Awesome bucks guys! Tim, Mike, Al's buddy
Mike - That was a really solid looking 5x5. Kudos to you, bro. What I wanna know is - how YOU got to be the shooter?! [:-] What kind of friend already has a buck down, then demands to be in the hot seat while is buddy (who hasn't had an opportunity to shoot one yet) gets stuck filming?! Some friend you are... LOL j/k Congrats guys. Link me the video if you can. I couldnt find it.
Tim - I can't WAIT to hear the story behind your deer. What a hammer.
Game over for me in Ohio.
Yesterday, the woods were exploding with a cold front and low pressure trough slipping in. They were kinda sluggish for the past few days with the heat and stormy weather - so I guess yesterday was the perfect storm.
Gorgeous day to bowhunt the rut: overcast, wet, snowy
I tried a new stand site that I'd pegged in shed season, focusing on a narrow swath of rosebushes and greenbriars that benches around a ridge. Steep place, can't see very well, hard to access, but a good area to catch bucks cruising the thicket for a doe. Due to the geographics, I figured I could pick off a good deer as he came through the strip.
It didn't take long.
8:05 - a deer that looked to be pretty decent was cruising through. It was far, thick, steep downhill - I almost passed the shot, but I got a better look and noticed what looked like some crazy looking beams.
Another snap decision, I pulled the bow off the hook - and when he hit the only clearing I had, I let out a really loud bleat. One more step, and I wouldn't get to shoot.
He froze and turned to look.Long downhill shot, with a fair amount of clutter. 30+. Making matters worse, I was a mile high in a poplar tree. Without deliberation, I settled the pin on the vitals, took my time and clinked the trigger.
Dead silence...
Thump.
Gone. Straight down over the bank, and vanished into the thicket like a thief in the night.
No idea where I hit. On top of that, I never really got a great look at the rack, so I didn't even know what he looked like. I just knew I saw long main beams andnot manypoints. I replayed the scenario at least 100x in my mind.
So I waited. And waited... Ugh.
Then the snow picked up. My bloodtrail was being washed away and covered upby the minute. I wanted to give him until noon, but there would be no blood left by then. It was snowing like hell. The snow wasn't piling up on the ground, but it was melting all over the rain-soaked leaves. Slushing and oozing my bloodtrail away, by the minute.
When I realized that I could wait no longer, I got down to scope out my arrow. It was already washed clean. Just a pink tint of watered-down blood on the crest. A tuft of hair marked the hit.
The blood was almost nil, and impossible to find in the soaking wet floor, but I was able to follow. Lucky for me, I didn't have to go too far to hit the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. He was piled up within 30 yards.
Perfect double-lunger.
