hunting
beside. I could see he was hit decently, but watched him leave the
woods and start crossing the powerline.
Uncomfortable with the shot placement, I left the woods. I called my
father to come and help me track. (We all know two sets of eyes is better
than one). 3.5 hours later, my father and I are in the woods at the scene of the
crime. We found a good trail that seemed to slow up as it neared the
powerline. Half way across though, he started pumping hard. I was
suddenly very optimistic that we would find him soon. Sure enough! We
found him laying right on the other side of the powerline. He didn't
even make it to the other side.
So, this is the part where I link to pictures....
Here's the pictures:
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