So I made the arduous 6+ hour journey from the UP to hunt down south in mid Michigan. I do this every year as my best friend is a generous man and has great property.
This year would be special as I got to spend time with my little girl. She attends college down here (my Alma Mater) and was able to pull some time away to get in the woods with me.
My friend was not able to hunt with us so with my daughters limited time the plan was to put her in what we all agreed would be the “hottest“ stand. I would sit in a less active area.
When she came out Wednesday night to camp to prepare for the hunt Thursday we were hit by a couple inches of snow. Aside from getting stuck in the driveway my daughter forgot some of her insulated clothing as well as a jacket. She was off to a great start.
She also convince me to let her sleep in a little bit, so by the time I crawled into my stand it was just beginning to get gray light. I saw a few bucks chasing and one 2 1/2 year-old eight point pin a doe down immediately below my tree stand. He was soon joined by a four pointer and they took the doe off north of my location.
Fast forward an hour later and I catch sight of a large mature doe covered in snow and leaves walking away from my general area. She reached the tree about 30 yards away for me and immediately did a 90° turn and walked directly under my stand stopping to smell both my tracks and the tracks made by the previous buck and doe. Even though she was directly down wind of me she stayed calm and never knew I was above her.
About seven or eight minutes later a large Ten point came crashing out of the trail the doe had come down originally. He overshot her 90° corner and stopped about 10 yards further up the trail and look directly towards my stand.
He started coming at me as I was grabbing my bow. I grunted once or twice to try to get him to stop but he paid no attention. He did stop eventually about 12 yards ahead of me where although no shooting lane was caught there was a gap in two autumn olive bushes.
He focused on the doe and allowed me to get to full draw and release. You know how you make those shots where all you see is perfect arrow flight and just feathers screaming perfectly at your target? Well, this was not one of those shots. Although my release was good, I think excitement got the better of me and I ended up taking him what appeared to be a little far forward and a little higher than I would’ve liked at that shot angle. That stand sits about 22 feet in the tree and that buck was only about 12 yards out when I shot.
He immediately bolted to my north and at about 45 yards I saw him dive into some thick autumn olive shrubs. The cover is so thick and the autumn olive was hanging very low because of all the snow cover I was not able to get any sight of the deer after he dove down. After a few minutes I did see another deer exit the general area. I also saw two bucks and another doe walk right through the area of the bigger buck had gone into without showing any signs of distress. I was crestfallen.
Later that morning my daughter came to my stand as she had gotten very cold and I climbed down to explain the situation. We stalked up on the area that I had seen the buck go down in together. It took about 30 minutes as we would only walk when the wind blew and snow fell from the autumn olive.
We found him together, lying exactly where I saw him dive down. What I had assumed was a big buck going to his bed turned out to be him dying in mid stride and crashing. Because of the snow and the cover I never heard it.
The arrow ended up going through the scapula and ribs to cut the aorta and penetrate into his offside lung. He died in less than three seconds. This was a very special hunt even before I took this buck. The only thing that would’ve made it better is if my daughter would’ve had the shot at him instead of me. It’s one of those experiences so full of memories that you can’t put into words...
Gear used: Northern mist superior longbow, 41# at my draw. Dark timber 700 spine arrows with 200 grain grizzlies.
Topic: Big 10 and daughters snow hunt (Read 3639 times)
