HuntingNet.com Forums - Campo connects...or the Story of Arnold the Buck

:)Grab yourselves a beer and sit for the story of the most exciting hunt of my life.
At 12, I called a friend, and asked him if he wanted to help me drag out a deer. He said he would be right up. I said, "No no, I have not shot him yet, I will later this afternoon between 4 and 6."
I started out the evening at 2, as always. Made my way to theblind and was amazed that almost all the apples that were there the night before are gone. I get into my blind and settle in. Todays read while waiting was Lewis Black's Nothing Is Sacred. In case you dont know of him, he is a comedian, and several times I had to laugh, as quietly as possible, to keep from startling anything around. I was restless, it had been a long weekend with little sleep. I eventually, because I was comfortable and it was warm, laid down in the blindjust to kick thelevel of relaxation up a notch. I read a full 70 pages, when I heard a twig snap outside. I silently got up, and peered out the window. There he was, not"my buck",but a cull buck I hadidentified back in August. He was only 15 yards out, and closing. As Ipeaked out the window, he looked right at me, and I froze. He stared at me for what seemed like forever, and finally went back to coming in. I got my bow up and ready..I knew the shot was not far off. As he steped into the opening only 9 yards away, I drew. He looked right at me, I think because he heard my arrow on the rest. I placed the pin perfectly, two inches low. He was still staring at me, so I let fly before he bolted.I saw the arrow hit perfectly, but then I saw a flash of white to the left of the enterance wound, maybe 5 inches away from impact. He did the classic mule kick. I must say, from only 10 yards, that is pretty impressive to watch. He bolted,fullsteam, and I watched him crash into a patch of crab apples, where I heard alot of noise and thrashing. I sat still, and enjoying that moment for about ten minutes. I then, very quietly, called my friend and told him it was time to make good on his word. He told mehe would be there ASAP. I sat for another 15 minutes, then decided it was time toget the arrow. Isnuck out of my blind, and went towards the point of impact. I could find no blood, nohair, but finally found the arrow. I should note, this blind setup is under thebent branches ofa apple tree, so you are kinda enclosed withint it, you cant see into it really. As I found and snagged the arrow, I see a buck slowly walking off down the trail. I assume it must be another buck, but when I saw the way he was walking, I knew he was hit. I watched where he was headed, and noted his location. This is when I began to worry. The arrow wassoaked inblood, but also has a little odor too it. I was...confused and worried.
I went back tothe blind and ran things through my mind. I knew I had made a good shot, but the white flash confused me. The blood on the arrow was good, but the smell bad. The buck was notdown, but was definetlyhurting.
I waited in the field near my blind until Mike arrived. It has nowbeen an hour and we went and found a couple specks ofblood along the trail where he bolted, and then a few golf ball sized spotswhere he has apparently stood after crashing through the crab apples. From there, there was no blood whatsoever. None, Nada. We searched for close to a half hour, and eventually decided tostart walking parallel to each other, in the direction he was headed. There were two main trails, and we both walked,very slowly, along them looking for any sign. At this point, we are in chest high brush, with sign everywhere, but no sign of a hit deer. After 150 yards, we meet, and begin todicuss a game plan, when there is a major major ruckus in the brush about ten yards in front of us. I nock an arrow, and watch the commotion. After ten or so seconds, the buckhobbled to his feet, ran 30 yards, and piled up. I could still see his ear flicking, so I knew there was still work to be done. We backed off to a point where I was 50 yards from the buck, and we waited 15 or 20minutes. His first bed only had about a baseball sized spot of blood, no more. At this point, it is starting to get dark, so I slowly approach, keeping my bow at the ready. I get to 20 yards, and again hestaggers up, only instead of running away, he turns towardsMike and I, and starts to charge at us. At this point, we are now only 10 yards apart.His antlersget caught up in another crab apple tree,which stops his charge. At this point, Mike is already running in the other direction. I seethe buckbegin to turn broadside, and Idraw. I set the pin low again, and let fly as he is trying to release his antlers. This time, a perfect heart shot, and I see theblood start to trickle, but only a slight trickle. Hecontinues to try to release his antlers, and collapses.I breathe a sigh of relief, and nock another arrow just in case. Five minutes later, he begins to struggle to his feet, and this time I just let fly head-on chest, just becauseI didnt want to even take a chance.This one stops him, and five minutes later he expired.
As we were waitingfor him to expire, we began to discuss thepossabilites for what had happened. I first thoughtmaybe I had hitNo Mans Land, but ruled that out on accountof the impact that I saw. Then I thought agut shot, but the blood we had found was bright red and bubbely.
We finally went up to him, and I was eager to see just what had happened to the deer thatdid not want to die. I found my first shot entry wound, dead center in the lungs. We turned him over, and to my surprise the exit wound was way back, down in the area of the guts. The other two wounds were easily identifiable by the location,a perfect heart shot and one running the length of the body.
We began the drag out, all the while wondering whatwould havehappened if he hadn't have gotten tangled up when he charged. We were both a little shaken, the adrenaline was still flowing. He got him into the truck, and were off to my house.
We stopped at a friends, who was on the way home. He stood in awe as Mike and I told the story, gawking at the 1 1/2 year old 5 point who just didnt want to die. We parted, but he said he would be over shortly.
We got home, and I was eager to dissect and see what the heck had happened. I started the gutting, and encourtered what I thought I would. Stomach blown open. I cut the guts and vitals out seperately, so I could examine everything. Here is what I found. The last arrow had cut the an artery, this was the third shot when the buck was on the ground. The second shot, when he wastrying to charge, had hit the heart high, but a lethal shot. The first shot, which is the one I was really curious about, went like this. When I shot the buck, he was slightly, and I mean very very slightly, quartering too. When the arrow struck, it hit the side of a rib, which deflected the arrow at a 45 degree angle back and across the stomach. This was the flash of white I saw, the fletching of my arrow asthe arrowkickedtowards the guts. It did manage to hit a lobe of one lung though. My friends, Mike and Phil, were both arguing that the arrow had actually entered and exited the same side after hitting a rib. I thought about it, and realized that since I found the arrow on the other side of the deer, it had to be a passthrough.
Phil looked in amazement. "I have shot alot of deer," he said, "and this one just didnt want to die. Lets call him Arnold, like Schwartenagger, because he is so strong." We chuckeled, and that was that.
The buck, as I said, was 1.5 years old. He sports 5 points, or 3x2. His dressed weight was 122 pounds. When we were dressing him, Phil guessed he would be 121. I must say, I am not impressed with the bloodtrail these Magnus Stinger Buzzcuts left, even with other single lung shots I have had, there was a good deal of blood, this time there was hardly any. Also, when I shot him the the heart, he stood still for a few seconds. I watched the wound, and saw very little blood coming out.
I hope you all enjoyed my story, I will get pictures up tomorrow. Now, I am exhausted, and need some well needed rest.
Ps....GO METS!