HuntingNet.com Forums - My 2005 buck

Story:

I have seen this buck three times in the previous week. Each time it was too dark for an ethical shot. I usually hunt from the ground in tall ragweed and johnson grass. I hunt 15 yards north of where the deer come out of the woods. In Texas, we got a cold front during the night Wed night. The wind was from the north and I couldn't hunt or they would smell me. I sat at 130 yards and watched 10 deer Thurs evening. I decided Friday to set up a new stand to their south. I found a couple of small trees and put a lean to stand in them. I cut two branches and had two small shooting lanes. This was about 4:30pm Friday.
I was in the stand at 6:20pm. I know this is late, but I know the pattern. About 6:40 I heard some deer in the woods. Five minutes later they appeared. It was an 8pt, 7pt, and a 4pt. I thought the 8pt was nice. They worked around me and I had a 10 yard shot at the 8pt. Just then, I heard something coming from the woods. It was two big 8pointers. I saw this one was perfect. The other had a twist to the left antler. This one stayed out of range while the other came to 15 yards. He was spookish. They all spooked to the woods. A doe came out and winded me. she was gone. 20 minutes later, the 4 smaller bucks returned. He soon followed. The others worked past me. He stayed back. Finally, he came in. I new where 18 yards was and he was a little closer. I put my pin on him (20 yard pin) and let fly. I hit the spine. I hate that. He fell into the grass. I couldn't see his body only his neck. I followed it down and launched a follow up. Then another. I don't like to let them suffer. While field dressing him, I noticed an area of discolored meat and tissue at his hip. I checked it out and found a broadhead hole in one muscle. It made it one inch in and that was all. Someone shot him in the hip recently. I butchered him and got about 61 pounds of meat. One of the followup shots was a direct heart shot. See pic.