I posted this to my team thread however, figured I would post here as some other might enjoy the story. Buck was taken on public land in PA. Been chasing a few big ones for several years however, always playing cat and mouse. Saturday morning I met my dad at the parking lot and he asked me where I was headed. I was undecided and had 10 minutes to make a choice. I have a couple hang-ons in good spots however, there is an area 80 yards from one hang-on that I love and would need my climber. It has awesome views however, deer often are not in range. Last archery buck I took from there so, it is lucy at times!!! Well...preparing for everything, I packed my climber the night before. At 1 minute left, I still did not know. Walking back from his truck to my car, I popped the trunk and grabbed the climber. This meant making the 1.5 mile hike with LW climber and back-pack full of gear. Not the easiest choice for a 4 hour hunt. I was setup and ready as shooting light hit. The view that morning: Dad rattled in a small 6 and ran across a spiker in the early am. I grunted a bit and rattled with nothing showing up. About 8:40 I had a momma and two cubs slide past my back side about 80 yards out. About 9:30 I noticed movement and a doe to my left (the thicker side with fewer shots). She was not moving much and really just standing there looking around. About a minute later, I heard a grunt and saw horns 10-15 yards in back of her. I knew it was one of the bigger bucks we have been after. She is about 25 yards out and looks like she might continue walking on my left which might give me a shot of the buck at 30-35 yards or nothing. At that point, she actually turned directly toward me and walked 5 yards closer! In turn he walked 5 yards closer. He was actually flanking her. Never once did he get closer to her or push her. I was personally hoping he would push her in front of me and give me a less than 20 yard shot. That never happened. She remained in the same spot for almost 10 minutes. She did not move her feet. She stood there looking around, smelling, and eating some moss type material from an old blow down. During this time, The buck was hidden by two trees but, only about 25 yards out. After that 10 minutes. I suddenly heard a snortwheeze. This was my first time ever hearing a buck make that sound. He did this twice. Seconds later, another much smaller buck showed up about 20 - 25 yards out and to my left. Well...things got interesting quick. I thought I was going to have an opportunity to fling an arrow as the big buck moved toward the little guy. He moved closer to me and the other buck. At this time. I had a broadside shot about 22/25 yards however, three small branches were in the way of the vitals. I could not believe my luck. So now I processed in my mind two options. 1. He is going to push forward and chase the little guy off. 3 more steps toward that little guy and I can shoot. 2. The doe is going to bolt based upon impending dangers....and when she does, he is going to turn and go after her. Quick note: When I was processing the options, I spotted an 18 inch opening between two trees for my arrow to fit through which was closer to me and a wider gap of about 4 feet that I could see him walk through. If he turns to follow the doe, I can draw, center in the opening and wait for him to pass. 5 seconds later, I hear the doe bolt. Instantly he turns and starts to follow. I draw, settle on the opening I just visualized, saw his front legs start pass, and let the arrow fly! View of the shot. Look for the faint red box I put in this photo. That is where I put the arrow. Buck was inbetween some of the pines across the water. Watched it hit what I knew was a bit farther back than I would have liked and a bit high. He goes ballistic running away. Other buck flies out of there and the doe who did not jump far, is taking off. I watch him running and he appeared to make it up and over a ridge about 80 yards from me. I'm excited, know it is a killer hit however, not sure how quick it will get the job done. I start making calls and texts Waited an hour to get down and checked for blood at the point of impact. Saw only two pin head drops of blood and piece of skin. Then took two more steps and found where he jumped over a branch and was plenty of blood. I did not want to start tracking however, I did want to see if the good blood continued on the other side of the branch. I took a few more steps and found my arrow covered in blood. That is when I really felt good about it all. First sign of the hit: Better blood: Met my dad at 11:30 and I told him I did not want to start tracking till after lunch so, 45 minute walk to the car. Hour lunch, 45 minute walk back...the deer has sat for almost 5 hours. Has to be dead however, how far will we track it? Heavy blood trail lead us between 80 and 100 yards to the top of the ridge. Where I thought I had actually lost sight of him...was him crashing down. He was dead within a minute or two of the shot....I could have not waited at all however, knew he was big and think I made the right choice regardless. While waiting in my stand to get down. I saw two other doe and kicked another deer walking out. It was a day that was meant to be! I was only able to measure the inside spread and looked like 22.5 / 22.75. I will do full scoring between and butcher and taxi. More glory shots. Note: When we went back in from lunch, we went light. I left my bow and we only took my dad's cross bow. Hence, no bow shots while in the woods. I also tried some shots with my hat being orange and fully camo. Only shot I could do with my dad. Wish we could have both got in a good pic with it. Will have to wait until it's a mount now...
Dude, that's a GREAT Pa public land buck! Talk about threading the needle. You should be real proud of that one. Congrats.
I really enjoyed the story of this awesome buck! Many congrats!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
