I have yet to get any more pics of him which is quite disappointing...he was on the property all year last year and the year before. With the amount of pressure that is in that area I don't know if he'd make it another year unless he stays on the 80 acres that my in-laws own. Any way you look at it, he is a unique buck and due to the character would be someone difficult to pass up IMO.
I would for sure put one in him. He's a big ol freak nasty for the wall.... Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Well...I had a shot at this buck on Sunday...I was over on a parcel of public land where I got to my stand at about 2pm. After spending some time in prayer and enjoying the weather and at 3:45 I heard some noise to my right, I take a look and this happens , he was coming in with his nose to the ground...I quickly grabbed my range finder and ranged him at 41 yards, I grabbed my bow and he had taken a few more steps and I figured he would be around 37 yards...I made the "meah" sound and he stopped...I put my 40 yard pin on him and aimed a bit low and let the arrow fly...to my dismay I watched him turn and my arrow hit low on him...I thought I missed completely but I got down and found blood on the arrow. I started looking for blood and found and was able to trail him for only about 60 yards before we lost the blood trail, which was either due to the drizzle or he just stopped bleeding. There were some meaty looking tissue on the arrow and also some stuff that looked similar to fat. I am thinking I may have hit his leg...needless to say it's embarrassing and I really have to swallow my pride on this one. I was unable to go into the property where I watched him run because the individuals who own the property only come down during firearms season which begins this weekend. The things I am taking away from this hunt are (1) the Lord answered my prayer but it was MY execution that was poor. (2) My excitement had gotten the best of me and being honest with myself I rushed the shot. If I had been patient the buck likely would have come across another shooting lane to my left and I would have had a chip shot at about 15 yards. (3) I have two options, the first being to fixate on the mistakes that were made and beat myself up over it (fixed mindset that wants to say "I suck") or I can accept what happened, doesn't mean I have to like it, and continue to move forward with confidence (growth mindset and easier said than done). Anyway, I don't know how many individuals are aware of mental imagery, being a psych major (aka psych nerd), it's a skill in which an individual plays (imagines) various scenarios in their mind from a first person perspective, when looking at it from a third person perspective it's thought more of like fantasizing, and through the mental imagery improvements are made i.e. if you are struggling with buck fever, you'd want to imagine yourself in a situation which you have experienced buck fever and play it out in terms of what went wrong--was the shot rushed, what were your thoughts, etc-- and then imagine yourself making a perfect shot and a successful harvest. With that being said, mental imagery is best used along with continued practice!! Enough of my babble. Best of luck to all you out there and God bless and may the rut be with you.
