Back With a Surprise
- Thread starter rsmith
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bigten05
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teenbowhunter
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HeritageAndy
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Okay guys finally back to start typing this up. So this year has been an extremely busy one with me prepping for my first bodybuilding completion on October 12th, going to school full time year round, and working 55+ hours a week at a high stress job all while trying to balance my personal life and hunting and fishing. I first spotted this buck with my dad when he sends me a picture saying “ Ryan I think I found your big boy to go after this year”.
After this I became obsessed with him. I kept up with my feeder making sure it never went dry but also having minimal intrusions to not bump him or give away too much of what is going on. I watched him grow all summer long and the more I watched him the more I became obsessed with trying to kill this monarch buck. The only problem was that for some reason I found myself shooting my bow the worst I ever have and I just couldn’t get use to the draw cycle and weight of the bow for some reason. It just felt off. I tried everything and I just couldn’t get it tuned right for me so 2 weeks before season I sold it on archery talk, Mathews Halon X, and bought a Hoyt Defiant 34. When I got the bow in I knew this was the bow for me as the draw cycle and back wall felt somewhat like second nature and it shot like a dream. It stacked my arrows so well I robin hooded 3 while trying to sight in at 20, 30, and 40 after taking it to the local bow shop and having a good friend dial it in for me. I am using black eagle zombie slayers and paired them with the only broadheads I have trusted to shoot true for me and have field proven results for 3 years now on 4 deer and those are Dirt Nap Gear DRT double bevel broadheads.
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After this I became obsessed with him. I kept up with my feeder making sure it never went dry but also having minimal intrusions to not bump him or give away too much of what is going on. I watched him grow all summer long and the more I watched him the more I became obsessed with trying to kill this monarch buck. The only problem was that for some reason I found myself shooting my bow the worst I ever have and I just couldn’t get use to the draw cycle and weight of the bow for some reason. It just felt off. I tried everything and I just couldn’t get it tuned right for me so 2 weeks before season I sold it on archery talk, Mathews Halon X, and bought a Hoyt Defiant 34. When I got the bow in I knew this was the bow for me as the draw cycle and back wall felt somewhat like second nature and it shot like a dream. It stacked my arrows so well I robin hooded 3 while trying to sight in at 20, 30, and 40 after taking it to the local bow shop and having a good friend dial it in for me. I am using black eagle zombie slayers and paired them with the only broadheads I have trusted to shoot true for me and have field proven results for 3 years now on 4 deer and those are Dirt Nap Gear DRT double bevel broadheads.
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Okay back to the buck. I watching him grow for months and pulling the card month after month had me more and more excited as he was growing into something special.
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I went out opening morning I’m hopes to get to him but all I saw was 2 decent bucks and 3 does. I stayed out until 10 that morning just hoping he would show but he never did. I knew he would be in that evening but my girlfriend and I had plans already so I was forced to wait I’m hopes he would come out on Sunday. I went out on Sunday morning and he was a no show as well and I started to get very discouraged. I had to take an exam right before going out for the evening and I rushed and got it done and then I showered and got my hunting clothes on and back out to the spot. When I went out it was something special for sure and I could feel it in the air and in my soul that tonight would be the night that it would happen. I knew god was looking down at me and allowing me to have the opportunity to put a well placed shot on this beast. I sat there practicing drawing and aiming for where I thought he would come in at.
Around 6:10 I felt I cool shift in the wind to a straight East wind which is the most ideal wind possible for me.
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Around 6:10 I felt I cool shift in the wind to a straight East wind which is the most ideal wind possible for me.
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Something weird happened next and a male cardinal landed on the window of my blind and looked right at me and stared at me and cheeped at me almost telling me to get ready becuase he is coming and it’s going to happen fast. It was extremely weird but also like god was sitting next to be making this all unfold in the best way possible. Sure enough the cardinal flies away and about 5 minutes later I see out of the corner of my right eye a big rack making a direct line to the feeder. I grab my bow and start to take deep breaths to control my heart rate and to calm my nerves. He comes in and stands right at 18 yards in refectory broadside and I draw back. I place my pin right on his heart and I was holding as steady as a bolder and I start to engage in the shot process, squeezing my shoulder blades and contracting my bicep and pulling my elbow backwards to get the perfect release I had envisioned and practiced hundreds of times. But right before the shot breaks he takes some steps and is 100% quartering away. I am forced to stop the shot, hold at full and wait for the next perfect shot. He takes a few more steps towards some apples and almost like fate he shifts his back legs to the right and his front left leg takes one step out allowing for a perfect quartering away shot. It was a steep angle though and I knew I had to put it exactly where I was aiming or I was missing the mark. I find a small patch of ruffled hair and I place the pin right on it. I engage in the shot again and the shot breaks. I watch my bright green nock burry exactly where I needed to hit and he makes a loud grunt and takes off. I watch him but there is a 15ft thick row of blackberry bushes around the food plot and now I am just listening for the crash. I hear a loud crash and some thrashing and I instantly lost it. I start to become overwhelmed with emotions and all I could do is cry in pure joy. The fact that it all came together and I was able to put the perfect shot on him on the perfect night and have god right there with me making it all unfold exactly the way he intending it. I call my girlfriend first crying and she says “ Babe, babe is everything okay??” I respond with nothing more than “Babe it happened, I did it” she instantly knew what had happened and gets her stuff and gets her dad and they are on their way. The next person I call is my dad and he picks up to me crying and says “ Ryan, is everything okay? What’s going on?” And I say “ Dad I just killed our buck, the big boy”. He is ecstatic and says he is on his way with my brother. I get out of the blind and start to track him and start following blood.
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Soon after I look up and sure enough there he is laying there.
I run over and when I put my hands on him I said a prayer to God. I will not say exactly what that prayer was but it was something very special and I felt something I never have before. Everyone came over and we took some great pictures and the rest is history.
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I run over and when I put my hands on him I said a prayer to God. I will not say exactly what that prayer was but it was something very special and I felt something I never have before. Everyone came over and we took some great pictures and the rest is history.
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Fullbore
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