Last day buck

[huntlines]

Last few hours of the 2011 season and I got extremely lucky! A big thank you to my father and son for their help finding and packing my buck out of a place I had no business being in. Lastly, but most importantly, a huge thank you and I love you to my amazing wife. She is not only beautiful but she is patient and understanding of a husband who has an addiction to the sport of archery hunting.

 

This year has been excellent to me, archery bull elk hunt and now I cap off the year with a literally last few hours buck. I truly didn't think I would fill my 2011 deer tag. I was not feeling it due to what seemed to me a slow rut. In fact I woke up New Year's Eve day and went back to bed. My wife asked me if I was going hunting and I said "aw maybe later I have a basketball game to go to." My youngest (12 year old) daughter had her first basketball game of the year and even though there were more games for me to catch, I decided I didn't need to miss this one. The rut wasn't really fired up in any of the places I was hunting. I had seen a little sign it was trying to but not like I would have hoped for this late in December.

 

So I went and watched my talented daughter play ball (she doesn't get it from me). She did very well and I was glad I decided not to hunt that morning. After the game I went home and shot my bow a few times, gathered my stuff and jumped in the truck. I then realized I had no idea where I was going to go. I had several spots but none of them had been giving me anything to get excited about. In fact one place had got so bad I hadn't been in there in almost two weeks. Even though some other places showed more promise I made a last minute decision to go back to the deserted spot. This was only based on a feeling the rut had to be going there by now….right?

 

As I made the long hike in I did see some hope things had changed. A few of the ridges I crossed had decent sign and some of it appeared to be deer chasing. I didn't see anything during the hike but hey it was noon after all. I settled into my stand at exactly 1205pm and figured I'd sit till dark being the last day and all. I wasn't in stand for more than ten minutes and here came a doe down the trail. She walked along as if it were September. Later another doe and yearling walked through. About 1220 it appeared two of the does that had walked by were coming back the way they came. They passed by me and kept going….no buck. Just then I heard something in their direction but farther up the ridge. It sounded like a deer running and as I watched sure enough here came a doe down the ridge acting like she was in heat. I kept watching behind her for a buck to be chasing. For a while there was nothing, and then I saw legs walking in her direction. Thinking this could be a buck I grabbed my bow and got ready. When he cleared the brush I was relieved to see antlers and a nice buck at that.

 

I only got a glimpse of him but it was enough for me to decide if he gave me a shot I would take it. He was now behind more cover and following the doe to my downwind side. Well at least I got to see some rut activity was all I was thinking. I figured either the doe or the buck would wind me before they got into a shooting lane. Luckily I had hosed myself down with cover sent and it did its job. The doe walked through the shooting lane without even a sniff but the buck was a different story. I came to full draw just before he cleared the brush and sure as heck he froze. He threw his nose in the air and stood there for a minute or two. It felt like forever but he finally decided something just wasn't right. He didn't blow and bust which I attribute to the cover scent. Instead he turned to his left and slowly started walking away from the doe. He was quartering away and at thirty yards but I needed him to enter the shooting lane. He did so just at the upper edge of the lane and I settled and released. I watched the buck, which was nervous, try to jump my string but he wasn't quick enough and the arrow disappeared in his chest.

 

I couldn't believe what had just happened on a day I thought would be boring. It all happened so fast I had to sit down and gather my thoughts. I then text my father and son for help in recovering him before it got dark. Even though the hit looked perfect albeit a little high due to the buck jumping my string, I decided to give him plenty of time. I was entertained by a spike and two point that were now running around the ridges chasing the hot doe that had become single due to my arrow. When I finally climbed down I found my arrow stuck two inches deep in the ground covered it bright red blood.

 

I was constantly side tracked from trailing the buck due to the smaller bucks chasing the hot doe. I finally decided to sit and watch the show because I had not seen a rut like this in some time mainly due to me filling my tag in September. When my father and son arrived I told my son to climb in my stand and try to get his first buck with a bow. Later we learned he had two very close chances at the two point, one at the spike and saw what he described as a "huge" buck while my dad and I recovered my buck.

 

One last funny note to this story. My father and I were on our knees looking over some blood I had found. I kid you not when I tell you we were kneeling there for a few minutes studying the blood and whispering that "he couldn't be far", when I noticed the buck lying in the brush we were kneeling by. I literally could reach with my left hand and touch him! If he would have been a rattle snake we would have both been bit. The buck died running and ran dead on into a manzanita bush.

 

After we quartered and loaded the buck into packs my father, son and I sat down and watched the sun set on the year 2011 with big smiles and laughing at the hour and a half hike we had in front of us.