I am rarely public about my hunting stories. While any deer is special, this was a great trad hunting adventure. The scouting, hunting on the stealth, and tracking makes for one of those great stories.
My home state here in KS on November 1. . .light rain. . .bucks just starting to cruise.
First day in a new area. . . have just 2 days to hunt. . .will never hunt here again (being leased for big $$ from non-residents; bummer, but do not blame the farmer). I studied aerials for a couple of years. . . arrive 2:00. . . short scout. Bingo! . . . just what I think I am looking for. Set-up on the portable/stealth at 3:00. Three does later, he comes in at 5:40- just before dark. . . 8-10 yds hard quartering away.
Shot well off the one side of his spine in the third to last rib high. The arrow path seemed it would take the arrow into the center of the heart between the front legs. He ran off with 10" arrow sticking out. (BW SA curve- 55# at 31” draw. 32” GT trad arrows with 250 gr. up front.)
High shot with no apparent exit gave minimal blood. An hour after dark I find a little blood at about 40 yards out. With light rain and lots of CRP, standing crops, and yotes I hated to let it go until morning. What to do? The rain was to stop and frost was expected. I hate to destroy the evidence. . . I decide to wait. I slept in my camping rig- it’s called my Ford Explorer!
At first light I picked up the trail at the 40 yd. mark. . . . 90 minutes later still on my hands and knees as I followed literally a small rain drop with a tinge of red or a pea-sized smudge on vertical stalks of grass/weeds every 8-10 feet or so. (These were thick weeds planted to hold pheasant). . . I gained 35-40 more yards! This leads me to the edge of a muddy, newly planted wheat field. . . many tracks. . .following the wrong ones then returning to the beginning point- I finally follow a running track that eventually yields one very small drop of rain soaked blood on a 1" sprout of wheat. 60 or so yards further I noticed skid marks in the mud. The tracks lead me to a large weed/marsh/CRP-ish area (needle in a haystack! A pheasant even tried to fly and got knocked back down by the thick weeds!). Once there, I began finding more and more blood. YES! YES!! YES!!!
150 yds + from the beginning hit- there he lay. Just as I suspected; I took out one lung and centered the heart, burying the arrow in his chest/sternum. He was probably dead before my knees started shaking while still in the stand. All the blood was from aspiration (nose).
This was just a blessed and amazing experience. Alone with the Lord in a quiet and fairly remote place. . .He weighed just under 200# field dressed two days later. For those who know taxidermy/cape measurements- he was an amazing 8” from corner eye to tip of nose; 22.75” at ear base; with 25” at my 2nd mark. He is in my top five heaviest deer I have been blessed to harvest.
The only downfall was the best hunting was yet to come. Hard to pass on such a majestic animal though. . .More stories to tell another day. . .
Dan in KS
Topic: Great Experience on My 2009 KS Deer (Read 810 times)
