Tagged out in PA this morning!!!

[grouse11]

Tagged out this morning!!! This weekend was going to be my last weekend that I would get to hunt archery. With my school schedule, I was going to get to hunt Friday, Saturday, and Monday morning. As it turns out, Friday morning was enough  

I came down with a cold midweek and it made it a little more difficult to get up this morning. However, it didn't take long and I was out the door headed for my new favorite stand. The last time I hunted this stand in archery, I shot my biggest buck to date. In fact, that was the last time I hunted that stand in any season.

The morning started off slow with fog drifting through and limiting visibility. And with the rain the night before, the damp leaves made it very hard to hear. Conditions were not ideal for this stand as the deer normally show up out of nowhere.  At about 7:40, I looked towards the nose to my left and caught a deer moving on the horizon. I stood and got ready. A few minutes later, a big lone doe crossed below me about 20 yards away. Fortunately for her, I filled my doe tag on the first day so she was safe.

After she moved on, I proceeded to watch the songbirds and squirrels forage below me. I eventually turned to look up the hill and I was shocked to see a buck working down the trail I walked in on not 20 yards away. He was moving slow but because of the angle of the hillside, he was even with me and I had to move very slowly to stand up and grab my bow.

I got into position as he turned broadside at 10 yards. I drew back, anchored, and released and watched in slight horror as my arrow hit further back than I intended. I believe that I moved my bow arm at the shot to see where the arrow hit which caused my shot to stray. The razor sharp grizzly zipped right through him and he only ran 20 yards up the trail before stopping, tail twitching. He walked maybe 25 more yards and then fell into a small hickory tree. Over the next 10 minutes, he tried to get up and kept sliding down the hill until he came to a rest.

After gutting, I found that I sliced the liver. He is not the biggest buck, but I was shaking like a leaf when he was coming in and I am very very happy with him. Thanks for reading and safe hunting the rest of the season  

[4dogs]

[Ron Vought]

Great job and congratulations! The deer were on the move this morning after the fog lifted and the air cooled.

Ron

[DanielB89]

the beauty of trad equipment is you enjoy your "trophy" more.  I think this buck is a dandy!!

[stumpsniper]

Nice buck, I wish I could have been out this morning!

[Wannabe1]

Outstanding and excellent job on the buck! Congrats.  

[Whip]

Nice job Mark - congratulations!

[T-Bowhunter]

Nice Buck and congratulations!

[Trinity Bowcrafter]

Beautiful Buck!  Now, dropping your bow arm will have a lot more meaning.  Congrats!

[Pheonixarcher]

[kevsuperg]

Congrats . still waiting on my first for this season . he's a beut Clark!

[fnshtr]

Way to go!
Thanks for sharing.  

[Friend]

Fine harvest!

Congrats!!

[dbd870]

I believe that I moved my bow arm at the shot to see where the arrow hit which caused my shot to stray.  

I've never done that...........less than once a practice session.        Very easy to. Congrats on a great bow season.

Congrats!

Bisch

[Mud_Slide_Slim]

That is a very nice buck...congratulations!

[AkDan]

good stuff Grouse!  Now that you're done deer hunting, if you got time to fly fish up on the breeches/big springs creek area (boiling springs area) drop me a line, I'll be down next month through dec.  I'll be fishing most days, weekends are packed pretty full at this point.  I'll be staying in Hanover.  be nice to find some trad guys close, Ray and Jeff are the close guys now that Docs moving.

[NIGEL01]

Nice.

[rwbowman]

Way to go!

[huntnmuleys]

gorgeous buck!!