Hunting in a new spot on some of my buddies land, I watched a small buck feed under a white oak for several minutes before he departed without giving me a shot (dang limbs).
Watched him go back down into the hollow and commense to rubbing his still pink antlers on a few saplings and eventually he curled up next to a log in plain sight in the open hardwoods. This was the first time I had ever seen a deer bed down. He took a two hour nap and with about 40 minutes of light left he stood up and two other bucks stood up with him.
They stretched and shook off like dogs (getting out of water) and after a few minutes they started to head back my way, one at the time a few minutes apart. The first one through was the small buck and he passed in front of me at about 40 yards. Three minutes later the middle sized buck cam ambling through almost step for step where the smaller buck had walked. The last buck was a basket racked 6-8 (depending on if he brow tines or not) and he came through a tad closer. He started to get into the danger zone when he stopped and turned to my left, presumably to go out of the bottom the same way the other bucks did. Two steps found him in a clearing with nothing between him and me but thin air.
I had a quartering away shot and zeroed in on his mid-ribcage expecting the exit wound to be just behind his 'off' shoulder. He shifted his weight some but stopped again, begging me to test my range. I drew to see how it looked. It felt good and there was a wrinkle of hair about 1 inch from where I wanted to arrow to go ... good enough. I drew again and locked onto that wrinkle and hit anchor paused for a second or two to settle into the shot and dropped the string.
Those white feathers arched towards that very spot and everything felt awesome (form, release, etc...). The arrow looked to hit its apex at about 2/3 up his side and started the descent to lungs. I watched in anticipation as the arrow slowly dropped and dropped ... sliding just under his body. I watched the buck trot off a few yards and stop and look back (I assume) at the arrow sticking out of the ground behind him. He turned forward again and bounced off and stopped for one last look just barely within sight of my stand. Then he was gone, ... probably forever! I waited for 10 minutes or so and I quietly got down and tip-toed to my arrow and found it resting comfortably next to a sizeable pinch of fresh cut white belly hair.
I was pushing my shooting distance, I know, as I usually do not practice much beyond 25 yards (most of the time staying 10-20 yards), But the 'look' and the shot felt good and I did make a good shot (the dang thing was locked on target east/west- wise), it was just a tad longer than my brain was used to calculating the elevation for and I just missed low. I am glad it was a 'non-wounding miss' and maybe I will see him again in a week or two for round two!
I stepped it off later and it was 28 steps to where the fresh spin out track sign was a yard or so from the arrow. So close, but yet so far away!!! If he had been 4 or 5 steps closer I am confident that he would have fell victim to a zwickey!
Better luck next time, HUH!?!?!
Topic: Missed first shot of the season... (Read 201 times)
