Well fellows, it was a great trip. It started with a sit with my bow on the afternoon of Friday the 7th. Gun season was opening the next morning and I was hoping to get my Kentucky buck with my bow before the gun opener. I had located this spot months before and when season finally opened the wind was always wrong. This time the wind was marginal but not bad so I pushed it. I did gamble a little by riding the perimiter of the small field on my quad to check the scrapes and trails. I sure wasn't going to walk the edge. Anyway, the sign was hot so I dropped my Summit Viper Elite, my bow and my pack off at my tree and rode the quad out of there, sneaked back in and set up. Just like I expected it to, the buck came out at the far corner. I spotted it immediately but there was still a chance he would cross the field out of range. When he turned and started following the treeline to the next scrape I knew the game was on. He got to 15 yards from me and started licking a branch where there was no scrape. This was unexpected and since there was no cover between him and me except my bow, I was sure he was going to spot me. The entire time he was licking that branch his head was pointed directly at me 15 yards away. Have I ever mentioned that I love my ASAT 3D suit? :D Finally, he stopped playing with the branch and started walking the crossing I was covering. There was only one tree that he would go behind that would let me draw before he got to me. It was another gamble because it wasn't a very big tree - maybe 10 inches in diameter - but I had to take the risk. If I waited until he got a little past me there would be a little cover and if there were any delays in the shot at all he would hit my scent stream. His eyes went behind the right side of the tree and I snatched that 70# bow back as quickly as I could and he kept walking. I had the pin on him and suddenly, for some reason unknown to me but for which I'm very thankful for, he stopped in the clear, broadside at 7 yards. I took advantage of this, closed my left eye to re-center the pin in the peep, then opened my left eye, aimed for an exit hole and touched the release. I saw that white wrapped and white fletched arrow hit the mark and knew instantly he wasn't going anywhere. He mule kicked and ran into the woods, made a right and started paralleling the field edge back the way he had come. He made it about 50 yards or so before he crashed very loudly. I fished out my phone and texted my brother, who was hunting about 500 yards away on the other side of a field, two words: "Buck down." He texted back and said "I know. I heard him crash." Who would have thought it? Three hours into the first sit of an eleven day hunt and I get a decent (for me) buck with my bow. It was pretty awesome. :D
Thanks, but you had me going back to proofread my post. It was in Kentucky. I WISH I could hunt Kansas.
Yes I did. I ended up killing a doe in Kentucky and another in Missouri with my bow and I also killed an 8 point with my rifle that someone else "recovered" for me before I came back to pick up the trail. That story is posted in the Whitetail Deer forum.
