The plan worked... sort of! (pics included)

[CoachBGriff]

I love it when a plan comes together!

About two weeks ago, we got a cool front here in Missouri, so I headed out to one of my favorite stands.  I thought the deer would move early, and sure enough, with almost an hour and a half of daylight left, I had 3 does walk by just out of recurve range.  

I sat patiently the rest of the night.  With light dwindling, I climbed down.  As soon as my feet hit the ground, I looked up, and across the field, I watched a good buck step out of a small patch of cover around the base of a pond dam.  He then slowly started making his way towards a small draw that necked down close to the pond dam patch.  My night was over, but I filed that info away for another night.

Thursday, I saw that we were getting another cool front for Friday, and the wind was going to be perfect to hunt from the edge of the finger that ran by that buck's bedding area.

...

[CoachBGriff]

So after rushing home from school (I'm a teacher), I set out with a hang-on and some buck-steps.  I got in fairly quietly and hung the set.  Everything seemed perfect... except I proceeded to sit there all evening with not a deer one entering the field.

Finally, with about 30 minutes left of legal shooting light, back in the dam-thicket, I noticed a small treetop going wild.  My hope was that a deer was rubbing it just before he came out to the field edge.  I sat and listened intently, hearing only faint noises.  After about 10 minutes of nothing, I assumed I had made too much noise getting the stand hung and decided to call it a night.

I collected my stuff and climbed down.  With my feet back on solid earth, I took one last look to the field only to see the son-of-a-gun step out past me up along a narrow strip beside the pond - and he was heading away.  In the tall CRP grass, all I could see were antlers bobbing through the grass.  

Then, suddenly, the antler turned and started bobbing right back towards me.  I quickly ducked down on the edge of the draw and nocked an arrow.  He was on a mission that was about to take him right back through my bottle-neck... and within about 12 yards of my position.

So crouched at the base of my tree, I waited for him to get even with me.  With little more than a tuft of grass and a sorry locust sapling between us, I drew, rose up, and released an arrow.

[JakeD]

I like the sound of this.    

[Cyclic-Rivers]

  I like how you said Dam thicket and not Damn Thicket lol

[CoachBGriff]

After a shot, it seems like my mind always clicks a quick snapshot of what happened, and over the years, I've learned that this tends to be more reliable that I used to think.  

If the snapshot tells me the shot looked good, it typically tends to end well.  Fortunately, this snapshot said the arrow looked tight to the shoulder.  I was excited but nervous.

I watched the buck run off through a thick CRP field, and at about 75 yards, I lost sight of him.  Being on the ground, I was having a hard time telling if I lost him because he went over a hill, or if he had gone down, or perhaps he just got lost in the thick, tall, CRP.  I was anxious, but I decided to head home to grab a bigger flashlight and an extra set of eyes (and hands!).

An hour later I returned in the dark with my dad.  Since I had watched the buck run off, I headed to my known location.  I thought I had him marked pretty well, but things always look different once you get to the other side of the field, especially in a thick CRP field like this one.

We searched back and forth until we started to get past where I had last seen him.  I told dad we probably better slow down, go back to the sight of the shot, and start looking for blood close to the source.  

As soon as I turned around, I spotted blood!  And it was a lot!  I quickly let dad know I had found some sign, and we both started scanning the area with our Maglites for the next spot of blood.  

Suddenly, my beam caught a patch of brown... and white!  The deer had run 75 yards, stood at the spot I first found blood, and stumbled backwards about 10 feet dead.  The arrow placement had been perfect like my snapshot said, and it took out both lungs.  It was the quickest I've even found a deer after spotting first blood!

I was so excited to have my first recurve buck on the ground with a quick, clean, kill.  Like my dad said, he was dead before I ever even made it back to the truck.  

I gave thanks, and snapped some pictures.  I've finally hit an age where I realize how much of this sport is really not about shooting an arrow.  My favorite part is easily the time I spent with my dad looking, dressing, carting, and sharing stories thanks to a successful harvest.

Thanks for reading... as promised, below are a few pics:

[CoachBGriff]

[CoachBGriff]

[NBK]

Great buck!  Well done sir!

[J. Cook]

That's a beauty! Love that main beam length!

[Jakeemt]

Nice! So jealous I missed both cold fronts! (Family and work) that Buck is a beauty!

[Joeabowhunter]

NICE buck!  Thanks for sharing the hunt.

[elknutz]

Well done! Great buck and great time with your dad.

[Shadowhnter]

What a nice buck! Thanks for the exciting and great write up, I can tell you are a teacher! You had my heart pumping! Congratulations on a great deer, and a memory thats been tattoo'ed forever in your brain!

Going to get a mount?

[CoachBGriff]

Originally posted by Shadowhnter:


Going to get a mount?

I am going to have it mounted since it's my first with a recurve!

[TexasTrad]

Great buck and story!  Congrats

[S.C. Hunter]

Very nice Buck! Well done.

[ron w]

Very nice......well done!!  

[Homey88]

Congrats to you that is awesome!

[JakeD]

Very nice! Congrats on a great deer!

[1/4 away]

Well done! Congrats on a nice buck!!