The drought is over

[Mangum]

Is been nine long years since I got to kill one of these little guys. Delicious

 

 

Ahh yes the story.

 

My brother and I found this buck during the January hunt but were not able connect. The does he was with kept him safe.

I knew the area pretty well and with some pre season scouting I found that the acorn crop was going to be a good one. So I found an area that was thick with oak trees and had trails crisscrossing all through it. In that thicket there was a perfect pine tree to climb with my tree stand. My plan was to stake out that ticket with the hopes that he would feed through there.

Opening morning came high with anticipation. That anticipation and excitement got me into my stand with an hour plus to wait for it to get light. As I sat there I had a most magnificent view of the stars, one that only comes with truly being in the middle of nowhere. The view was especially good because there was no moon as well.

I was snapped back into reality from my contemplative moment by the fact that I was freezing. On the way to my stand I had pushed a little too hard and sweated more than I would have liked. Because of this, 50 degree temps and little to no natural insulation I started to shiver uncontrollably and the sun was still two hours away from being up. It was miserable but I tufted it out until 6:30 when I caught site of movement off to the right. A spike was slowly feeding his way into the thicket I was in. It took him quite a while but finally he was 15 yards in front of me. So I slowly brought my bow up and came to full draw while he had his head down vaccuming up acorns. When I had the perfect broadside shot I put my 20 yard pin low on his chest just behind his shoulder and pushed on the back of my release trigger. Then I let down my draw. All the while he had no clue that I was there. He never did leave the area but fead and bedded there all day. Along about 9:30 the sun hit me directly and as I warmed up my body relaxed, my head fell forward resting on the front rail of my tree stand and it was lights out for about 30 minutes. I woke up to the rustling of leaves and four forked horns feeding about 60 yards out. They were joined by another spike and a doe. At one point one of the forked horns was 18 yards out so I drew on him settled my 20 yard pin on his body and just behind his shoulder, pushed on the back of my realeses trigger and let down my draw. I figured this was good practice for when the moment of truth came.

Finally at about 1:30 the fact that I only had opening week end to hunt, the rest of the time being already scheduled for other family events. I decided to just shoot one of the forked horns to put some meat in the freezer. I had three of them off to my left so I slowly brought my range finder up. First one 18 yards, second 25 yards, third 27 yards. The he biggest of the three was at 25 yards and I decided I was going to take him. So I pocket my range finder and slowly raised my bow. As I'm waiting for the right moment to draw from out of nowhere out steps the deer that I had been waiting and hoping for. He stepped right in between two spots that I had ranged earlier. Since he was between 19 and 23 yards as soon as he turned his head to look at one of the forked horns I came to full draw and settled my 20 yard pin just behind his shoulder. When he dropped his head to eat one last acorn I touched off my release and watched as the red and white fletching of my arrow disappeared in his vitals. Like lightning he bolted out of there ran 50 yards and stopped then after taking a couple of backwards steps he kneeled down then slowly rolled over to his side, one kick with his front leg then two kicks with his back legs and he went still. I've heard of people getting the shakes after killing a buck it had never happened to me before. As the reality of what had just happened washed over me I realized that my knees were shaking quite uncontrollably that affect continued upward until my whole body was shaking so badly I thought I was going to drop my bow. So I sat down for a few minutes to regain my composure. Shortly after that I was on the ground and slowly walking up to my deer. About 10 yards from him I stopped to take a good look at him. It was sad to see him laying there like that but I was truly grateful that God had blessed me with the opportunity to harvest this buck. The memory and image of that moment will forever be burned into my mind. After I had given him the moment of respect that was his I began carefully de-boning and making the most use of all the meat that was there. With a pack full of meat his cape and head and my bow in hand I was probably carrying atleast half my body weight if not more. The treck to my car was more than exhausting. When I did finally reach my vehicle I loaded up and headed for home. I would have to come back later to get my stand I just didn't have anything left in me.

Anyway that's about it. Hope you all enjoy. If someone is able to hack my post and flip these pics I would appreciate it. I've tried everything I can think of but they never end up setting the right way.

 

[DesertBull]

Nice. Congrats

[rossislider]

Great buck! Congratulations.

[wildwoody]

Well done

[AZHunter1]

Nice deer

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Congrats that's a beauty

[papa]

Great Buck!

[223VARMINTER]

Nice buck. Congrats!

[Flatlander]

Heck of a meat buck there!

[BOWUNTR]

Nice... Congrats. Ed F

[azruger]

Beautiful buck. You guys are killing me. I can't make it out. Congrats cool looking buck and congrats on breaking your drought..

[Redman]

sweet! nicely done!

[Bucks N Bulls]

Great buck to end the drought with, congrats!

[Eagle Eye]

That's a dang nice buck. Good shot too. Congrats

[Zeke-BE]

Sweet buck!!! Congrats. Mine was a 15 year drought and much smaller than that