Well yesterday was very exciting. Have a stand location where last Saturday had an encounter with a real nice 8 pointer that we have had on camera and we call the curved horn 8. He got to within 5 yards of the stand (which sits in a pine patch) and looks up and sees me and eases off. Fast forward to last night. I heard from some in the area that they had seen a buck pushing a doe and I knew my stand was close. In the afternoon it had started to rain and after work it was raining pretty good and getting colder and I did not want to get in the stand and actually had decided not to but turned around and went back. Got ready and got in the stand about 5:15. Within 30 minutes I hear branches cracking and look out between 2 pines to a small clearing about 50 yards away and see a doe just tearing across the clearing and over the hill. Behind her I see another buck that was on my target list that we call the wide horn 9. I grunt at him and he stops and looks but goes after the doe. From then on it was constant action. Does and bucks running through the pines and the clearing almost non-stop. This doe was as nervous as a cat in a room full of dogs. I saw three different bucks. At close to dark the doe was close to the stand and in a shooting lane then out of the corner of my eye I see a buck moving through the pines 10 yards in front of my stand but no clear shooting lane. The does see him and move off. The buck watches then moves through the pines and into a small clearing where there is a shooting lane. It is the curved horn 8. It is getting dark and I know the range so get the bow pulled back try to settle my breathing and let the arrow go. Lumenock doesn't light for some reason just heard a thwack. Buck jumps and wheels stumbles through a ditch and over the hill he went. I climb down from the tree as it is almost dark and look for my arrow but could not find it. Go to where he jumped over the hill and mark the spot and decide to look this morning. It has rained all night so tracking is going to be very hard. Hopefully a good shot and we can find this morning. Extremely steep hillside with a lot a thickets and briers so I think I am in for it today.
Sorry that I haven't given an update but had some computer issues. I went to the stand yesterday a little later in the morning as I didn't want to mess the place up early with all the deer in the area and waited until midday to enter. I had marked the spot where he jumped over the hill and with all the rain and not finding an arrow I knew that this was going to be challenging. I followed his tracks until they intersected with a deer trail then lost them. Followed the trail both ways until more intersections just looking for sign. Went back to the last known location and went back up the hill a ways just looking for clues and perhaps a piece of the arrow where it may have broken off coming through trees and such. Spent some time just trying to judge what the deer was doing and I must admit it was looking pretty bleak. I was just praying to God to help me find this deer when I felt I should just past the trail and over the hill from where I lost the last track. I found him within 10 yards of the last place I trailed him. He was laying on the downhill side of a very steep incline with the antlers wedged in the base of a tree. Regretfully the coyotes had found him apparently early the night before because he was pretty well demolished up to the front shoulder. Coyotes are horrible around here. He was laying about 70-80 yards from the stand so was a good shot but without good evidence I just didn't feel good about going after him that night. I am so glad I found him but I certainly am not happy about the coyotes. I hope the pics turn out as they are my first attempt at posting them on the site.
Just to give you an idea of the terrain below are a couple of pics from my stand. It is the very top of a mountain in a crossing area for some reason deer like to congregate. Beautiful area and sitting there watching the some come up or go down makes me appreciate God's handiwork.
