Hello Gang,
 I don't get to post many Trad deer due to being a new Daddy in the last 5 years and at 49 years old about to adopt another special needs little girl that has clubbed hands and fused at about a 45 degree angle and the poor little girl has no thumbs and just turned a year old on Oct.28th. With our adoption coming close my hunting time is very,very limited while raising our other two little adopted girls named Ande and Kaci but well worth it..
Now on with this little two hour hunting story...
I just went and got my license on thursday and prepared for an all day hunt on Nov.9th Friday just to spend a full day under Gods great creation of leaves falling from some river birch trees and a few other scents of the Autumn air that we all love to breath...I packed my gear on thursday evening and sometime during the day I get this text message from my bowyer buddy "Mr. Lee Hoots" and he sent me a pic of a 8 point buck I think he just got on a Pa. trip with some friends this week..Well I text Lee back letting him know I was just getting ready for my first hunt of the year and probally not many more after and I also told him I was unsure of what bow to use...He text me back and said "the Hoot's of coarse" and I text him back letting him know he never gave me an official "Hoots Mojo" blessing..A few minutes went by and my phone rings back and the text read "ALL takin care of now good to go"  ...My mind was made up so I prepared my Hoots recurve which I was already intending to use...
Now Friday morning I'm heading to a farm that has a boggy bottom that black agnus roam with about a mile long branch that attaches to several other farms with funnels/fingers of hardwoods branching from a few other farms and all this is just hardwoods with some sandy,stoney stream beds running in the middle of this branch winding back and forth and can be crossed in some areas with knee boots ...The kind of woods those bucks like to hang low and travel...I looked for a Big river birch that blown over about several years ago but still had part of the root ball attached to the ground and right next to the stream so it got plenty of water to keep it growing and it was leaning about a 45 degree angle last year..The root ball then had about a 5 foot hole that looked like a deep cave and last year I thought about hunting that as a ground blind but never did..This year the tree had almost settled down completely due to a big wet storm we had in September and the recent Sandy Hurricane...The root ball was now about 8 feet high and looked like an umbrella with both sides covered and the top was like you were sitting in  an entrance to a cave with moss hanging over you..Now as I walked into it I noticed deer have been in there either drinking the fresh water that had settled down now or just getting out of the recent Sandy storm as shelter so I thought it's my turn ..It was so quiet in there and my view was a small hillside with a small stream bed in front that was about 10 feet or so across and the water 1 foot deep with small river sones as its bottom..The other side is a hillside and maybe 40 yards to the very top that stopped at a very big field and this was where I noticed a few bucks traveling last year and if all worked as I dreamed I would maybe see a few deer in the 15 /20 yard range walking broadside through here..I set my Huntmore 360 for a long day wait and had my Asbell haversack loaded with nuts,crackers and some jerky and a bottle of water to get me through the day...I got settled in and not 5 minutes I notice a deer at the crestline struggling to walk the edge..I noticed it had a very bad broken leg and the deer was a spike with a small body but it was browsing and struggling to take each step forward..I prayed right there that God would heal this deer as I watched him head out in the field..I then noticed there was some over hanging roots and dirt that would block a possible shot if one presented itself to my right so I slowly looked left then right and stood up to pull the mess out of my sight picture and as I was doing this I scanned the area for any deer movement and I noticed a pair of legs about 45 yards to my left and there stood a 8 point buck looking dead on at me in a stare..I stood still and hoped he would begin to move so I could reach my bow off the Huntmore and possibly prepare for a shot..As the buck started up the hillside and got behind a couple big trees I slowly retrieved my Hoots recurve and nocked an arrow and turned for a shot if he decided to come my way..Well he did start my way but he also was interested in that spike over the top out in the field and headed very slowly his way now..As he crested the top and proceeded out into the field I decided to quickly sit down and position myself for a shot as I did a snort weeze like there was no tomorrow ...Well that did nothing but make me cough and coug and cough and             well I needed to get a swallow of water from my haversack to clear my throat and cough and cough and cough some more..I decided to erase all that coughin with a grunt or two and as I returned my water bottle to my haversack thinking every deer from the east coast to the west just headed north... Then low and behold I see movement to my right heading my way and it was another buck..He was looking like "who is making all that racket over here" and he was starting to turn broadside and come directly in front of me offering a 12 to 15 yard shot..I began the slow draw as he walked  behind a 5 foot small holly tree and  as he stepped out I was now at full draw and released ...The arrow just missed at the front of his shoulders and he turned and busted up the little hill and turned back and stopped to check what just happened..He then looked my way then where the arrow just landed and began a chicken walk looking for that arrow and presenting me with maybe another shot..I slowly retrieved another arrow from my Anneewakee Slim Jim quiver and nocked another arrow..I thought he ain't going to give me another shot is he? Well he started back but just a bit closer and as he headed towards that first arrow and had his head behind that holly tree I drew halfway and said please God let this be a good hit and I drew and anchored as he stepped out..I focussed on his shoulder and released arrow number two....As he started up the hill again I seen I was just slightly behind his shoulder but a bit high and looked like alot of arrow hanging out and I was sure I must of hit the opposite shoulder blade..He began to stumble forward and over the hill he went but just inside the woods line ...I began to doubt my shot and replay the arrow dangling but thought hey at least the arrow will do more damage as he runs if the other half is still in him ... I never heard the crash and began to give him some time to expire....I then called my wife to give her a report but no answer..I called my buddy Bruce Golt but no answer so I waited...I then went across the little stream bed and pulled myself up on the hillside and noticed my first arrow laying to the left of the holly tree and then looked to see where the deer turned and where I last saw him on the ridge and I could see my other arrow laying there so I walked over very slowly to look at it and I noticed some bubbles on it and some blood on some leaves leading over the hill side..I took a pic of the arrow with my new cell phone and sent it to my buddy Bruce and proceeded to track the deer..As I was tracking my phone began to vibrate and by the time I unlocked it they hung up..It was my wife and I returned the call but no answer..She was in a morning meeting so I decided to track some more and now I was about 30 yards from where I found my arrow and as I scanned the trail ahead I noticed a curled up body and saw the form of my buck looking at me with his head up and ears back and legs folded under him like he was just resting..He was facing me the direction he just came from ...I was now about 20/25 yards from him and I got to my knees and stayed behind a tree to see if he was about to expire..Well I knew he was hurt bad and he wasn't getting up so I backed out slowly and kept my eye on him so he wouldn't bolt out of there ..I stopped and took my hat off and asked God to please not let him suffer much longer and I would give him another 45 minutes and come back and check on him if I could back out without spooking him..I went back and dismantled my huntmore chair and got a drink of water and replayed the morning hunt several times in my head and then just sat and waited..I then got up and decided to take the bottom of this hill that was a quieter route to check on my buck and as I scanned to where he was last I noticed he had fell over and slid down the hill about 15 feet from where I last saw him..I walked up and touched his hind with my bow tip and God had answered my prayer so I layed my hand on him and Thanked God again for his blessing and for a quick recovery...I then rolled him over to see where I did hit him and it was a little high behind his shoulder entering the lung and just barely protruding the other side and as I gutted him I found my Zwicky Cliff  embedded into the other rib and was able to work it back out and he had 63/4" of shaft and arrow tip embedded in him...Lee's blessing the night before did come through on my Hoots "Chocolate Moose" recurve...He's a 7 point and I was very pleased to just sit and enjoy this day and not expecting to see 3 bucks in a two hour hunt on the first day out...God is Good!
                 Keefers <><

