I have been hunting hard this season but until last week I had not taken my traditional gear out. Last week Ishiwannabe and Bowspirit came down for a few days to get some suburban hunting in and even Mcgroundstalker managed to make it up for a few hunts. The week prior to them coming the deer were everywhere but things slowed a bit by the time they arrived. We hunted hard and had some close calls but no shots until saturday morning. A large doe fed past my stand at 12yds or so. I drew, anchored, focused and released. I saw the arrow pass through her and I thought it may have been a tad low. She didn't even react at first. then she took a few bounds and stopped 20yds away. I nocked another arrow and as I started to draw she trotted off, but looked pretty wobbley. I could see my arrow covered in blood from the stand and texted Ishiwannabe what had just happened. we were sure she was dead but gave her some time. Bowspirit and I went to track her a bit later and found her piled up 100yds away, just past where i lost sight of her. it was a solid double lung hit.

 

Jesus man,  were ya dodgen Soccer Moms?

Great shot, nice deer...  Former Jersey guy, Bergen Co.

Congrats on a fine looking deer.

I was wondering when you would get to posting this.

An absolutely amazing time! So gald you made some meat with that new bow. The highlight of a very intense few days.

After my miss on the bodybuilder buck(yeah, I named him), I have been shooting a lot, and much better I might add.

Thanks again man, and good luck out there. I will add some pics as I can.....getting beat up by a three year old at  the moment.

Congrats on a great deer and a good shot.

Nice...maybe you should have picked up your trad gear sooner.....      

Great deer! (wish my beard looked as good as yours too....really) Phil

I have more of the story to come and I'm hoping the other guys can chime in with their own stories of the week. It's a shame we didn't take more pictures but Jaime does have a few.

Congratulations on a fine harvest. Thanks for sharing it with us!      

Congrats! Nice looking doe.

     Way to go sir!  Can't wait to read the rest of the stories!

I will add when I can. I have to gather my thoughts, upload the pics, and get some time behind the keyboard.

The words "and a good time was had by all!"....well they don't even capture what those four days were like.

Above my expectations, that is for sure.

great story, thanks for sharing

well saturday afternoon we went to one of the few public hunting areas nearby and all decided to hunt the ground. I found a spot that looked promising on satilite images and topo maps and headed in. On the way I encountered a nice 8pt chasing does, but it was near where i dropped bowspirit off so I snuck on by and kept going. 100yds later another 8 chased a doe across the trail in front of me. I kept on walking to the area I picked out and found a decent makeshift groundblind and dug in for the remainder of the afternoon. within a few minutes I saw a few does feeding about 9oyds away. I watched them for a while and saw that they all were looking behind them. I put up my nikons just in time to see a mid 130's 8pt run into the group. I grunted and hit my rattle bag and he came in on a string! Stopping 15yds away and broadside looking the other way. I came to full draw and picked my spot. Just as i was releasing he swung his head to look back, putting his rack directly above his vitals.....in athat split second of weakness the giant tines caught my eyes and my arrow went high rattleing through them! He turned to run and I grunted at him, he stopped and came back to 30yds facing me, looking to see what had just happened. He finally put his nose to the ground and walked away looking for love. I'm still kicking myself....I know better, but talk about a rush! I started making my way back before last light, figuring if i jumped anything maybe one of the guys would get a shot. I ened up having a spike trot past me at 15yds and saw at least 15 more deer in some phase of chasing. in total I saw close to 30 deer in just a few hour sit and missed the biggest buck I ever shot at in NY. I wish I tagged him but it was still an awesome day!

Been wondering how you were doing Greg...good stuff!!

Cool Story Greg.

Nice Doe!  Congratulations.

QuoteOriginally posted by Guru:
Been wondering how you were doing Greg...good stuff!!

I've been good....I had the training wheels out for waaaaay too long this season. from now 'till the end of jan, I'm longbow only. Now i know what it's like to rattle an arrow through a big bucks antlers too...

I'm hoping it cools down soon. These high winds and warm temps are making it really tough to stay on the deer.

We all know there are a lot of deer in Westchester County. Most of them aren't so tame as first thought. Simply "Rut Crazed" is a good way to put it! Anyway...

Our Master Guide Greg sent me out there with a hand drawn map, on a post-it no less. Had the little area of heavy cover (that I dig so much) with rock  walls, trails, ridges and land mines all factored in scale wise. So... I just did what Greg said and saw deer right away.

First was a buck out at 50yds or so. He didn't see me cause I was in the cover and he was out in the open. Took my time after him but no luck. About an hour later and in the same general area another small buck comes running down the hill straight at me. Bow is up, arrow nocked, deer 20yds broadside, head down feeding...... FEVER! SHAKES! Couldn't draw the bow!     As he walked into the thick stuff I tried to snake over the rock wall between us and got busted. Still a happy camper. Saw three doe waiting to be picked up before dark. Great day in my book.

Then came Saturday... As posted in "Does Almost Count For Something" Same spot because "You had action there and know your way around." Said my trusty guide Greg. (aka Hippie, get a hair cut!) Well, back up there real slow like and on a deer trail when a nice buck jumps off the logging road and onto the same trail as I. Head on at 20yds, no shot. Now down to 15yds and no shot. Cover between us at 10yds, head on, no shot. You guessed it, 5yds and still no shot! Now this fella is within TWO YARDS with a thorn bush between us and I think he might bite me real soon....... As he lowers his head to go under a branch between us I get busted and (he) turns inside out to get outa there! A shot at him in hyper speed missed and killed a tree.

Going over that chain of events tells me that timing was a big factor. If I were three steps ahead or behind on that trail the outcome may have been a lot different. Then again, I love the stalking bit so much, I'll just have to do it with an always ready attitude. ** Off To The Side Of Deer Trails For A Broadside Shot! **

Couldn't have been in better company. Thanks to Greg, his folks, Jamie and Chris for a great time.

Nice deer. Congrats.

Great deer! Sounds like you all had fun.  

I have the pics uploaded, but I am at work already. I will add to the storyline and post pictures later on today. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted my "trophy beech tree" photo.