Well, Oregon Blacktail buck and Blacktail bow.
This morning I went up to hunt a treestand where I've been getting some pics of decent bucks for the last month. A couple days before Thanksgiving I had a 140ish 4pt broadside at 30 yards from this stand, but he was just beyond my shooting range and wouldn't come any closer.
It was pretty cold but calm when I climbed in the stand this morning. But I had my wool on and insulated pacs, so I figured I was good to go. As it began to get light I tried a series of mock battle with my rattlers. After about 30-40 minutes I spotted movement coming up out the reprod. Elk! 4 cows, 2 calves, and a spike bull came in and milled around my stand looking to see what all the racket was about, then they slowly fed off and out of sight.
As time went on I lost all feeling in my toes, and was forcing myself to stay put 10 minutes at a time, then another 10 minutes, and so on. The sun was finally working it's way down in where I was, but I was considering climbing down. I rattled again at about 10:35 and about 10 minutes later I caught movement off to my right. I could see the back half of a deer, so I nocked an arrow. Then the deer stepped clear and began walking toward my stand.
Now, I've been trying to kill a deer or elk from a treestand for years, but I usually lose patience or get cold and climb down. I've also shot over several animals in the past.
Well this buck continued on and slowly walked by me. I started to draw my bow, but I so cold and stiff from sitting for 4 hours I could only get half drawn. I thought my shoulders and back would pop and spook the buck, so I let down. The buck sniffed the ground and took several more steps and was quartering away at around 15 yards. The buck dropped his head again and I came to full draw and released. My doug fir arrow passed through the buck and he kicked and ran off, but angled down into a draw. He had gone about 60-70 yards and I saw his back legs begin to give out as went behind some small trees.
After sitting in the stand and collecting my thoughts for several minutes I climbed down. I was sure the buck was down and dead as I picked up my arrow. But I knew it would be a tough drag back up the draw, so I walked on out to the truck to retrieve my packboard. More than anything I needed to get warmed up by moving around for awhile.
After getting warmed up and getting circulation back in my feet I went down the draw and easily found the buck. He's a 3x4, and had lots of trash on the bases.
I put on my '95 Ducks Rose Bowl T-shirt this morning for the fun of it, and it brought me good luck.
Topic: Oregon Blacktail X 2 (2009 version) (Read 1908 times)