Great story, I love your respect for the animal, for me thats the hardest part of hunting, the taking of the deers life! congrats!

 Congratulations.

CONGRATS!!! that is awesome!!!

Great read!

Congrats on your buck!

Bisch

   

Last pic is of my good long time friend who is like a brother to me and his name is Bruce Golt....He will help ya anytime anyplace and loves to use his dogs to help track if need be...He and I go way back since 1979/1980...  

You have some good Karma going for you ..... I'm not surprised :-)

Nice deer Congrats!! and I am not surprised either.Well done Sir!!    

The best of luck with those young ladies.

Congrats and what you are doing with those girls warms my heart. I hope all goes well with the latest adoption.

You have good karma and this was a gift for you.
Congrats on a nice one.

Congratulations Keith.

May the Lord bless you, your wife and your daughters.

Congrats Keefer. I am glad it all came together for you due to your limited time that you have for caring for your family. Nice pics and thanks for sharing. Now Keefe, we have to talk about one of those pics that you are in with that funny looking guy(LOL), I believe his name is Bruce(LOL). Glad you two could enjoy and share the moment together. Tell ole bruce I said hello.

 Tony

Nice

Congrats on your deer and your wonderful day.
ChuckC

Nice congrats on your succesfull hunt  

Awesome, good job.  

wow that is a nice deer!!!  
good job

Well done!

Well deserved buck, congrats!  

Way to go man!!  

Thank you all for the kind words about our daughters and the congrats on the buck...I was just very happy to "Sit Still" and know that He is God for a while and breath the Autumn  forest ..The  Time I got set up was around 6:30 a.m. and I was at the side of this river birch tree and things just didn't seem right so at about 8:00 a.m. is when I moved to the root ball cave and then 8:05 I saw the spike then 8:25 the 8 pointer to my left as I cleared that root mess from above my head and finally at 8:30 the 7 point and 8:35 the havest shot was takin...I was there just over two hours but with in a 1/2 hour time frame the 3 bucks were all in that area at once...Like I said and Tony knows my hunting time is a little limited for now and God did indeed shower me in blessings on Friday morning and I am very greatful for that time in the woods...Now Tony Bruce will probally go sometime with me but didn't Friday but he rushed over within an hour to help me drag and get him to the pasture and the friend that owns the land brought his big tractor to bring him up to the barn..I may send you that pick Tony...With Bruce's repaired shoulder and my severed right hand and repaired back we both  sounded like we were snort weezing using a deer cart just to get him to the field...Man we ain't young like we used to be 33 years ago doing this...