Here's a few pics of a buck I named Triple Play due to the big 3rd beam coming off his right base. I had seen him 3 times before the morning of Nov. 12 but never had him in range. Each sighting was from a different stand but all within a couple hundred yards of each other. With the rut in full swing I had already watched 5 different bucks that morning out chasing or cruising. I was able to film most of them including a great 6x5 up and comer that I'll be keeping an eye out for in a few years.
At about 9 a.m. I looked to the west and saw a deer moving my direction. I grabbed my bow off the hanger and pointed the camera his direction. He walked straight to me and stopped on the other side of the logging road about 20 yards out smelling the ground where a group of does had moved through about 30 minutes prior. With the camera rolling he lifted his head and lip curled. At this point I wasn't sure what direction he was going to go. He was in range, but I was hoping he would step on to the open logging road where I would have a completely open shot. He made his move to the north stepping out into the open. With my bow in one hand and the camera arm in my other I swung the camera to right where I wanted to take the quartering away shot. He was only 12 or so yards and this point so moving the camera was a bit risky with him still being broadside to me. I think he may have caught my movement when I moved my arm from the camera to my bowstring but he quickly changed his focus back to his search for does. Had it not been the middle of the rut I doubt I'd have gotten away with that.
At about 12 yards he was slightly quartering away and walking slowly to the north. I focused on his vitals and began to draw. As I drew back my stand made a creaking noise (which can be heard on the video) and he stopped and looked right at me. The video shows my draw stop as I had to refocus on his vitals and then the arrow came back the last 3-4" inches and then was off. The arrow buried to the fletching and he quickly took off to the west. I reviewed the video and sat back down to enjoy the moment. A while later I met up with dad to begin tracking. The trail was immediate and easy to follow. He travelled around 150 yards around a couple small headers and down a ridge. We quietly admired him for a few minutes and then loaded him on the cart for the haul out. With Dad still having his statewide tag, we wanted to keep any disturbance to a minimum.
All in all it's been a great season. I was able to harvest a couple does early in the season and then this buck last week. The highlight was shooting a doe (on video) with both my daughters in the blind with me. This marked our third season trying to get a deer while all hunting in the blind together. It finally came together on a hunt after school on Oct. 6. Surely a hunt I'll never forget. For now it's back to the shop getting orders filled and getting ready for Kalamazoo before the late season starts up. Best of luck to all.
Topic: Talltines and The Triple Play (Read 2433 times)
