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I have had little time to chase deer this year but my son Luke and I headed down to Deer Creek Traditional Club (Central Georgia) last week. I have hunted the property for several years so there is really no reason to jack things up by walking around much. I knew that the bucks would be slow dogging the does and just where I needed to be to get some action. On the first night a few does came to my white oak but the only suitors to show up were a couple young bucks.
The next morning I had similar luck and decided to check a break line that normally had scrapes at the entry point to the ridge. Sure enough, the entry point was littered with scrapes and rubs. About noon as Luke was starting his lunch time nap, I rousted him and said the bucks are going to be on their feet all day and told him we needed to be in the trees.
I had been in my tree less than 20 minutes when the sound of a running deer came to my ears. I was sitting down with my bow on a hook which is something I just don't do. I looked up the ridge to see a buck RUNNING dead at the scrape that was 7 yards away. He looked wild eyed and had a cool drop tine sticking out on his right side. He skidded to a stop at the base of my tree and bristled as he approached the scrape. I had set up for this shot and thought this is going to be good. Quartering away at 7 yards.... I can make this shot, lol.
Then, things went sideways. I had pulled a smaller tree over to break my outline and tied it to my stand This made shooting nearly impossible in that direction. I had broken off a limb and tucked it into the mix but it had fallen to the ground. As the buck neared the scrape he got a whiff of that limb and bristled up. All I needed was a single step more and it was going to be lights out. Unfortunately he turned hard left and began to walk directly away from me. The tree top I tied to the stand was completely blocking the shot but I had nothing to lose by pushing the bow into the brush and desperately trying to find a hole big enough for my broadhead to fit through along with the string tracker.
I located a spot the size of a lemon and grunted loudly to stop the buck. The angle of the deer and height made my point of aim at his hips right beside his spine to angle into his vitals. At the shot, there was little doubt that he wouldn't go far as I had obviously severed and artery. I was in open hardwoods and I knew I would watch him fall. The sting tracker buzzed as he ran to the top of the ridge and looked back down on me. He looked away and slowly sagged to the ground. As he did another buck came busting onto the ridge to challenge him. This buck was smaller but had a WILD eye for a fight. He was so jacked up I could not make him leave. I think I could have smacked him with a stick.
I had initially thought that the drop tine was caused by an injury but as I approached him I realized that it was a genetic trait. We had seen and filmed him the year before and his rack was nearly identical albeit a bit smaller. Luke had passed a shot at the buck at 15 yards due to a limb being in the way last October. He had recently lost an eye in a fight and showed puncture wounds from a battle with another buck.
He was a handsome buck with a chocolate rack. I felt very blessed to have had the encounter. Not sure why he came charging into that scrape so aggressively but I will never forget that moment he came barreling down that ridge.
Thanks for taking the time to read the story and good luck to everyone from here on out.
I used a Black Widow PSAX 51@ 28 and a stinger head. A special thank you to Chad Orde for the awesome looking string tracker cover. This was the first time I have had a chance to use it on deer.
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Topic: Deer Creek Tradbow Hunt Club Buck (Read 672 times)
