Here's the storey folks. Hope you enjoy it.
Well I made to my uncles farm where I hunt around 4:00 o’clock after work. I had a quick chat with my uncle while I was putting on my hunting clothes. I usually walk the couple km’s back to my stand but decided to take the 4 wheeler this time. I loaded up my gear and drove back towards my stand. Not wanting to get too close to my stand with the 4 wheeler I stopped about a half km away and walked the rest of the way after hiding it in the bush.
There was a ton of fresh tracks all over the place since the last time I had been out hunting. A good sign I thought. While walking along with my head down I heard a ruckus and looked up to see a nice size doe jump out of the hedgerow and go bounding off across the field and out of sight. She looked as pretty as could be with the afternoon sun shining on her. I made it to my stand and climbed up into it, I fastened my harness to the tree and hauled up the rest of my gear. It was a nice cool afternoon with a sunny clear blue sky. It was still early, about a 5:15, so I poured a nice cup of tea from my thermos and settled in.
After a couple cups of tea I picked up my binoculars and started scanning the fields and hedgerows and along the edges of all the neighbouring bush lots. Not much happening but it was still early. Every few minutes I would pick up the binos and do another look around. It didn’t seem like I had been in the stand long when I spotted this buck coming out of the bush just to the north of my uncles farm. He was headed in my general direction which got me pretty excited but he was still a long way off and could head in any direction. I eased my Vortex down off the hanger and gave it a quick once over to be sure it was ready. Once he crossed into my field he started angling away from me. I expected him to make a big loop and come around behind me. He was still off a ways and I kept looking through a gap in the bushes where I thought I’d see him next. I was waiting and looking but he never showed up there. I’d lost sight of him. I started scanning left and right trying to find him while not moving around too much and get busted. I finally peeked carefully around the big poplar tree next to my stand and there he was about 50 yards out and coming straight at me. I couldn’t believe it!! Right away I started giving myself the stay calm and don’t blow it speech. He made to the hedgerow at the edge of the field and turned towards me. I could see him coming through the brush and readied my crossbow knowing he would soon pass right under my stand. A couple seconds later I picked him up in my scope as he came into my shooting lane. He wasn’t in a hurry and was pretty relaxed but he was walking at a steady gate. I was just getting ready to give him a little grunt when he stopped on his own about 16 yards out and slightly quartering away. PERFECT!! I quickly picked a spot just behind his left front leg while easing the safety off and let loose the Rage tipped Firebolt.
The bow jumped a bit and for a split second I lost sight of him. I found him right away in time to see him kick his back legs up into the air and take off running. He made a tight arc around to the right and right away I could see blood pouring from his right side where the arrow had exited low and just behind his front leg. I was very excited to see a good pass through exit wound. I kept my eye on him as he headed back the way he had come and watched as he went down about 60 yards away. A quick look at my cell phone revealed that it was 6:15. I was so pumped I to jump down (15 feet! LOL) and go see him right away. Instead I took a few minutes to collect myself and calm down then made a quick call to wifey to share my excitement with her. I also called my brother and let him know I got a buck as well. I finally collected my gear and lowered it to the ground, unclipped my harness and climbed carefully out of the tree. I got out my camera and headed over to where the deer was standing when I arrowed him. Lots of good blood on the leaf covered ground and I found my arrow buried about half way in the ground. Can you say penetration?? I snapped a few pics and walked over to the deer and snapped a few more. By this time the sun was starting to set so I knew I needed to get busy cleaning this fellow. I went back to the stand and gathered up my gear and headed back to the 4 wheeler, strapped all my stuff to it and drove back to where the deer was laying. I gutted him out as quickly as I could without sacrificing any fingers then loaded him up onto the front rack and headed back to the house just as it was getting dark.
Once up at the house I cleaned up the deer and myself while sharing my happy success storey with my uncle who was also very excited. Once cleaned up I drove the deer into the garage and hung him up from the rafters. The temp outside was dropping quickly which would help cool the deer quickly. A couple more pics and soon after my dad showed up to take a peek at my deer. Good news travels fast! We sat in the garage and enjoyed the crisp night and the star filled sky. We had a couple celebratory beers while I shared my storey with them.......about 14 times! LOL I was very happy to say the least to have arrowed a deer on my fifth time out to hunt my stand. I’ll be headed back this morning to take care of the cutting and get him in the freezer.
In a nut shell:
- Nice sized buck with a smallish 6-7 point forky rack.
- Excalibur Vortex with Rage tipped Firebolt.
- Slight quartering away pass through at 16 yards.
- Approximately 60 yard recovery.
It all adds to make one very happy hunter!! Thanks for reading this. I hope you enjoyed my storey. Jim
A view of the back field.
Good blood trail from the Rage broadhead.
Found the arrow.
Trusty Excalibur Vortex.
The happy hunter.
Headed for home on the 4 wheeler.
