2017 Archery Blacktail

[J.Brower]

With the weather change we had, yesterday was the day to finally get them moving around a bit more! I hunted the morning at a couple of different cuts watching impatiently to see nothing move, definitely a little discouraging to start. Decided to head up the mountain and see what I could see. I sat in a couple of more promising looking areas, again to no avail. At about 10:00 I decided to head back down as I had a wedding gathering to go to later in the afternoon. I made it around the next corner and noticed a face in the brush looking right at me! Quick check and it was a shooter, not big on the head gear, little forky, with a bit of velvet hanging on, but big enough body to qualify( That was my only requirement this year). Quick check with the range finder read 50 on the dot. About this time the fever kicked in, couldn't stay still for the life of me. Once he stepped out, I put the pin behind his shoulder and let it fly. The only problem was it looked as though my arrow entered 8" farther back than where I knew my pin was. Quickly in set the dread of doing what I had hoped to ever have to do, wound and track for hours. I decided to play it safe and wait it out for a bit before going to check for blood, all while beating myself up. I knew I was more than confident at 60+ yards, let alone 50. Trying to figure out what went wrong I decided to go find the arrow and blood and see just how bad it was. Found good clean blood which calmed me a little, but no arrow in sight. I followed drips and smears for about 80 yards and decided to back out as the blood was becoming less and less and didn't want to bump him. Headed home to give him a couple hours, wife and I went and said our congrats and watched the wedding ceremony all while this is eating at me. Grabbed a good buddy, and the 3 of us headed back up around 5:00. Looked and looked for the arrow again still to no avail. Made it to where I had the last spot of blood earlier (had been misty raining all day) and started our grid through the thick, nasty clear cut. Made it maybe 30 yards past where I had last blood and the wife yells HE'S RIGHT HERE! Yes, the buck had dropped 30 yards past where I stopped a few hours before. As soon as I walked up to it, I felt the biggest relief I had felt in a long time, knowing I did what I have strived all year to do, and strive every year to do. It was a good clean double lung shot, entering right where I had my pin when I let it fly. I still feel confident in my call to back out and give it time, although it wasn't needed. Then the work began, I won't bore you any longer with that stuff lol. This will be a hunt I won't soon forget, ups and downs all day, finally finishing strong! Here's a couple pics, it was raining pretty good so we didn't spend much time taking photos.

Sorry for the long winded post, but it was definitely a day I won't soon forget. Always go with your gut and play it safe.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Good eats right there. Congrats 

[h20hunter]

Congrats again. Enjoyed the write up.

[grundy53]

Nice work!

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[fishnfur]

Fantastic!  Love the BT archery success stories.  Thanks for posting!

[Widgeondeke]

Yum yum....congrats 

[lokidog]

 

[Milkman]

Not like winded at all man. We love ready this stuff 

[TVHunts]

Great job on the buck.  That will be a tasty eating animal !

[huntnfmly]

Congrats and great story
Thanks for sharing

[Wingin it]

Solid work, meat in the freezer and now plenty of time to chase some silvers! 

[stew pidasso]

Great job dude.

[kevinlisa06]

Congratulations!


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[JakeLand]

Way to go!! A blacktail with a bow  the ups and downs makes it all the better

[J.Brower]

Thanks guys, here's a couple more. I'm 6'2 260, it looks a bit smaller than it was lol. And the hole from the G5 DeadMeat, will definitely continue using them after seeing this... unfortunately I wasn't able to find the arrow to see how the head held up, but all 3 blades deployed and did their job quite well I would say!
And then the important part, the primes!






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[DaveMonti]

Very nice, and looks like some good meals ahead!  Blacktails are pretty tough to get with a bow!  Congratulations!

[J.Brower]

Solid work, meat in the freezer and now plenty of time to chase some silvers! 

I may finally make it out once or twice, but I still have an elk tag to fill and a bear tag I'm itching to fill lol.

[JDHasty]

Good job!

The mature bucks are still hunkered down, I was trying to hunt this weekend but can't shoot after the wreck so I went out and scouted all weekend.  Lotsa does and especially fawns out and about, but I never saw an antler until Sunday.  Normal years spikes and small fork-horns are fairly easy to come across, but not this year.  The apple crop on abandoned homestead orchards is practically nothing this year too.   

[J.Brower]

Good job!

The mature bucks are still hunkered down, I was trying to hunt this weekend but can't shoot after the wreck so I went out and scouted all weekend.  Lotsa does and especially fawns out and about, but I never saw an antler until Sunday.  Normal years spikes and small fork-horns are fairly easy to come across, but not this year.  The apple crop on abandoned homestead orchards is practically nothing this year too.

This was only the 2nd deer we have seen this year with antlers, I was expecting to have seen a few more than that, but with the weather we have had, I am feeling thankful to have seen the 2 I have. Both of them were about the same size, so no big guys moving up here either yet. We have seen multiple does every day though, some with and some without fawns. I didn't want to pass on too many opportunities with the crazy hot weather we have been having. Gotta take the chances when they present themselves lol

[Dirty Mike]

Congrats on the deer well done

[ghostshell]

congrats.... looks tasty...........

[Seahawk12]

Nice shot.
Congrats. 

[OutHouse]

Nice! Time to chow down on that guy!

I hunted some this last week, ended up passing on a fork horn white tail but seeing those cuts make me regret it a little. Oh well, have the MS tag so maybe I'll take him when the velvet is gone.

[J.Brower]

Dropped meat off at the butcher yesterday, half ground and half snack sticks, that will give us enough meat for the year, and some snacks for the next month or so knowing how fast those things go lol. This is the earliest I've killed one so far, and he had a ton of fat on him, should make some good burger for sure!


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[pope]

Good shot! He's going to be tasty. Thanks for sharing your photos and stories.