I'd been watching this buck on my gamecam out on my property for some time now. Of course, only at night or too early in the morning.
While watching the Seahawks Monday night game is when, for the first time, the deer show up during daylight hours.
Here's the most embarrassing part. The only reason I'm sharing is because I eventually got him. So, Tuesday after work, I'm setup in my blind(an old windmill) for a short while and a doe comes into the area. She sticks around for 30 minutes or so. After she leaves, nothing is going on. I hadn't seen my wife yet because she worked late. So, what do I do? Hang my bow up on a nail and take out my STUPID phone and text her asking if she'd gotten home yet. She replies and I text her one more time. Before I hit SEND, I look up and there he is! SH*T!!! As slow as I can, I reach for my bow and get it into position. He keeps looking in my direction every time I move, so this takes me 5 minutes with my arms shaking. As my luck would have it, his body is positioned with his chest facing me. I contemplated for a while on whether or not to take the shot, but I chose not to. He never turned, then it just got too dark. I had a chance when he first came in, but my *censored* was texting my wife!
I beat myself up all night after that.
The next day was rainy, but I still sat and waited. I saw a doe coming in from a far off field, but it was starting to get late. Next thing I knew, the buck I'd been waiting for came around a big tree ahead of the doe. A little doe was with him, thankfully, because when he turned to chase her off, I drew back. He got to about 20 yards and I let her fly! The shot looked good, then he bolted out of there. By the time I got out of the blind, I couldn't see him. I knew the general direction, but that was it. I figured I'd follow the blood trail. WRONG! There wasn't one
20 ft from where I shot him, there was a little spot of blood on a leaf, but that was it. The rain sure didn't help. It got dark fast, but I kept searching. I called a buddy over to help search. After 2 hours of searching, we found him. He was in some tall grass, but ended up no more than 100 yards of where I shot. The only blood we saw was the pile of lung blood on the ground that came from his mouth.
What a relief. Only then could I celebrate. WOO HOO!
This is easily my biggest buck and also my first archery buck! So excited!
Yes, I hunted with a bow during Muzzleloader season. I like to because the GMU I hunt in has a Muzzleloader late season and archery season does not.
•• Muzzleloader tag holders may only
hunt during muzzleloader seasons with
muzzleloader or ARCHERY equipment as
defined by department rule.
