htoutdoors
Member
- Messages
- 17
I am new to the forum and have been lurking most of the season. I am grateful for all the posts that have kept me motivated to keep trying and keep searching.
My story of this experience goes back to July of 2015. For sometime I have been been intrigued with archery hunting but grew up shooting rifles. I had never really touched a bow except the cheap ones up at Scout Camp when I was a kid. Other than that I had always wanted to get into bow hunting but didn't know where to start and was very reluctant to go at it alone.
I am an avid fly fisher and last summer I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at Reel Recovery which is a fly fishing retreat for men that are currently battling cancer or have battled with cancer in the past. During that retreat I met an older gentleman that was battling with a form of bone cancer if I remember correctly. We fished and talked all weekend about his love of steelhead fishing and bow hunting. It was amazing to me that here was this man in such pain but he was still kicking butt and out doing things that I have only dreamed of. He was a huge influence in me finally taking the plunge into the world or archery. That fall I put a bow on layaway. It took me a couple months to pay it off but the shop would let me come in and shoot my bow while I was still paying it off. Eventually I was able to take it home and I spent the next year practicing, studying, learning as much as I could about archery and bow hunting for elk and deer. I spent a couple weekends of elk and early deer season searching and was only able to locate about a dozen does. Elk season came and went and I worked hard all rifle season trying to find myself and some of my family members a deer. I passed on a few small two points but started seeing a lot of deer in the area we had been hunting. Since I did not have any vacation time I spent a lot of evenings after work and Saturdays glassing to try and find something bigger than a little forkie. The end of rifle season came and we were able to get my nephew his first deer. It was a cool experience to see him finally connect and then drag that deer all the way back to the truck almost entirely by himself. The area we were hunting has a late archery season so knew that probably best chance at seeing a decent buck was just beginning. I hunted several day during the opening week of the late archery season. The first two days we hunted I saw over a hundred does and close to 10 bucks. Two bucks stuck in my mind with a good sized 4 point being the one I thought of most. I figured I would try for the 4 point but didn't at all expect to actually have a real chance at shooting him. There was a smaller 3 point that I had three different blown opportunities at. I was never able to get closer than a hundred yards from the 4 point with the exception of him surprising me at 10 yards looking me in the face due to us cresting a ridge on opposite sides at the same time . I was getting pretty discouraged and was just about ready to give up and fill my tag with a doe so I could move on to finishing my kitchen remodel and getting ready for my third son to arrive in January. Saturday I had to work till four and was not really planning on hunting until the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I decided to grab my clothes and gear on the way out the door to work that morning and fought with myself all day whether I was going to go. If I did I would only going to have about an hour of light to hunt. The last ten minutes of work I decided to just go for it because I would probably be mad at myself for not going. I changed my clothes but did not put my boots on yet and figured I would just put my boots on when I got there. My plan was to hike up into a bowl that I had seen the smaller buck several times and hopefully get a shot at him. When I pulled in I spotted a group of does headed towards a watering hole at the end of the road. At the rear was the three point and he was pushing them at pretty decent pace. I jumped out of the truck still in my sneakers, grabbed my bow, left my hat, scent cover up, and backpack in the truck and hightailed it to the back side of the watering hole. There was a big berm I could hide behind and wait for the deer to walk past. I knew it was a long shot because the group could see me walk over there but I was getting desperate. The wind was not perfect but kind of a cross wind so it was slightly in my favor. A few minutes passed by and a few does appeared up on the hillside about 20 yards away. The 3 point never showed up. I was about ready to shoot one of the does when I heard animals footsteps in the watering hole on the other side of the berm. Unfortunately I did not think to draw my bow before I peaked over the berm and the does all spooked before I could draw, taking the buck with them. Frustrated that I blew another chance I started walking back to the truck and noticed a truck coming down off the opposite ridge. They had seen the deer and were trying to get down and cut them off. That was my plan as well but after looking up on the hill where the group had ran to I froze. I the process of all this, out of nowhere a bigger 4 point that made the 3 look like a yearling. The two started fighting and I didn't quite know what to do next. The little guy got ran off and the does where being rounded up by the bigger buck. Noticing the does wanting to head back to towards the watering hole I hustled back into the same spot and waited to see if by some chance that the buck would push them back right past me. Some how I was lucky