I got up this morning to strong North winds and 40 degrees. Of course, my stand faces the north which meant I was in for a long windblown day in the stand.
Not long after daylight I had a small 8 come right by like they were all suppose to
and then not long after that a small buck bedded at about 15 yards from my stand. Great. He was fun to watch though, seeing how deer behave when they're at rest, watching, ears moving but other than that they're almost 100% still. He head bobbed a time or two as his eyes were closing, he must have had a long night !
About the time he bedded another 8 point and a doe bedded out at about 75 yards. The 8 worked the scrape hard, so I kinda felt the doe was smelling good.
At 8:15 am a nice buck came along the creek bottom. He busted the 8 point out and the doe, and chased the doe by at 20 yards. No shot. I could tell he was a nice 4 point on one side, the other side looked messed up.
All 3 bucks chased the doe up the creek and all was quiet for about 3 minutes.
Back down the creek he comes, and I knew he would hit the trail coming right to me.
He did, and at about 6-7 steps from my tree I started my draw, and guys all I could see was deer! I gathered my focus in a split second, and drew and shot. I kinda snap shoot anyway, and just like that the arrow was out, down, and I could see blood right where I wanted the arrow to go.
He runs off 30 steps at the edge of the creek and stops, looking back. Good looking shot, and after 15 second he bails into the creek.
Dead deer in creek I'm thinking and I get my phone to call Mark to come help. He shows up, maybe 20 minutes later and we walk to where my deer fell - no deer.
What the heck ? I'm baffled, because I SHOULD have blown both lungs out. I got complete pass through, double lunged deer don't make it far. So we start tracking, a very easy job too because blood was everywhere, and the deer went to the creek, crossed it, up the steep bank on the other side and across the edge of the creek.
Now I'm getting this sick feeling. We come to the edge where the alfalfa bottom is and he made it to the other side before piling up in the edge.
I'm tickled to death. He's not the biggest I shot at this week, there isn't a "score" and he's not in the same class as Alvis or Mark's bucks but I had an incredible trip, saw a lot of bucks, had opportunities that don't come often but he's a very special deer to me and I'm tickled to death with him.
He would have been a fine 8 point, he's got over 5" bases, coral looking bases and brows, very rough, the ones side has a club thing going to the back of the neck, knarled up .... interesting deer for sure. None of the landowners/farmers had seen this buck, no idea where he came from.
I killed him with a Zipper 51# @ 27" recurve, ICS 400 weighted shafts and I switched to a Thunderhead broadhead mid-hunt. 680 total grains, and it blew through the top of one lung, through the bottom of the other and was laying where I hit him, 100% pass through. I shot out both lungs and that deer ran an honest 250 hard yards - amazing.
Even after hitting 2 limbs and having a deer duck my arrow I still felt I could do it. But even having great confidence there is nothing like actually DOING it, you know?
3 archery hunters, 3 tags, 3 bucks down this week. 2008 will be one of my most special years, I killed a big gobbler this spring, an Arkansas 8 point and then this buck with my recurve, and I have a lot of Arkansas hunting yet to do, and Alvis and Mark both tagged ..... helluva year guys, it really has been.
Topic: Kansas 2008 semi-live hunt - Friday morning I finally did it (page 4 pictures) :) (Read 6492 times)
