....well, so far the Matrix 380 had not let my boys and me down with Anthony shooting a nice eight
and a doe and Christopher 
shooting a monster 8 (for NJ)...and dad opening up the early season with some freezer meat 
...but Angelo has been skunked 
...we have been ribbing him incessantly...not only has he been skunked but he has missed twice with his "Nopointer Compound Crossbow." 
....so yesterday morning I was out with Angelo and our uncle and of course my brother in law has to climb the mountain all the way up to 3 steps below heaven
...I go to my spot somewhere in the "purgatory" region and the action starts with in a half of an hour when the small game shooting started down below and across the river.......six or seven doe (no bucks) came running up all spooked and at attention....I have a "doe" to my right about 40 yds away marching around me right below me. I can see "her" tail up but "she" won't go away..."she" stayed just out of shooting range and below me for about 15 minutes...I thought to myself "she" is picking up the "buckbomb doe estrus" scent I had sprayed on some of the tree branches....
....finally one of those doe that had run up the hill and were on the next ridge above me snorted and I thought for sure my "doe" would be bolting soon...I decide at this point if "she" comes up a little and gives me a clear shot I am gonna take it....well "she" does...."she" comes up to my level staring at me in my blind....then starts walking again along the ridge....
....I raise my 380 and point to an opening that I know is 30yds...there "she" is...quartering slightly to me...I let go an 18" ZS with a Spitfire up front and a Lumenok lighthouse in the caboose. "WHACK", I saw the lighted arrow disappear....."she" runs about 50 yds and takes "her" dirt nap....
....would "NEVER" have found my arrow but for the Lumenok brightly shining and barely sticking out of the leaves....fully coated in the liquid of life....Spitfire blades fully deployed looking like 3 little kids saying, "daddy, did we do good, did we do good, hah, hah, hah?".....
....upon getting to "her" I see the exit hole right in front of "her" back leg...entrance hole, according to the autopsy report was a lung shot...those Spitfires sure leave their mark.... beginning the process of "field dressing" I notice a little "package" on its bottom near the rear....and said, aha! as I felt the skull...my doe was a "button buck"....now I know why he stayed around the estrus smell....
....well thats 5 for 5 with the Matrix 380 for the Romano's (clearly in the lead) and my brother in law is feeling the pressure of possibly going skunked during a bow season....
....by the way...he stayed over our house and left real early to go out hunting!....hehehehehehe!....He just texted me some excuses about relieving himself, and if he was standing instead of sitting, and if he was three trees over.....
The freezer is now full!
Anthony
PS:...this is all in good fun...and makes for a good time over the Thanksgiving table...A FAMILY THAT HUNTS TOGETHER HAS A LOT OF GREAT MEMORIES TOGETHER!
