What at great day! After a week of solid rain, a high pressure system moved in Saturday night and I had a feeling they would be moving on Sunday morning. It was a crystal clear morning with no wind. Around 7:30 am I saw some movement. It was 10 pointer, but the rack was narrow. The buck glance over it’s shoulder a couple of time as I let it pass. I was hoping the large buck I hunting was behind. As I watched the 10 pointer walked out of sight, suddenly a Hawk appeared as it was flying at eye level right towards me. Apparently it intended to land on a 3 ft long dead limb right above my climbing stand. As I ducked down, the hawk pulled up an almost stopped in mid-air about 20 ft away. It then went to my right and did a 360 at eye level and then landed on a limb in the next tree about 25 feet away. For the next 5 minutes it barked at me like a squirrel. When the hawk flew away, I noticed a small tree moving back and forth. The area was so thick with leaves, I could not see, but knew it could only be a buck rubbing the tree. A few minutes later, I saw a large, very thick rack appear. Thing were so thick, I had to wait to have a shooting lane. When the chance came, my Exomax came through like a champ. I heard the distinctive sound of the arrow making a solid hit. It’s a sound you don’t forget. The buck shuttered and disappeared down the side of a steep ridge. Luckily, it was the right side of the ridge. The blood trail was unmistakable and after about 120 yards of tracking, I hit pay dirt!
The Buck had 12 points and 5 more atypical points of 1 inch or more. It qualifies as a 17 pt, but only 12 are “normal”. The taxidermist estimated the gross score would come in around 165 and it would weigh about 230 lbs on the hoof. The taxidermist took the head and cape to mount before I took the buck at the processer so we could not get the official weight. I just know it was the biggest body and rack I have ever taken! I have to chalk this up to luck to have this chance so early in the season.
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That's a RACK!