Tennessee Deer Talk: Finally Connected!

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#2142707 - 11/02/10 08:16 AM

Finally Connected!

ghosthunter
10 Point

Registered: 11/30/04
Posts: 3446
Loc: chattanooga

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And it feels good! I haven't shot deer with my bow in 2 seasons and this was about to be number 3. It's not that I haven't had my chances but for whatever reasons I just didn't take some of the shots. Well here's the story. I actually saw this buck 3 times before I connected. The first time I saw him I was trying to decide if I wanted to shoot him while he's in the wide open and by the time I decided that I would take him he never presented me with a shot and he preceeded down to a crossing. So, at this moment I'm a little disappointed at myself. Well I shake it off never expecting to see that deer again and I was just hoping for a bigger one. Well, the next morning finds perched back in my lock on awaiting the nearby sunrise just think about last nights events and starting thinking about my greed to harvest a larger animal. I told myself that if I'm presented with another shot at that animal I'm taking it. I need to harvest something. Well believe it or not that buck comes through at the same crossing and gets about 50 yard away never presenting a shot. Now, let me back up the story just a bit. The first time I saw this buck I texted my buddy, who was hunting with me, that I just passed up a nice 8pt at about 22 yards. Well, 5 minutes later he calls me to tell me that he just shot one so now I'm really wishing I had pulled the trigger because I thought that would've been great to have a double. That next morning my buddy let me borrow is rangefinder, which I've never used, and that 22 yard shot I thought I had turned out to be 36 yards! I couldn't believe it. My judgement was off about 15 yards. It just looked so close to me. I would've no doubt missed or possibly wounded that deer. So, now back to the morning when I see the deer again. The deer never gave me a shot and now I know the deer likes to cross the same spot and I know that I can't judge yardarge for crap. $\:D$ I'm starting to face the fact that a long shot may be possible and in my whole bow hunting career I've never shot a deer past 20 yards and have never used any other pins on my sight. I did't see anything other deer that morning, but i knew 2 things needed to happen. One, was the bring my climber in and get close to that crossing and Two, was to shoot my bow with my other pins and use that rangefinder to aid me. After I did the shooting I retunrned to the same location where that deer liked to cross, which was a creek crossing, and found me a little whiteoak to climb. When I got up there I could see my lock on about 90 yards away and I started beaming everything with that rangefinder. I was still amazed at what I thought was about 20 yard really was about 30. Anyways with about 45 minutes of light I here that unmistakable rythom of crunching through the leaves and guess who it was. Oh yeah it was that same deer but now he's on a different path. I watch him walk about 10 yards from my lock on. At this point I'm thinking God is just torchering me. All I could do is sit there and watch in disappointment because he appeared to be heading elsewhere. Well he makes a sharp turn and starts my way a few yard and stops to make a scrape and tear a licking branch up. Now that's exciting to watch. When he finishes he continues on his route to that crossing, which is where yours truely is awaitig with anticipation. He slides down the bank and is just about to be within shooting range when I guess my thermals were sinking because he caught something he didn't like and he turned on a dime and quickly headed back up the bank and now he's on red alert! I've got one pocket to shoot through and I ranged that area earlier in the evening to be about 33 yards. I draw my bow back mindfully keeping my finger behind the trigger and pulled my second pin up on his body and settled it in the best I could then inched my finger around the trigger and found the cold steel with my finger and squeezed....My arrow sored through the air longer than I've ever watched it sore at an animal and right then I realized the true definition of archery because that's what the arrow did. I watched it sink lower and lower until the point of impact right in the boiler!!! It was a perfect hit. I watched him tear out of there with that front end broke down and heard the crash at about 70 yard away! After I settled my chattering knees I picked up the blood trail and followed it easily to my prize. Not the biggest I've shot, but a good quality buck and I'm tickled. After I made that shot I ranged it at 35.5 yards. My farthest shot. I'm definitely buying one of these little boogers. It really was the difference between a successful hunt and non-successful hunt. Maybe I shouldn't say hunt, but harvest. I was so far back in there that I just gutted him that night and returned in the morning to cut him up where he laid. I brought a bed sheet to wrap the meat up in and a cart to roll it out on. It was a great hunt!!!