Some of you may remember a few years ago, I shot a really nice buck but instead of hearing that nice hollow "thud" I heard "crack!"... Adam and I searched everything we were allowed to search and came up empty... made me sick. Friday night I was in that same stand, overlooking that same field, (which was corn stubble that year as well) with pretty much the same conditions. Pretty much identical. As I sat there, I was thinking about that buck and wondering whatever happened to him.
I spent the early part of the sit listening to one trophy quality squirrel sounding like a moose in the leaves behind me to the left... little bastard was really pissing me off. Just about sunset, I had a hunch I should get the crossbow off the hook and keep it in my lap for the last half hour. I'm glad I did, about ten minutes later, I heard the leaves over my left shoulder again, but it didn't take long to realize it wasn't that squirrel.
I slowly turned my head to see a deer, at a fairly brisk pace, coming up behind me. It was getting a little dim back there but I could tell it was a buck... coming down the same trail that other one did a few years ago. As he got closer I could tell he was no booner by any means, but for this area, which gets hunted pretty hard, he's about as good as you'll hope for. The little voice in my head said "yup, he'll do". Showtime.
Since he was coming down the same trail that other buck did, I knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to step out of the trees, next to the drainage ditch, 30 yards to my left. He will have about 15 yards of switchgrass to get through before he gets to the field edge. When he steps into that grass, there will be a big locust tree between us, which is my chance to raise my bow... textbook.
Once he hit the edge of the field, he's going to turn right and follow the edge, which will put him 20 yards, broadside, in front of me. He followed the script perfectly... textbook. By the time he made the turn to the right, I already had him in my scope, safety switched off. The wind was out of the south which meant it was coming from behind me. I knew that in a few more steps, he would be directly downwind, I was going to have to stop him, which would give me a slightly quartering too shot... same as that other buck. I decide to let him take a few more steps, rather than take a chance on hitting him in the shoulder like I did a few years ago.
When he stepped into my wind, instead of turning toward me, he stopped and looked the other way, which turned his shoulders away from me, exposing all the goodies... oops, bad mistake bud!
The shot went off... I watched the lighted nock dissappear at the exact spot I was aiming... textbook... he jumped about 10 feet in the air, mule kicked and hit the ground running... textbook... my arrow was sticking in the ground just on the other side of where he was standing. He ran about 30 yards, stumbled, got his feet back under him, ran about 20 more, mulekicked again, then his legs went out from under him and down he went. Maybe 60 yards in total.. never got out of the field.. DRT.
Textbook, just like you see in the hunting videos.
I spent the early part of the sit listening to one trophy quality squirrel sounding like a moose in the leaves behind me to the left... little bastard was really pissing me off. Just about sunset, I had a hunch I should get the crossbow off the hook and keep it in my lap for the last half hour. I'm glad I did, about ten minutes later, I heard the leaves over my left shoulder again, but it didn't take long to realize it wasn't that squirrel.
I slowly turned my head to see a deer, at a fairly brisk pace, coming up behind me. It was getting a little dim back there but I could tell it was a buck... coming down the same trail that other one did a few years ago. As he got closer I could tell he was no booner by any means, but for this area, which gets hunted pretty hard, he's about as good as you'll hope for. The little voice in my head said "yup, he'll do". Showtime.
Since he was coming down the same trail that other buck did, I knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to step out of the trees, next to the drainage ditch, 30 yards to my left. He will have about 15 yards of switchgrass to get through before he gets to the field edge. When he steps into that grass, there will be a big locust tree between us, which is my chance to raise my bow... textbook.
Once he hit the edge of the field, he's going to turn right and follow the edge, which will put him 20 yards, broadside, in front of me. He followed the script perfectly... textbook. By the time he made the turn to the right, I already had him in my scope, safety switched off. The wind was out of the south which meant it was coming from behind me. I knew that in a few more steps, he would be directly downwind, I was going to have to stop him, which would give me a slightly quartering too shot... same as that other buck. I decide to let him take a few more steps, rather than take a chance on hitting him in the shoulder like I did a few years ago.
When he stepped into my wind, instead of turning toward me, he stopped and looked the other way, which turned his shoulders away from me, exposing all the goodies... oops, bad mistake bud!
The shot went off... I watched the lighted nock dissappear at the exact spot I was aiming... textbook... he jumped about 10 feet in the air, mule kicked and hit the ground running... textbook... my arrow was sticking in the ground just on the other side of where he was standing. He ran about 30 yards, stumbled, got his feet back under him, ran about 20 more, mulekicked again, then his legs went out from under him and down he went. Maybe 60 yards in total.. never got out of the field.. DRT.
Textbook, just like you see in the hunting videos.
