HuntingNet.com Forums - Dad does it....again!

THE STORY:

He has had his eye on this swampy, brushy ravine. The area is not all that big. He kept saying for the last few years that he would get a big buck in there. He sethis stand on the uphill edge where the timber opens up some. He made a point of not hunting the stand for the first few weeks of bow season so as to give any big bucks a false sense of security. He also said he would only hunt it a day or two max per week. I truly think that guys pass up the area believing that it is too small for a big buck to lurk in. He decided that the temp and weather were good for that morning. He was in the stand, waiting for daybreak, by 6:00am. The one other time he hunted the stand he saw only does and fawns....but 24 of them! This morning he sees nothing. At 8:00 he seesone huge body circling through the timber around his position. As it makes an arc toward him it edges closer and he sees the huge rack. The buck circled his tree and at about 25 yards, stepped into the last possible shooting lane. A lane that I told him was unnecessary and that I protested when he cut it. The stand is fairly high. At this point he tries to pull the bow and realizes his muscles are cold. He gives it all he has, gets the bow back, and settles the pin on the buck's ribcage. He touches the trigger and WHACK! The buck leaps into a run. His shot hits slightly high but was angling down. He can see the fletching sticking out of the buck's ribs. It just cut the underside of the spine and hit a rib opposite dead center, breaking the rib but not exiting the cavity. He ran 30 yards and crashed head first into the ground, DEAD! No blood trail to speak of but GALLONS came out when he zipped him open. Lungs were in shreds. We surmise that the arrow wagged back and forth when he ran, trashing the lungs with every stride.

At that point the fun was over, then the work began..........