Canadice Curse broken and 7 year quest fulfilled Heropics !! !!

[maxfit]

Let me start off by setting the backdrop to the story. I have been hunting on and off with my recurve the last 5 years or so.  I own a 40 acre  piece of property in NYs southern tier in the town of Canadice.. Hunting there is good but not great and I always seem to hunt areas closer to home with better results.(more and bigger bucks closer to home and I always go back to my compound..its a confidence thing).Well about seven  years ago I developed what I called the Canadice Curse. Without getting in to it I have lost two bucks with the bow (Compound) missed one with my recurve and missed 3 with the gun and  have had several mind boggling  close calls. Now mind you I have killed bucks on every other piece of property I hunt in that time, and I do not take wild shots. Frustrated is not the word!!!!!!!!! This year I committed to breaking the curse...First kill a buck on my property and second kill one with my recurve, which would be my first traditional harvest.. Only one rule, no first year bucks. Will be back soon...off to work

[Chad Orde]

Sweet way to persevere! I'm working on my own curse on a certain farm I hunt. It's a trac curse as well because I still make meat there with the spoke pole.

[maxfit]

My father and I pulled into camp Friday afternoon. We were greeted with 40 degree temps, a hail storm and  winds blowing 15 -25mph from the south. Snotty . Perfect!!
As I got out of the truck and grabbed my gear I had a choice to make. You see I had my wheels and my curve sitting next to each other in the back seat. What to do? I picked up the recurve and my dad asked  ," you gonna use the stick" ? Now mind you it was more of a" why are you doing that"? He is not a big fan of trad gear...With doubt set in my mind, I picked a leaf on the side of the sloping hill next to us and drilled it. Pops said "well you are deadly with that thing"...so with renewed confidence I went up the hill and settled in for the evening hunt. This is the view of the cursed trail the bucks walk down.

   

To my right side.. where they follow the slope to the narrowing creek ..

   

And behind me where the creek is steep...they can cross here but most often don't..


   

[JMG]

[tradarcher816]

[Benjy]

Looks like Chuck is playing the 12 hour between post game!   :D  

TTT

[The Night Stalker]

Great pics of stand location and terrain.

[OBXarcher]

Keep it coming

[maxfit]

The wind actually picked up with gusts up to 30 mph...and the sleet actually changed over to a wet snowy mix. After about an hour of this, the wind actually died down and the sun came through the clouds for about 5 minutes. It always amazes me how the weather can change on the side of the mountain like this. Brilliant light from the setting sun shined through woods showing off the colors of the fall woods. Then just a suddenly it was gone..yet the wind remained calm.   I caught movement to my left.......

[Kyodai]

Chuck, you're killin me    Good on you for not picking up the wheels though!

How many times had that Fedora you sold me been out in that neck of the woods?

--Kyodai

[maxfit]

Hey Kyodai...
it has been in that exact stand more than once....

[maxfit]

The movement was a yearling doe. She was very skittish and actually never stopped moving. She crossed the creek at almost the steepest part to my left and  behind me. This stand is  close to the road and the deer always cross and seem to be unusually on edge. As I was wondering why she never stopped, I thought maybe she was being dogged by a buck...but no..she never looked back and it was windy...must be the road. I scanned back around to my right and saw another deer materializing out of the woods. It must be momma..she was good sized..but wait..momma has horns...Here he came right down the cursed trail...He got to the pine tree and looked right up at me. I didn't move as my fingers hooked deep on the string...The buck got startled as his sixth sense kicked in and started to trot away. I let out a quick grunt with my voice and he stopped. I looked and saw a small opening between two trees.


 I drew my bow back and talked myself through the shot. Take your time, pick a spot and anchor....The shot was just gone before I ever knew it. The buck dropped down at the sound of the shot, but it was too late. The 4 blade broadhead caught him and I heard that distinctive thump. The buck stumbled and bolted with his rear legs wobbly. He tried to make it to the creek but he fell and dropped down the cursed trail into the creek bottom. It was over. I actually looked at my bow in disbelief and thought .."did that just happen?" I just stood there for a minute and thanked God for his blessing upon me. I collected myself and got down out of my tree. I walked down the cursed trail into the creek bottom where he layed. A beautiful buck with 8 points. I put my bow down and looked at him and as always I had that sense of sadness that always comes over me when I kill an animal. I know it sounds silly but I actually thanked him for the experience. It was almost dark  so I called my dad and told him I had gotten one. He said.. " what ...with that stick ?"
I said "yes sir...with the stick"....

[maxfit]

So here he is..not my biggest buck , but he is the one I am most proud of !!!!
 

[maxfit]

Me and Dad...
 

[Butch Speer]

Max,
Very good story! Glad you broke   The Curse!

[Homebru]

Congrats!
homebru

[drewsbow]

congrats

[wooddamon1]

Great story and nice buck, congrats!

[njloco]

That is a good story, I mostly enjoyed your dad's reaction when you told him you got one with that stick, and that you could enjoy that with him there.

Thanks for sharing.

[Bow Bum]

Nice curse breaker!