Robbed, but tagged out.

[bojangles]

After getting skunked all the way around in 2015, i was more than happy to drop the string come January.

 

I found a spot that was maybe only a mile from the trailhead, tops, that seemed to be the happening place. I had another stand already in place, that was a couple miles in on another trail, but i could access it by a shorter route through private property.

 

So, a couple hundred yards in, here i am toting a tree stand, and all the gear, i bumped 8 does out of a draw. I looked long and hard at that place to put my treestand, but opted to hike further in to my original spot. 3 does and a buck were bedded in my original spot, so i decided to go ahead and hang the stand there. Another doe grazed 200 yards east of me, and when i got the stand hung, 4 more does walked by just out of range. It felt like a good spot.

 

Then it snowed. I had to wait a couple days till i could even get up to the trail head.

 

Meanwhile, i looked for muleys, but didn't see anything too promising. maybe a dozen deer, and a couple of smallish bucks that weren't in a great position to make a long stalk. One evening, when i was glassing for muleys, somebody broke into my old ford truck, parked along the beeline, and stole all my gear that was in the truck. This included a Gerber backpack, an Easton bag that goes to my Easton pack, my SKB bow case, and all my arrows and broadheads and tools that i didn't have with me. I think i had 3 arrows and 2 broadheads to my name at this point.

 

So, after the snow melted enough to get to the trailhead, i made the grueling hike through knee deep snow to look for tracks. My first tree stand didn't look too productive, it only had one set of tracks under it in the 2 to 3 day old snow. So i checked out the new stand. When i got to the draw where i'd jumped the 8 does, i found it was hammered with tracks. I continued on to hunt. Nothing.

 

I went back to my stand the next morning, and jumped a buck out of the aforementioned draw. From that point, i knew i had to put a stand in there somewhere. I saw a forkhorn 99 yards away, and that was it. So i dug through the shed and found another stand, a climber i rarely use. I got it all set up. It was a couple days later before i could make it out again. I got there at first light and climbed really high, maybe 18-20 feet. I got settled in, and a doe came in, her head to the ground and ears forward. I stood up and got ready, knowing she was in heat. I heard a buck grunt twice, but i couldn't find him. Eventually I could make out a large, grey mass under a tree. I couldn't see his head, but i knew this was a buck. He was pretty heavy, too. I ranged him at 50 yards. After a few minutes he began to walk, I could see his antlers above his ears, and could see they weren't big by any means, but would still be a legal buck. He stopped to nibble on a bush at 31 yards. I pulled off my glove, drew and let one fly. Crack! It sounded like i hit a tree. (i think the steep angle caused the arrow hot hit high) The deer jumped, and looked around frantically, but couldn't find me to save his live. I quickly drew again, this time with the last broadhead i owned, and held a little lower. He was probly 35 yards at at this point. This time i heard a Crunch! Sounded like a shoulder shot. (He was quartering towards me.) He lowered his head and trotted off. His trot soon became a limp. He stopped, and i thought he'd go down, but he didn't. He limped behind a scrub oak, and i lost sight of him. I prayed for that deer to go down quickly. I waited for 45 minutes, and got down. As soon as i got down, another doe came in. I stood still till she winded me from 20 yards, snorted and stomped off. I went to where the buck was standing, and sure enough, my first arrow was sticking out of the tree. No sign of the second. No blood, either. My heart sank. Not a drop in the snow anywhere. I looked down to the scrub oak that the buck disappeared into, and another forkhorn walked up to the oak, and stared into the brush, sniffing and tip-toeing around. I shooed the little buck on, and went to investigate. Sure enough, he had found my dead deer. The angle was so steep that i hit him high on the shoulder, and the arrow exited in front of the back leg on the opposite side, through his belly. My brand new PSE Premonition, maxed out at 70 pounds, shot a Gold Tip Vapor Pro, tipped with an Ulmer Edge straight through the shoulder blade and out the other side. He was so torn up on the inside, you'd have thought i shot him with a .300 win mag. But the food from his stomach plugged the lower hole, keeping blood from coming out, and the high shoulder shot was too high to bleed. When I cut him open, he was full of blood from the double lunger.

 

I bowed my head and said a quick prayer of thanks, and began the pack-out.

 

He's not a monster, but i am one happy hunter!!!

 

 

[bojangles]

i have no idea why that pic is sideways. maybe somebody can fix it? i'm tech illiterate. thx.

[AZ_SAWBUCK]

Holly Crap.....those PSE bows can kill animals! Guess I need to try harder with mine.......Good Job!

[Coues assassin]

Awesome buck! Fixed the picture for you

[wildwoody]

Nice sucks about theifs

[jim]

Great story it's to bad some crackhead needed a fix and ripped you off.

[turbo]

After the theft, a lot of people would have quit until they "reloaded" their quivers. Way to stick with it. On another site, a hunter missed in the last hour of Jan 31 at a mulie, but still stayed in those last gusty moments to arrow another mulie. Tenacity and patience rule the day.