Free: Contests & Raffles.
The evening of the 12th saw me sitting in my stand by some apple trees, watching a 120 class 4x5 gobble them up, for the past 4 evenings he would come in about 1900ish and leave just before dark and return during the night with my obsession. During the cover of darkness the play fighting on the cam was intensifying. I figured the next five days would be my best opportunity at my obsession, the Deer cast lunar calendar had it marked as the best days for the month. At about 19:35 that evening, as mentioned the 4x5 became alert, a big maple right in front of me slightly left blocked my view, of the direction he was looking. Then he leaned forward like he was sniffing something, I leaned hard to my right to see what he was seeing, and bingo. The 4x5 and my obsession were more to nose. The pushing and shoving ensued, my heart raced. I closed my eye to gather my thoughts. The clinking of antler stopped. I opened my eyes heart racing, to see the 4x5 had retreated in my direction. My obsession quartering slightly away, looking back at him. I came to full draw settled my pin, not thinking he was probable seeing me as the 4x5 was just stand feet from my tree, the arrow loosed, he dropped and spun 180 degrees toward me. The nock glowed and my heart sank. I thought I hit him high behind the shoulder, arrow snapped, showing 5” still inside of him and 5” of blood on the shaft. Thinking maybe an outside lung. No exit hole. I left the area, sticking my broken arrow in the ground at first blood. Ran over to a friends gathering him up, and we began blood trailing. We tracked him until mid night when we heard him bounce, never bedding down. We backed out, and I returned at 6:30 am. I lost blood at an old skidded road, after some time of extensive searching. I started using onyx on trail and starting a grid pattern of searching. At 4pm my buddies son, a blood hound came to help. I showed him the grids I had completed and the ridge I was going to next, he went to the last blood. Right at dark he called me saying he thought he found a speck of blood heading up to a different ridge. We pulled out. The next morning I had to be at work, it had been 36 hours since the shot, my buddy was elk hunting and after his son called him, he had a good idea of where he might be, have extensive knowledge of the area while shed hunting, and finding big buck beds. My work day ended the phone rang. And he asked where I was, he told me to meet him at his house. I said I needed to go home and change, he replied, no time for that. I have an hour, then going to watch kids football game and back to elk hunting. We walked in from a different direction toward the beds, and the buck stood up, the shot this time was true. When shot the first time while he spun my arrow hit him in from of shoulder driving back into outside shoulder. Sorry for attire. But he was not wasted. My heart is at ease
Hunting buddy put the arrow where it needed to go this afternoon
