8 pointer down

[PV216]

I first got pictures of this deer in October. I made him my target buck for this area unless I saw something bigger that wasn't on the camera. On November 3rd I passed a nice 8 pointer which was hard to do. I saw some nice bucks during the rut but nothing I wanted to shoot. Around November 11th is when I first encountered my target buck in daylight hours. Deer were ruttin hard at this spot. I saw him sneaking through the bedding area that I set up on about 40 to 50 yards away. He continued to bump does around that afternoon until he followed a couples does out of the thicket and into my shooting lane.

 

He eventually got to 20 yards broadside. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I drew my bow back, settled the kisser, and touched my nose to the string. As I tried to look through the peep, I realized I couldn't see. Somehow my string got twisted and so did the peep sight. I held at full draw trying to figure out what was happening. When I realized it wasn't going to work. I slowly lowered my bow and let off the string hoping I could adjust my peep quickly and redraw.

 

As I did this, my finger hit the release and my arrow sailed about 10 feet in front of the buck and into the dirt. My heart sank as the deer scattered. I was devastated. All the hours on stand and practice with my bow were down the drain. I knew daylight sightings were few and far between and I blew it.

 

The buck trotted off and stopped about 60 yards away. He didn't know what happened. I immediately took out my grunt tube. I let out several grunts. To my surprise, he started coming back. He would stop and look and then keep coming. He eventually got to 30 yards but I didn't have a good shot. The highs and lows of that hunt were unreal. I went to the range the next day and fixed my bow issue figuring I would only get a crack at some does the rest of the season.

 

 

Over the next 10 days or so, I had several more encounters with this buck but he would never leave the thick stuff. He would chase does all around but always stayed out of bow range. As the rut wound down, I knew it would be alot harder to kill him. I saw some nice deer over the next several weeks but nothing I wanted to shoot. This buck was still on my trailcam but never during the day. I had a few pics of him right at dark or just before sunrise but no more daylight encounters while hunting this particular spot. In fact, even though I saw him a lot during the rut, he only walked in front of the trail cam one time during daylight and it never took a picture. That was the day I missed him. I always kept it in the back of my mind that just because he's not on the camera during shooting hours, doesn't mean he's not there during shooting hours.

 

Opening morning of shotgun came and I was out at this spot with my bow. As sunrise came, I heard the crack of a shotgun blast somewhere on the property next to me. All I kept thinking was that they killed this buck. I know he's not a monster buck but I got a little obsessed hunting him. I just kept telling myself that if he's dead, I hope the person who killed him got as much of a rush as I did when I hunted him.

 

Monday came and went with no sightings of him. On Wednesday morning 12/10, I hunted another property in hopes of killing a doe for some meat. I ended up getting busted by a group of does coming in and at that point I just laughed a little and said to myself, maybe it's just not your year.

 

Wednesday afternoon, I debated on not hunting but I headed back to the spot with my target buck for an afternoon sit. I got settled in my tree at about 130pm. I didn't expect to see deer til about 345 if I saw anything at all.

 

It started to snow and I was completely ok with not seeing a single deer. It was a perfect day to just be in the woods. At 3pm I looked up and saw a spike walking through the thicket, followed by a couple small does, and behind them was another deer. They were about 50 yards away. As the last deer cleared some brush, I saw rack. I said to myself, could that be him? No way would he be up on his feet at 3pm in December? As he closed the distance, I got a better look and my heart started to pound out of my chest. It was him and he was at 30 yards standing just inside the thicket. The spike made his way out in the open followed by a small doe but the big buck didn't move. He stood there for about 5 minutes which felt like an hour.

 

He slowly starting making his way out into the open. He got to about 22 yards hard quartering to me. I kept telling myself you have to wait for a better shot. It was very hard to keep my composure and wait but I did. He eventually turned and at this point he was slightly quartering to me. I felt confident with this shot.

 

I drew my bow back and settled the pin. As the arrow sailed I saw the impact. It hit him a little low and a little far back. My heart again sank. I watched him trot off and outta sight. I waited about 30 minutes and climbed down to get my arrow. The arrow didn't look good. I wanted to look for blood but I knew I needed to back out right away.

 

I felt sick. Did I just wound the buck I've been chasin? I was really down and disappointed in myself. It was a long night but I got some help for the morning search.

 

We set out around 930am. We went to the last spot I saw him and found some blood. We followed blood for about 100 yards and it stopped. My friend located a bed with blood in it about 20 yards away. My emotions were crazy. I started to get cautiously optimistic. Over the next 50 yards we found several more bloodied beds. We stopped at the last bed to inspect the blood. When we looked up to continue tracking, my buck was laying dead about 10 yards away. The muzzy hit the liver and the buck went about 200 yards. The shot wasn't as bad as I had thought but I still think backing out was the right move. Words can't explain how happy I was. I know I don't look happy in the picture, but trust me I was. It was such an emotional roller coaster. I'll never forget this whole experience as long as I live.

 

[BowhunterNJ]

Awesome story Pat and congrats on a great buck! Was like being on the hunt with you!

Definitely the right move backing out, and could very well have made the difference in being able to recover that deer! Nice job!

[robnj]

nice one.. congrats.

[DBuck]

Great story and really nice buck... Congrats pat!

[TroutandBucks]

great buck congrats!!

[BHC]

great buck Pat, Congrats !!!!

[Rusty]

Nice buck, congratulations. 

[Tarhunt]

Very nice!

[runum n gunum]

Great Buck Pat Congrats

[Matty]

I can so closely relate to this story, it sounds like what I go through so many years. It can be tough and very frustrating to pass up nice deer, especially on public land, and then when opportunities come about, there's still no guarantee and we keep riding the roller coaster up and down.... but when it all finally comes together every once in a while, it's absolutely worth it. That buck looks like he was worth it!

 

Great buck, BIG CONGRATS!!! 

 

 

BTW, I would say backing out probably made the difference in recovery vs lost animal in this case. So good job on a tough decision. It's never easy to let an animal lay when you just want to get out there and find it, but often times it is the deciding factor. 

Edited December 12, 2014 by Matty

[Gruntmaster]

Congrats on beautiful buck.

Great story as well.

[Axiom]

great story man.. congrats..

[SJPTII]

Great write up, great buck.  Congrats!

[Bucksnbows]

Great story, I enjoyed the read.  Congrats on a great and well deserved buck!