enough to have them come right back to where I had been before but this time they were about 30 yards further up the hill. Several more minutes passed and here came the 4 point. I recognized him from when I almost walked right into him coming over the ridge. My heart was already about to beat right out of my chest before but when he showed up I just about passed out. Talk about buck fever. I've never had it that bad before. I took a few deeps breaths and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually he worked his way down within about 30 yards. My comfort zone with broad heads was 40 but I didn't have a range finder and anything past 30 I have a hard time judging the distance. At 30 yards he was standing broadside looking at me. I knew if I drew he would spook. He was rutting pretty hard had been smelling the ground and the does quite a bit so I said to myself if he puts his head down I am going to draw. He finally put his head down but when I drew the all spooked and took a few steps away. Alarmed I knew that this was my last chance. I released my arrow and he moved just as I did. I was heart broken. I thought I missed. A split second later I noticed he running back towards my truck and blood was gushing out his chest. I guess when I shot he stepped into my arrow and was hit in the chest. The buck ran about 50 yards and dropped. I could not believe it. I was so excited I walked back to the truck grabbed my pack with my tag in it and paced back and forth for about 15-20 minutes before I was able to calm myself down enough to walk over to the buck. I called my wife and told her I would be home sometime after dark. Snapped a couple pics and then realized I had only ever gutted a deer by myself once. I was in such shock I couldn't even remember where to start. Luckily the two gentleman in the truck, after unsuccessfully trying to cut the group off and get a shot, came by to check out the deer and they offered to help me out so I wasn't out here in the dark. After cutting my finger pretty good while gutting it, they helped me load up the buck in the truck and I was headed home. I was able to get the two gentleman's names that stopped to help. Jeremy and Jeremiah from Victor. I am so grateful for their help and if anybody happens to know them, thank them again for me. It is nice to know there are class act hunters out there still. After getting my deer home and hung up and skinned, I had to go out the next morning to the garage just to make sure it wasn't just all a dream. Now I know most people wouldn't think this is the buck of a lifetime but for me it is pretty hard to beat. The experiences I had this season with family and friends, and the time and work I put into finally filling my tag is something I will never forget. On a side note since I have not scored him yet and don't know much about scoring antlers, does any body have a guess what he scores?
My story of this experience goes back to July of 2015. For sometime I have been been intrigued with archery hunting but grew up shooting rifles. I had never really touched a bow except the cheap ones up at Scout Camp when I was a kid. Other than that I had always wanted to get into bow hunting but didn't know where to start and was very reluctant to go at it alone.
I am an avid fly fisher and last summer I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at Reel Recovery which is a fly fishing retreat for men that are currently battling cancer or have battled with cancer in the past. During that retreat I met an older gentleman that was battling with a form of bone cancer if I remember correctly. We fished and talked all weekend about his love of steelhead fishing and bow hunting. It was amazing to me that here was this man in such pain but he was still kicking butt and out doing things that I have only dreamed of. He was a huge influence in me finally taking the plunge into the world or archery. That fall I put a bow on layaway. It took me a couple months to pay it off but the shop would let me come in and shoot my bow while I was still paying it off. Eventually I was able to take it home and I spent the next year practicing, studying, learning as much as I could about archery and bow hunting for elk and deer. I spent a couple weekends of elk and early deer season searching and was only able to locate about a dozen does. Elk season came and went and I worked hard all rifle season trying to find myself and some of my family members a deer. I passed on a few small two points but started seeing a lot of deer in the area we had been hunting. Since I did not have any vacation time I spent a lot of evenings after work and Saturdays glassing to try and find something bigger than a little forkie. The end of rifle season came and we were able to get my nephew his first deer. It was a cool experience to see him finally connect and then drag that deer all the way back to the truck almost entirely by himself. The area we were hunting has a late archery season so knew that probably best chance at seeing a decent buck was just beginning. I hunted several day during the opening week of the late archery season. The first two days we hunted I saw over a hundred does and close to 10 bucks. Two bucks stuck in my mind with a good sized 4 point being the one I thought of most. I figured I would try for the 4 point but didn't at all expect to actually have a real chance at shooting him. There was a smaller 3 point that I had three different blown opportunities at. I was never able to get closer than a hundred yards from the 4 point with the exception of him surprising me at 10 yards looking