Trad Gang

Tease!

I'm hooked.....

So as he turned broadside I just couldn't take it, all the thoughts and plans for the year, different stand sites, anticipation for the end of October/1st of November........
The last thought through my head was "you'll won't this one back if you don't shoot"......

So I shot   :archer2:

The string slip from my fingers and the arrow hit right where I was looking, arrow half way to the fletch and he wheels and runs back the way he came.

Wait, is the arrow too far back?
As he turned and ran it looked to be high back lungs....
Why didn't I get a pass through?
Wait and listen.......  
Silence....

Did that just happen?!?!?!

Text my buddies, "think I just filled my buck tag"   :goldtooth:

:campfire:   :campfire:

The suspense is killing me!!


Nick

Must be picking out a place to put the mount.   :biglaugh:

So now I know a couple of things,
He looked to be a 9 point, his whole body and rack seamed to have a deep brownish/rust color to it, I think he's a nice 2 1/2 year old, but it happened so quick........

I get down and snuck over to the shot then over to where he disappeared into the Black Hole.
At the entrance I spot the first blood, looks good, then more....
A couple steps through to the other side and I see my arrow, or what was left of it.  3 inches of the business end was missing   :confused:
175gr VPA plus 1 1/2" footing, looks like it busted right at the back of the footing.
Good blood on the arrow with bubbles   :thumbsup:

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:campfire:  

Man... I thought I made people wait a long time for the pics    :biglaugh:

Can't wait to hear (and see) more!

I back out and walk back to the house to regroup and get the boys to help track.

We wait an hour and head out......

Decent blood at the arrow but is almost nonexistent after that,
Higher hit with no exit so it was to be expected.
We went about 20 yards and then backed out....
Now I pray that the coyotes that I heard a ways off earlier won't find my deer before the morning      :thumbsup:

Good grief already ..... this wait is killing me!!

Cant wait to see pics in the a.m. when u find him!!

We were up and out looking at 7:30 and even with good light we still only found a couple more specks of blood and so we walked down the grass swath knowing that at the end of it he'd have to go one of two ways, I got to that point and didn't see any sign at the one opening but as I glanced at the other one to my left I see a white belly   :goldtooth:

I take a couple of steps back and tell David to go check the second opening, William who is closer to me glances the direction that I point out to David and says to me " Papa, it looks like there's a house over there", "a house" I say?
"Ya, there's somthing white over there"......
David takes a couple steps forward and looks at William and says "that house has Antlers on it"!!!!!!!!!

  :biglaugh:

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I'll check back tomorrow, hopefully to hear and see
Your deer. Thoroughly enjoyed your hunt too.
Thanks for sharing it with us.

Good luck in the morning!!!!!

Here he is!
Went less then 100 yards and likely dead in under a minute.

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He turned out to be bigger then I thought he was!!!!
And he was actually a 6 X 4 with a couple of character points   :thumbsup:
He's older then I thought!  


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That is a really nice mature buck there. He gets my attention pretty quickly, as Older bucks are my passion! Great deer, congratulations!

Nice buck, Ben!  Great to have the family involved in the recovery!

Nice start to your season. Congrats, that's a great buck.

Nice buck, congrats

Very nice congrats

Very nice deer! How high up was you?   :biglaugh:

Wow, great buck!  You had to think twice?!

Ended up being a better shot then I thought!

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Lodged in the off shoulder, double lung!

We took our time taking pics and enjoying the moment then headed back to the house to show him off!

Here's the hole crew plus a couple of cosines, everyone was excited!!!!

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Then the boys and I got to work!

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Lots of good meat off this guy!!!!

For those who like the stats.....

47# Black Widow PTF
5575 GT Trad Blems tipped with
175 gr VPAs
11 scorable points
Rough score, 148"
Weight is unknown but he was Heavy!

Glad I decided to shoot   :archer:

Great buck.   Congrats.   Great shot.

Real nice buck. And good shot.

Awesome deer Ben!!!!

Congrats on a nice one !!!

BENJI!!! Awesome man! That did happen quick. But you kept us in suspense! Awesome job brother.    :thumbsup:

Superb harvest...congrats!

Great story and congrats on deer!!

Nick

Congrats on a great buck and your trackering team.

Nice Buck Congratulations

You were right...you would have wanted him back. Funny how sometimes it happens so fast and unexpectedly. Congrats.

Great job Ben!  I know it is early but wow, that would be very tough to pass up!  Congratulations.

Beautiful Buck Ben!!  Great story congratulations!!

So very cool!  Love the family pics and the two young folks skinning. Congrats!

Very nice buck!

Well done on a very nice buck!

SWEET !! way to go man!  :thumbsup:

Great buck!!I love how the kids are involved way to bring em up right  :clapper:

Well done........   :thumbsup:

Great job, congrats on an awesome buck!    :clapper:

Great shot...great deer.

thanks for sharing!

Well done Ben  :notworthy:

Very nice buck! Congrats!

Way to go!

Heck  of a deerman congrats

That's a heck of a 2 1/2 yr old buddy    :bigsmyl:  

Congrats! Loved the story and picks, as always the kid picks are great    :thumbsup:    

Tracy

Congrats on a great buck and family experience!

Congrats!!!!    :clapper:

WOW!!!!! He's a Bute!
So happy for you!!
A hearty Congratulations!!!!!

QuoteOriginally posted by Matty:
BENJI!!! Awesome man! That did happen quick. But you kept us in suspense! Awesome job brother.     :thumbsup:  

Thanks Matty   :thumbsup:

QuoteOriginally posted by Bill Carlsen:
You were right...you would have wanted him back. Funny how sometimes it happens so fast and unexpectedly. Congrats.

