BuckeyeHunter
11-13-2005, 10:52 PM
Being a Veteran, on Thursday 11-10, my Dad wished me a Happy Veterans' Day. Well he wished me a good one. I was heading up to NW Ohio to visit the in-laws with bow and treestand in tow, and a cooler in case lady luck shined down. I made it into my stand on Veterans' Day, 11-11-05, and jokingly on the way out said to my wife,"Eleven - Eleven, make a wish." Well I got up into my tree, saw several squirrels, and noticed I had a nice scrape line coming by, almost too close once I was in the tree, seeing that it came within 10yds of my tree. I first climbed to about 17', then after reassessing, I decided to climb a couple feet higher to make sure if he did come in from that side, I'd be just a little higher out of his view (Hopefully!!!). Well as the winds swirled, and the squirrels continuously made racket, I was nearing my point of shooting squirrels rather than deer, when I heard the familiar and ever so exciting rhythmic tromp through all of the Maple and Oak leaves that littered the forest floor. I picked him up from about 60yds. away, and he just continued to trot in like a "Buck" on a mission. What he didn't know was his mission was to be my biggest buck to date. He came into about 25yds and freshened a scrape, and while he was working the branch hanging down he looked right at me. I froze, covered part of my face ever-so-slowly with my upper limb of my bow, and then he just continued as if it never happened. I had the wind directly at my back and was thanking GOD that I'd used a doe estrous popper and dribbled it all the way to within about 5 yds of where he was cleaning the scrape. He again lifted his head, but looking in a direction about 30% from where I was, but along the path I used to enter the woods and where most of the doe estrous scent should be coming from, and continued on. This all occured over a period of about 5 minutes, but seemed a lot more like hours as often times many of our deer encounters do. So as he finished cleaning up his scrape, he took the time to squat a little making sure his urine landed right in the middle of the nice 3'x4' scrape, and moved toward his next scrape. HIS FATAL MISTAKE!!! As he headed toward a scrape just 10yds. from my stand, he passed behind a large Cherry tree, about 20" in diameter and gave me a "safe" opportunity to draw, and I did. He then cleared around the cherry tree and set up head on towards me and started browsing the ground picking up some of the biggest acorns seen in many years. He moved ever so slowly without a worry in the world, getting closer and closer to me. once he was about 14yds. Which in real time took all of about 30seconds though it seemed like an hour, I waited until he reached on front leg forward a little, opening the space between the shoulder blade and the spine, and let him have it. WHAM!!!!! 32" of arrown weighing just at 425gr. hit just to the right of his spine and all but the last 6" of the arrow penetrated. He flattened out jumped and ran albeit wobbly as ever, he turned and ran toward the river. I cringed, thinking to myself, "PLEASE DON'T MAKE IT TO THE RIVER!!!" And again a wish was granted in what seemd again like an eternity, he crashed!!! Just 45yds from my stand lay a nice 4 1/2 yr old 8 pointer. What was truly amazing is that I shot him straight through the heart, (will post pictures) and never damaged either lung, except for the severed pulmonary artery which was no longer supplying unoxygenated blood to the lungs, but filling the chest with it. My wife came out to help be take picture and to help drag a little, and even she saw the lungs without a "nick" on them. Totally amazing that an arrow with a 1 1/8" cutting diameter could pass through the chest from top to bottom and not even damage the lungs. I am yet to put a tape to him, but I'm guessing he around 115-120ish, just "guestimating." Not a B&C, but certainly a nice deer I was proud to put my tag on.
Doug
Doug