me in the face due to us cresting a ridge on opposite sides at the same time . I was getting pretty discouraged and was just about ready to give up and fill my tag with a doe so I could move on to finishing my kitchen remodel and getting ready for my third son to arrive in January. Saturday I had to work till four and was not really planning on hunting until the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I decided to grab my clothes and gear on the way out the door to work that morning and fought with myself all day whether I was going to go. If I did I would only going to have about an hour of light to hunt. The last ten minutes of work I decided to just go for it because I would probably be mad at myself for not going. I changed my clothes but did not put my boots on yet and figured I would just put my boots on when I got there. My plan was to hike up into a bowl that I had seen the smaller buck several times and hopefully get a shot at him. When I pulled in I spotted a group of does headed towards a watering hole at the end of the road. At the rear was the three point and he was pushing them at pretty decent pace. I jumped out of the truck still in my sneakers, grabbed my bow, left my hat, scent cover up, and backpack in the truck and hightailed it to the back side of the watering hole. There was a big berm I could hide behind and wait for the deer to walk past. I knew it was a long shot because the group could see me walk over there but I was getting desperate. The wind was not perfect but kind of a cross wind so it was slightly in my favor. A few minutes passed by and a few does appeared up on the hillside about 20 yards away. The 3 point never showed up. I was about ready to shoot one of the does when I heard animals footsteps in the watering hole on the other side of the berm. Unfortunately I did not think to draw my bow before I peaked over the berm and the does all spooked before I could draw, taking the buck with them. Frustrated that I blew another chance I started walking back to the truck and noticed a truck coming down off the opposite ridge. They had seen the deer and were trying to get down and cut them off. That was my plan as well but after looking up on the hill where the group had ran to I froze. I the process of all this, out of nowhere a bigger 4 point that made the 3 look like a yearling. The two started fighting and I didn't quite know what to do next. The little guy got ran off and the does where being rounded up by the bigger buck. Noticing the does wanting to head back to towards the watering hole I hustled back into the same spot and waited to see if by some chance that the buck would push them back right past me. Some how I was lucky enough to have them come right back to where I had been before but this time they were about 30 yards further up the hill. Several more minutes passed and here came the 4 point. I recognized him from when I almost walked right into him coming over the ridge. My heart was already about to beat right out of my chest before but when he showed up I just about passed out. Talk about buck fever. I've never had it that bad before. I took a few deeps breaths and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually he worked his way down within about 30 yards. My comfort zone with broad heads was 40 but I didn't have a range finder and anything past 30 I have a hard time judging the distance. At 30 yards he was standing broadside looking at me. I knew if I drew he would spook. He was rutting pretty hard had been smelling the ground and the does quite a bit so I said to myself if he puts his head down I am going to draw. He finally put his head down but when I drew the all spooked and took a few steps away. Alarmed I knew that this was my last chance. I released my arrow and he moved just as I did. I was heart broken. I thought I missed. A split second later I noticed he running back towards my truck and blood was gushing out his chest. I guess when I shot he stepped into my arrow and was hit in the chest. The buck ran about 50 yards and dropped. I could not believe it. I was so excited I walked back to the truck grabbed my pack with my tag in it and paced back and forth for about 15-20 minutes before I was able to calm myself down enough to walk over to the buck. I called my wife and told her I would be home sometime after dark. Snapped a couple pics and then realized I had only ever gutted a deer by myself once. I was in such shock I couldn't even remember where to start. Luckily the two gentleman in the truck, after unsuccessfully trying to cut the group off and get a shot, came by to check out the deer and they offered to help me out so I wasn't out here in the dark. After cutting my finger pretty good while gutting it, they helped me load up the buck in the truck and I was headed home. I was able to get the two gentleman's names that stopped to help. Jeremy and Jeremiah from Victor. I am so grateful for their help and if anybody happens to know them, thank them again for me. It is nice to know there are class act hunters out there still. After getting my deer home and hung up and skinned, I had to go out the next morning to the garage just to make sure it wasn't just all a dream. Now I know most people wouldn't think this is the buck of a lifetime but for me it is pretty hard to beat. The experiences I had this season with family and friends, and the time and work I put into finally filling my tag is something I will never forget. On a side note since I have not scored him yet and don't know much about scoring antlers, does any body have a guess what he scores?