Yep, he totally took me off guard, but glad I regained my composure long enough to slip an arrow into him   :goldtooth:

Thanks!

QuoteOriginally posted by KAZ:
Well done Ben   :notworthy:  [/QUOTE

Praise God Indeed!

  :campfire:

Thanks all for the kind words, having the kids involved just brings such a fresh dynamic into a hunt that I can remember having when I was there age.

Irreplaceable, especially in this day age    :campfire:

Nicely done on all accounts!!!

Great surprise!!

Nice work!  He's a great buck.  

Sometimes I think with all of the trail-cams and media hype about killing giants, our views can get distorted.

You have to pass young deer to get old deer, but at some point, I'm not just in this to watch deer walk around.  I like to fling an arrow once in a while!

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

Great job, that's a brute for sure, congratulations!
-Jay

Nice, Congrats!!

QuoteOriginally posted by CoachBGriff:
Nice work!  He's a great buck.  

Sometimes I think with all of the trail-cams and media hype about killing giants, our views can get distorted.

You have to pass young deer to get old deer, but at some point, I'm not just in this to watch deer walk around.  I like to fling an arrow once in a while!

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

Cams are a awesome tool but not needed, if I just flung arrows my season would be over in just a couple hunts. Not much challenge or fun to that. Out smarting a 4+ year old buck on his own turf free range no feeders is a challenge and takes a lot of skill and woodsmanship. My average shot distance is 12yds on all my deer over many years.

Sorry, didn't mean to high jack the thread.

Tracy

I agree Tracy.  My best friend will only hunt specific deer.

I just went through a phase where I thought I had to pass anything that wasn't a wall-hanger, but I realized (with the aid of trail cams) that where I hunt, just finding a good three-year-old is an accomplishment.

I apologize if that sounded like I thought there was something wrong with passing up deer.  Part of the reason my first trad buck was just harvested Friday was because I've passed several younger deer.

Congrats again on your harvest Ben!

QuoteOriginally posted by K.S.TRAPPER:

QuoteOriginally posted by CoachBGriff:
Nice work!  He's a great buck.  

Sometimes I think with all of the trail-cams and media hype about killing giants, our views can get distorted.

You have to pass young deer to get old deer, but at some point, I'm not just in this to watch deer walk around.  I like to fling an arrow once in a while!

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

Cams are a awesome tool but not needed, if I just flung arrows my season would be over in just a couple hunts. Not much challenge or fun to that. Out smarting a 4+ year old buck on his own turf free range no feeders is a challenge and takes a lot of skill and woodsmanship. My average shot distance is 12yds on all my deer over many years.

Sorry, didn't mean to high jack the thread.

Tracy [/b][/QUOTE


I hear what your sayin Tracy, but I hope to never be in that camp   :archer:

Good for you.  Love the picture of your boys helping with the "cleaning".  Had my son doing that last year and he mentioned "I really like this part."  Good for you dad!

-Jeremy   :coffee:

Great pics before he was gutted.  Congrats!

that is a great buck, I wouldn't be bummed that my season was with a buck like that on the ground!

great buck , congrats!

QuoteOriginally posted by LITTLEBIGMAN:
that is a great buck, I wouldn't be bummed that my season was with a buck like that on the ground!

Not bummed at all Jim, supper pumped!!!!!
Hunt #2 of the year, first deer in shooting range,
Anticipation and build up of a hunt is a huge part of the experience for me and I was doing a little scrambling in my mind as he came in is all.

Fun hunt that ended with a stud buck and an experience with my boys that we won't soon forget    :thumbsup:

The Lord Is A Great Provider for sure..Congratulations..

QuoteOriginally posted by Keefer:
The Lord Is A Great Provider for sure..Congratulations..

Indeed he is Keith   :thumbsup:

Fantastic story! Great shot on that buck.    :thumbsup:

Very nice, congrats!!

That's one nice surprise!! Congrats! I always enjoy your posts

Wow, great buck, many congrats!!!

Congrats, I'm glad you took the shot I think you might have been kicking yourself later.  Way to get the kids involved

QuoteOriginally posted by tracker1:
Congrats, I'm glad you took the shot I think you might have been kicking yourself later.  Way to get the kids involved

Me too Tracker   :archer:

QuoteOriginally posted by Michael Arnette:
That's one nice surprise!! Congrats! I always enjoy your posts

Thanks Michael,
I'm looking forward to the buck your going to tip over this year   :thumbsup:

Ben,
 Congrads on a DANDY buck !!! Nice shooting ,story tellin & picture taking.

What a super buck!  I would be very proud of that guy! Nice story and great pictures including your family!     :clapper:

Bernie

Great buck.  Great shot.  Great pics.  Awesome family!!!  Congrats!!!!

NICE BUCK BEN!!!!!

Great Buck Ben, thanks for the good story as well!

Denny

Congrats!! Woo!  Good to get all involved, I hope to do the same with my boys someday!  So happy for you!!  Great Job!!

Awesome!!!!! On all accounts, Congratulations

Well done all around.  I am glad you shot!!!

Excellent buck ...congrats...looks like you'll have plenty of hunting partners in the near future.

:thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

Great deer! Congrats!!!

Awesome buck and story! Congrats!   :thumbsup:

:clapper:     :clapper:    :clapper:    :clapper:    :clapper:

:bigsmyl:     :bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:

:jumper:     :jumper:    :jumper:    :jumper:

Wow! nice buck!

Thanks All!
Still pinching myself   :thumbsup:

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This to me is what its all about....

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It wont be long and Ill be holding up ones that they have shot   :campfire:

Congratulations! Loved the pics and story.