As of this morning, I had a doe down, but bucks have been very elusive. I have passed on several little guys, but the last few days I have planned on taking the first mature buck that allows it. Today, the bucks were in very amorous moods. I must have seen 10 different bucks chasing the girls. The weather was great; temps in the 30s, sunny, and light wind. So, I decided to do a mid morning sit, and right at noon, a buck made a fatal move, stopping in front of me, quartering away, at a later measured 25 paces. I actually picked a spot for a change, but still the Ace tipped cedar entered a bit far back...liver! As the buck took off, I could see the broadhead hanging off the far side, at an angle that looked like I might have got a lung.
I watched the buck walk off, looking pretty sick, and he headed down a road at a very slow pace. I gave him an hour, and picked up the trail, which showed good blood in the snow, from both sides of the deer. He went into a ditch with steep sides, so I slowly followed him, and as I came over the top of the ditch, there he was, very much alive. Damn, I wasn't happy when he slowly walked off. Gave him another 30 minutes, and took up the trail again, seeing good blood for about 100 yards. We were coming to an open field, and I saw him walking very slowly across the open area, and into another ditch on a neighboring property.
I backed out again, called the landowner who was happy to allow permission to follow the deer onto his property. Another half hour/45 minutes passed and I took up the trail again. As soon as I got to the ditch where I had last seen him, I was greeted by a white belly and boy, was I happy.
The autopsy showed that I was right with a liver and one lung hit. He went a long way considering the severity of the wound. Tough critters!
He's not the biggest deer in the woods, but I worked hard and put in a bunch of days, and I'm happy with him. Here he is:
Another deer falls to a Howard Hill bow...55# Wesley Special
Topic: Finally.....(pics) (Read 1274 times)
