Post by CopperHead on Dec 31, 2007 16:38:22 GMT -5
Sorry gents I'm a little late on this one. This hunt took place the Friday before the Virginia firearms season started. I had not had a chance to hunt much due to personal projects and work so I decided to take the Friday before the Virginia firearms season started to take a crack at the deer again be fore all the high powered rifles started booming. My morning started at 3:00 AM as I got out of the bed to shower. I had left by bottle of dead down wind soap in Virginia so i used anti-bacteria soap instead to shower with. After I showered I wiped down with dead down wind wipes to hopefully remove most of the dang perfumed scent of the soap away. As I was anxious to get in the stand the drive to Virginia seemed like it took forever. This was the first time the temperature had dropped below 40 that I was able to get in the stand.
The stand was in a pinch point not 60 yards from a state dirt road. There is small finer of woods about 30 yards wide that run up the side of the road an then into a thick patch of planted pines. The stand is in the inside corner of the strip and the planted pines on an old fence line. The deer tend to cross the road, move up the strip of woods and then follow the fence line down into the planted pines. Hardwoods line the front and back sides of the planted pines providing plenty of acorns for the deer in the early fall.
The wind was blowing and I knew I would have to keep my eyes peeled as I would not be able to hear anything. Around 8:00 I looked over into the pasture and saw two nice size deer jogging across it. Dang I thought to myself I should have sat in the other stand. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. Forty five minutes later I caught movement out of the corner of my eye in the strip of hardwoods to my left. Turning my head slowly I see antlers moving through the small opening in the branches. The fever starts to set in as I can feel my heart pounding and my blood rushing through my veins. My breathing begins to pick up as if where racing my heart to see which could be faster. I take my eyes off the antlers and focus on picking a spot. The buck steps out of the woods a short 18 yards away. The blowing wind has him on a trot. I grunt with my mouth to try and get him to stop even for a moment but he does not hear me. I draw my bow and try to settle the pin in behind his shoulder. No luck!! He is moving to quickly through the pines for me to get a good view of his vitals. I silently beg him to turn slightly and follow the trail that passes me 20 yards to my left. Almost as if he heard me the buck turns and heads down the trail. Still at full draw, I swing my Bear Truth bow around the tree directly in front of me so that I can settle my sights on the opening where the trail crosses in the pines. I quickly turn my eyes from the sights to catch a glimpse of the buck moving toward the opening. As the beast nears the opening I whistle as loud as I can in an effort to stop him. He hears me and stops for a moment. I settle the pin slightly high in his chest as he is a few yards beyond the trail. I am too late touching the release as the buck starts trotting forward. The arrow disappears high and back immediately in front of the hams and directly below the back bone. Sickness enters into my range of emotions now. I silently wish to myself that I hit the femoral artery and that he goes down quick. It takes only a fraction of a second for the buck to disappear into the thicket. The sick feeling most hunters know settles in the pit of my stomach. I sit quietly in my stand for an hour and then back out to give the animal the time he needs to expire. The highs for today was to be in the lower to mid 40s so I had plenty of time with no worries of the meat spoiling. A couple of hours later I returned with a few others to start the trailing. We found my arrow in short time and it was, to my relief, cover in blood. The blood trail easy to follow as I had indeed hit the femoral artery. The sign was thick on both sides of the trail. Shortly the bucks path started to weave back and forth. He never made it to the sanctuary of the thicket, expiring only a few yards away from its edge. The sick feeling had since left me as I knew the buck had expired quickly.
After finally having the time to examine him I was sort of sadden as I realized that this buck was only about two years old. He would have been a dandy in a few years. As I have stated before I am a meat hunter but this year things have changed for me. I am being much more selective in the animals I take. Could it be that I am maturing as a hunter? Either way I have loosed few arrows at game this year but as always have enjoyed every minute of my time away from the digital world, in a place that a truly call home.
Setup for this hunt:
Bear Truth Bow
Slick trick 125 Grain Mag Cut
Gold Tip 7595 28" Arrow
Cobra Green Mamba R2 release
