I got home from work about 5:30 and was debating whether or not to hunt for the last hour of the day. The weather was pretty raw last night here in southeast Pennsylvania. The temperature was 39 degrees, the wind was blowing steady from the northeast, and it was spitting rain. :( It was just the kind of weather that bigger bucks like to move around in, but I was finding myself not so motivated to sit in such lousy weather. After I milled around a bit, I decided to go and hunt for the last 45 minutes of the day. I got back in the woods without jumping any deer and slipped up into a stand with great cover and the wind was perfect for this stand. Initially a doe fawn came cruising in and offered several shots but I just didn't have the motivation to take her and good thing. About 30 seconds later this beast of a buck comes strolling in behind her. As it came in, it looked as though it would circle behind me and not offer a shot. My heart was about to leap out of my chest at this point. Fortunatley, the buck turned harder and stopped at 10 yards quartering away. I drew back and released. The buck began to trot up through the woods for about 20 yards. At this point I could see the blood pumping out of it's side and flowing like a river. The buck then sensed there was a problem and began it's death dash through the open woods. I knew it was a good hit but chose to wait a few hours before tracking it. Normally in the rain, I would have started tracking as soon as reasonably possible but luckily my good friend Steve has a 9 month old Dachsund that just loves tracking so I figured waiting a few hours would never hurt. Those dogs are an amazing creature to observe. She hit that scent and followed right where the buck ran through the woods. Here's what we found!
The buck turns out to be a 13 point which grossed 138 6/8.
He was taken with a 45lb Adcock ACS, cedar shaft tipped with a Wensel Woodsman.
The shot center punched the liver and went through the far lung and stopped in the farside ribs. The total distance traveled was about 120 yards.
Below is a picture of Steve and Ruby. Thanks again Steve, it was a great night, especially when the Oktoberfest starts flowing! :D
Topic: On a cold rainy night......... (Read 1184 times)
