I wouldn't call taking the world's smallest 6 pt. "thunder", but here's the story.
Jeff and I both took time off from work to hunt the best week of the season. This was my 5th morning in a row, and buck activity was increasing each day. We hunted another property Tuesday afternoon with a few deer seen, but no blood drawn. Wednesday morning Nook offered to have me join him on the farm he knows well.
You may know the feeling when someone takes you to unfamiliar property. You feel a little helpless due to not knowing the lay of the land, deer movement patterns, etc. Well I know Nook ALWAYS sees deer, and he USUALLY gets some shooting, so I had to trust him when he said he was going to put me in the "J" tree. He shined his light on the crooked tree, said "good luck buddy" and was gone. When I started climbing with my Summit Open Shot tree stand, I knew why he left so quickly. He didn't want to hear me grumbling about how to negotiate the tuns of the "J".
As daylight increased, I thought Nook was giving me a line when he told me how many deer had been shot from this tree. It didn't look like a special place, but like I said, Nook ALWAYS sees deer.
By 7:30 Nook had sent a text with a picture of his doe. I had yet to see a deer, and honestly I was a bit frustrated that he, once again, had action so quickly:) At about 8:30, I look to my left and see a deer walking down a farm road. I notice the "massive" rack on him and know right away he's a shooter (everything's a shooter when you hunt with Nook
) His path should take him behind me at about 10 yards. This buck is cruising, and he's walking steadily. When he gets to a shooting lane I bleat at him. He hits the breaks, but looks right up at me. Now this deer is not the sharpest tool in the shed, so instead of bolting, he makes a 90 degree turn and walks broadside at 10 yards. One problem, he won't stop walking and gets past me without offering a shot. At 23 yards he finally hesitates, and I shoot at him quartering away. The arrow hits low behind the shoulder, but it looks like there was no penetration. He runs off with that "hurt bad" look, so I had some confidence.
I waited 2 1/2 hours for Nook to join me on the trail. During that time there was another encounter with a one antlered buck that seemed interested in my grunts, but would not offer a shot.
We could not find blood when we started our search, so we started searching blindly. I was able to find him in fairly short order. When I back-trailed him, I found a good blood trail. I just missed seeing it when we started our search. The arrow did hit low, behind the left shoulder. It passed through and hit the off side leg bone, explaining why there appeared to be little penetration.
There you have it, the story of how Nook and I "doubled up" on November 11th. Thanks Jeff, it was a good day!
And for the other important details, this is my third deer this season with my Foley longbow. 53# @ 30".
Topic: 2015 Virginia Hunting Stories (Read 5461 times)
