after sitting in my stand on 9 different occasions, 2.5 - 3 hours at a time, and not seeing a deer, i knew my luck would change sooner or later. i had jumped a couple walking in/out and heard a couple, but up until saturday evening i had not SEEN a deer from any stand!
i had my climber hung 20 yards from a beautiful run coming out of a bedding area. it was real thick in there and i only had a small shooting lane, but that was fine cause i knew where they'd be coming from. this was my third time hunting this run.
just after 6 i heard what sounded like a small branch breaking on the other side, where it was real thick. i turned and saw a deer moving and antlers. i never expected to see a deer in that area, far away from the run, so was completely unprepared as far as shooting windows go. so i quickly picked a SMALL area where if he were to walk into, i could stop him and shoot. grabbed the bow, turned toward that window, guessed the range (30 yards), drew back, and as soon as i did he was in the lane so i made a MEHHHHT sound and stopped him and released! i had NO time to think about all the things that could go wrong...instincts took over 100%! from the time i first saw the buck to the time i released, only seconds had passed.
i watch the arrow sail right into him and hear a WHACK as the rage 3-blade ripped through the rib cage. thought i may have hit him a little far back, but couldn't tell from my stand. as soon as he left the little shooting lane i had, i couldn't see him so i had no idea where he ran. the ground was real wet as well so i couldn't hear him. was hoping to hear a crash, but didn't.
so i waited til 7 and got down. took awhile to find the arrow and the exact spot where he was when i shot. finally found it and it looked good. got on the trail and started seeing guts which made me worried. that didn't last, though. had good blood the whole way. he back-tracked once which had me shaking my head for a bit, but i got back on it. he ended up going about 100 yards give or take.
the arrow entered low in the back third of his body and traveled to the front end and exited just below the shoulder. i don't think any vitals were hit...probably arteries which would explain the massive blood trail.
got him checked in, home, and hung in the cool garage. quartered and in the beer fridge first thing yesterday morning. not taking any chances w/ this damn heat!!!!!!
114 lb 6 pointer (couple kickers, but i can't call him an 8 LOL)
here's the only lane i had:
