Buck #1 (Story and updated pics) !
10-29-2007, 08:12 PM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: West Central IL
Posts: 904
Buck #1 (Story and updated pics) !
Well, where do I begin ...
This weekend was pretty crazy, as most of my season so far has been.
Friday night.
Rain was coming down and we decided to go and try our luck anyway. About an hour into the hunt, it was all we could take, freezing cold temperatures and soaking wet, we decided to call it a night. On the 4-wheeler ride home, I jumped a 140" 9 pt. with about 6 does. Now I am nice and pumped!
Saturdaymorning.
Went out and moved a stand, drove around the property showing my buddy some stands and such. When we drove by our thickett, we look to our right and see does bust out of the woods (no white tail flashing) followed by a 145" buck chasing HARD. They didnt even notice us! Now I am ready for the nights hunt! (the craziest part)
Saturday Night.
Get out and settled into my stand at 4:23pm and start to munch on some sunflower seeds. At about 5:20 I see a buck feeding in the woods working his way towards me. I get a good look at him and see that he is a 120" 10pt. that I immidiately elected to let walk. He hung around me for about 1/2 hour and while he was feeding he looked back into the woods 2 times. I knew there was more to come of this. I keep my eyes on this buck at 5 yards from my stand he makes 3 scrapes around my tree. I look back into the woods once more to see another buck through the brush heading my way. I stand and face him, knowing he was a bigger deer. I see him coming down a trail that runs 6 yards from my stand and see a perfect clearing. He is 2 yards from coming into plain sight so I draw back when I saw how tall this buck was. He heard me draw back and stopped immidiately behind the brush. DAMN I thought as I hold my bow back... I wait one minute at the LEAST for him to make up his mind. He looks at the smaller 120" buck and calms down finally and takes his last steps into the clearing. I have a nice shot quartering towards me at about 12 yards. I put it on him and release. I watch the arrow fly right where I put the pin, BUT, it made a loud SMACK and see the arrow sticking over half way out of his shoulder! My heart sinks as I watch him round the corner of the timber with my arrow sticking close to all the way out! I hit the grunt tube twice to try and calm him a bit ... He was gone. I freaked out and called my brother and told him what happened and he told me to finish out the hunt. I was sure that I had just messed up big time. I was scared to death that I had injured him and that I would never see him again. I left that night with no intention of looking for him that night, because I knew it wasn't a lethal shot. ALL night I was sick to my stomach and worried like no other. I wake up and hunt the next morning and decide to go and take a look around for the buck I had shot the night before. We walk all over the thick hillsides and ravines and find nothing. I decided to just go back to the spot where I shot him and look for the slightest bit of anything to see what had really happened. (I had looked for blood the night before but found nothing) I was walking along the fence row of the field I was along looking for the arrow. I look out into the field and see crows all over this lump across the field about 500 yards across. I knew it was a deer, but I didn't know if it was mine. Me and my buddy make the walk across the field and realize it was him about 50 yards away from him. I broke down when I saw that his back end was eaten apart. I felt so sick to my stomach. I look and realize that I can at least get the backstraps and front quarters of him. I was devastated that it happened like that. I knew that there was nothing I could do at that point and I had to accept what happened and there was no turning back. I still havent put the measuring tape to him, plan on that tommorow night. here are some better pics, I'm thinking he will go around 130".
This weekend was pretty crazy, as most of my season so far has been.
Friday night.
Rain was coming down and we decided to go and try our luck anyway. About an hour into the hunt, it was all we could take, freezing cold temperatures and soaking wet, we decided to call it a night. On the 4-wheeler ride home, I jumped a 140" 9 pt. with about 6 does. Now I am nice and pumped!
Saturdaymorning.
Went out and moved a stand, drove around the property showing my buddy some stands and such. When we drove by our thickett, we look to our right and see does bust out of the woods (no white tail flashing) followed by a 145" buck chasing HARD. They didnt even notice us! Now I am ready for the nights hunt! (the craziest part)
Saturday Night.
Get out and settled into my stand at 4:23pm and start to munch on some sunflower seeds. At about 5:20 I see a buck feeding in the woods working his way towards me. I get a good look at him and see that he is a 120" 10pt. that I immidiately elected to let walk. He hung around me for about 1/2 hour and while he was feeding he looked back into the woods 2 times. I knew there was more to come of this. I keep my eyes on this buck at 5 yards from my stand he makes 3 scrapes around my tree. I look back into the woods once more to see another buck through the brush heading my way. I stand and face him, knowing he was a bigger deer. I see him coming down a trail that runs 6 yards from my stand and see a perfect clearing. He is 2 yards from coming into plain sight so I draw back when I saw how tall this buck was. He heard me draw back and stopped immidiately behind the brush. DAMN I thought as I hold my bow back... I wait one minute at the LEAST for him to make up his mind. He looks at the smaller 120" buck and calms down finally and takes his last steps into the clearing. I have a nice shot quartering towards me at about 12 yards. I put it on him and release. I watch the arrow fly right where I put the pin, BUT, it made a loud SMACK and see the arrow sticking over half way out of his shoulder! My heart sinks as I watch him round the corner of the timber with my arrow sticking close to all the way out! I hit the grunt tube twice to try and calm him a bit ... He was gone. I freaked out and called my brother and told him what happened and he told me to finish out the hunt. I was sure that I had just messed up big time. I was scared to death that I had injured him and that I would never see him again. I left that night with no intention of looking for him that night, because I knew it wasn't a lethal shot. ALL night I was sick to my stomach and worried like no other. I wake up and hunt the next morning and decide to go and take a look around for the buck I had shot the night before. We walk all over the thick hillsides and ravines and find nothing. I decided to just go back to the spot where I shot him and look for the slightest bit of anything to see what had really happened. (I had looked for blood the night before but found nothing) I was walking along the fence row of the field I was along looking for the arrow. I look out into the field and see crows all over this lump across the field about 500 yards across. I knew it was a deer, but I didn't know if it was mine. Me and my buddy make the walk across the field and realize it was him about 50 yards away from him. I broke down when I saw that his back end was eaten apart. I felt so sick to my stomach. I look and realize that I can at least get the backstraps and front quarters of him. I was devastated that it happened like that. I knew that there was nothing I could do at that point and I had to accept what happened and there was no turning back. I still havent put the measuring tape to him, plan on that tommorow night. here are some better pics, I'm thinking he will go around 130".
