Long read. Sorry. Pictures at the bottom if you want to fast forward. Well I shot my first buck since 2011 today and first clean kill since 2010. Really under pretty unlikely circumstances. I never was able to get out over the summer. Between money issues and car trouble I could never make it to my hunting grounds. At the end of last season my dads blind got slashed and later in the year my trail camera at this spot was stolen. So it was just a lot of bad luck. Leading up to now the temps had been terrible and I just couldn't get motivated. Finally this week there was to be cold snap. It got me excited. I went out to hunt yesterday but instead of hunting I decided to just scout and hang stands. After hanging 2 stands and trimming lanes I left. I felt good about both spots I had seen deer every year in both spots and there is always a good buck running around those woods this time of year. I also was not going to be picky about a deer this year. I just wanted to get back in the groove of killing clean and working out mistakes. The alarm was going at 5 this morning. I got up but took my sweet time and before I knew it I was leaving 30 minutes late. Got to the woods at 630 was at my stand at 7. Legal shooting at 7:16. On my way in I spooked 2 does. I didn't think to much about it and just pushed on to my stand. As I sat and got ready I kept thinking I was hearing deer walking behind me. As I got the last of my stuff ready I turned to look. At that moment I saw a body move. I couldn't see his head and rack just the body. I knew it was a buck from that though. I grabbed my bow and situated myself to look and shoot behind me. Thinking the whole time why did I not cut lanes behind me knowing full well this was my attempt at hunting smarter giving myself some cover. He stood there making a scrape for close to 10 minutes. As he stepped from behind a tree and I laid eyes on his rack my immediate reaction was extreme excitement we have all felt as deer hunters. I knew it was a nice deer,how nice I didn't know and really didn't care. I kept my eyes ahead of him looking for an opening. I spot what I believe to be a hole large enough to squeeze my arrow through. I inspect the path for close to a minute before he starts to walk again. He has no idea I'm there the wind is great and at this point I'm 30-35' above him. I draw and as his vitals enter the sight window I settle the 20 pin behind his shoulder and squeeze off the trigger. I lost my arrow on the way down (need lighted nocks). He jumped but. Didn't see a kick. He took a hop and ran off the way he came tail up...or so I thought that was him. Now for my first mistake. I got down almost immediately to find my arrow. He had disappeared and I didn't feel I would jump him but I should have stayed in the tree and watched. I found where the buck was standing but couldn't find anything. No arrow no blood. I see where he jumped too and go to that location. 2 drops of bright red blood. Then a trail of ruffled leaves with no blood that I followed for twenty yards. I now believe this to be a trail by a second deer that I never saw until after the shot. Either way after the perceived bad hit I got out of there. Sitting in the truck replaying everything in my head and driving to an overlook point where I could see the field he ran into I felt worse and worse. This was supposed to be the year I take my time for the perfect shot and make no mistakes. Just clean kills no matter what. I was going to sit till 1 but my anxiousness got the better of me. It had been 2.5 hours. I knew where he ran I was going to track to where he ran out of the woods then if I found nothing promising I would retreat again. From his last position running away I believed I could do that safely with virtually no chance of pushing him. So I got back to the shot point. Found the three drops. Looked around and started circling, more blood, not super bright red but still thought muscle hit. Another step and I realize I had walked up the wrong trail earlier and that there must have been 2 deer and that the second deer was probably the one I followed out with my binoculars immediately after the shot. Another step, more blood, I look closer,BUBBLES! I let out a huge sigh. Keep my eyes to the ground with every step more blood and more bubbles then my arrow. Not broken but the broad head was missing like someone unscrewed it. Also showed that I had full penetration with blood and bubbles all over the arrow. At this point the trail was easy to follow I have seen better blood but this was a perfectly acceptable blood trail. As I neared the edge of the woods I had to make the decision. Stop and wait or press and hope I'm right about what I've seen so far and go with my gut that tells me this deer is dead. I call my dad and tell him bring the four wheeler I think I'm trailing a dead deer. I continue the track through the field thinking the whole time the deer I followed out this morning didn't go this way. I keep finding good blood. Finally he turned and went into a finger of woods with a deep ditch. I felt like he would be in the bottom of that ditch. He wasn't there he went down and straight up the other side. A deer's will is amazing. But I noticed slip marks and smeared blood where I believe he was struggling. I climb out just a couple yards up from where he came out. Found the blood again. Then laying 10 yards away in the CRP the largest deer I have ever killed. I call him Lucky. View attachment 53796 View attachment 53797 View attachment 53798 View attachment 53799 I haven't put tape to him. I'm guessing 130 140ish. Im not good at guessing though. Always a bit high. Caped and dressed he still weighed 157 so he was well over 200 on the hoof. Pretty sure he was a 4 year old. Also once I got him field dressed I found the arrow path, got both lungs.
Those worked, congrats on a great buck. Good thing you didn't stick to trailing the other deer, you'd have been going for miles
Thats a awesome buck! Congrats. A stud for sure!!! We need to train you to post better pictures.... :p
Yeah I know. After the long morning and trying to figure out how to get him out I was tired and wasn't thinking too much about pictures. That ditch he crossed made things very difficult.
