In all my years of bowhunting I have never shot a Buck on opening day. This year is an exception. Maybe I am just getting old but never the less I will finish out this bowhunting season shooting Doe's for the freezer. He is no record by any means but I just plain liked the looks of him. I have a soft spot for chocolate colored horns and even more of a soft spot for tall racks instead of width.
Here is my story. The last day of September we had rain and sort of a cool down. I knew the Deer would be moving so the next afternoon when Damon (my youngest) got home from school we headed out to one of the farms that we hadn't hunted last year. We had hunted this particular farm hard for several years and decided to give it a break last year. I didn't even run any trailcams on this farm this past summer so we didn't know what to expect. Setting in treestands about 40 yards apart nothing much had happened until 6:00 PM. From that moment on we had Deer everywhere we looked. My Buck and another heavy 7 pointer came over the far fence and was chasing Does around the field. Both of these Bucks I guessed around 120 to 130's. We have nicer Bucks than this in Iowa but these are decent in my opinion. As the two Bucks continued to chase Does, work rubs and scrapes I glassed them several times. The heavy 7 pointer had a bright white typical rack four points on one side and three on the other. Unbeknown'st to me Damon had his eye on him. The two Bucks kept chasing and working down the far side fenceline about 100 yards from my treestand. By now there were 15 to 20 does, yearlings and button bucks in the field. Hearing acorns being crunched I looked down and a yearling doe was munching away less than 8 yards from my treestand. The little girl had no idea I was right above her while I watched the field. Eventually she wandered by and into the field also. Hearing more acorns being munched on I stared into the darkening woods to my East. About 30 yards through the brush stood a fine 14 pointer eating to his hearts content. Every once in a while he would look out into the field and watch the two bigger bucks. The 14 pointer never offered me a shot throughout the evening but he was nice to look at.
Now there were 7 Bucks in the field eating, chasing Does, working rubs, scrapes etc. I counted 27 Deer not counting the 14 pointer. My Buck was the dominant boy in the field until the 14 pointer stepped out. When he entered the field all activities stopped for a couple minutes while everyone stared his way. During the activities my Buck had passed by my treestand twice without me drawing my bow. I knew he had at least 10 points and for some reason unknown to me I kept watching and admiring him. He chased every other Buck in the field away except the 14 pointer. When ever the Big Boy came near him he tucked and would run off a few feet. You could tell by his actions that he wanted to confront the 14 pointer but just didn't quite have what it takes.
Now at this stage of the game I told myself "if Chocolate comes by me one more time I am going to try for him". As fate would have it here he came one more time. At ten yards I drew my bow waiting for him to take one more step. He jumped backwards and I thought I was busted. Looking up I saw that it wasn't me but instead a coyote had came out about 10 yards East of my spot. My Buck spun around at about 20 yards and acted like he was going to challenge the coyote. Picking a spot in the quickly darkening evening I let her fly. Hearing the familiar sound of arrow meeting flesh I also heard a thwack and knew my arrow had met bone also. In a memorie flash I remembered just as I released his far front leg had stepped forward pushing his near front shoulder back a little. He and the heavy white racked Buck ran to the far side of the field as I watched and hoped. After a few minutes they both jumped the fence and went into the timber. I set shaking (as I always do) for a while in my treestand playing my shot over and over in my mind. As darkness settled in I got down from the treestand and whistled at Damon. He whistled back and eventually joined up with me. Looking for my arrow at the shot spot, there was none. I knew now that I didn't have a pass through. Using our small game flashlights we searched as we zig zagged across the open hayfield. About 30 yards into the search I found my arrow. It was bright red about 2/3's of the way along it. From here on we had good blood to follow. Reaching the fenceline there was a big pile of blood that he had lost before jumping into the timber. I called my Wife and told her we would be late getting home as we were tracking a Deer. She is used to us doing this and asked if she could help. Of course we said yes and to bring more flashlights. Where I hunt it hurts to leave a shot Deer out as the coyotes always finds them before we do. Crossing the fence I felt a let down and a little depressed. Damon tried to cheer me up and looking for my sign while I contemplated. He found none and my heart sank as he usually is a better tracker anymore with his young eyes. I entered the timber which was full of brush and stickers and started searching. I found some blood and marked the spot. After crawling around about 10 more yards I found heavier blood. Standing up in the little creek bed I told Damon that I don't believe he could make it to far. Shining my light up the far bank guess what? Yep he layed right there with his back to us. Damon and I drug him through the brush and out to the field before field dressing. Checking out my shot I was pleased to see that it penetrated through his shoulder and took both lungs and the heart. I gave thanks for such a wonderful animal and we loaded him up on the two wheeled game cart. With the help of my Wife, Damon and I we carted the 1/8 mile to the road and loaded my Trophy.
Now I know to most Trophy hunters this is not a Trophy but to me "who is a meat hunter 98% of the time" he is a Trophy just like all the other par racked Bucks and the many Does we shoot every year for the freezer. My Buck scored 132 6/8" green, he has 13 points with 12 of them scoreable. In some States he would be considered large but in Iowa most know better. Anyhow we wish all of you good luck in your hunting this year and hope all of you find your own Trophy. Best of luck - Court, Cindy & Damon
Topic: Not Pope & Young but will do - Iowa (Read 6300 times)
