yesterday i took the nicest archery buck of my life! very exciting - and gut wrenching as the story will show.
my dad and i sat in a piece in MA yesterday morning til 9:30 with no sightings. we decided to get out of there, grab a quick bite to eat and head into a different piece of woods for the rest of the day.
i got settled in along the swamp right around noon. at 1:30 i was looking around and real quickly, way off to my right i saw a doe sprinting across the swamp about 150 yards away. then i saw another doe appear at the wood line, but it just stood there. seconds later, a big buck steps into the swamp grass and starts walking toward where the first doe ran. i grabbed the buck roar and grunted several times as loud as i could. he immediately looks my way, then starts heading in my direction. he made no effort in being quiet as he made his way to me, scraping his antlers on anything in his way.
he continued slowly until he was about 50 yards away. then he stopped and looked around my general area. i grunted one more time which made him begin moving toward me again. he slowly came in, looking around, and finally made it to ~25 yards where i stopped him and let one fly.
the shot looked a little further back than i would have liked, but definitely still in the vitals. he ran off about 50 yards and i blew on the buck roar again. he stopped and stood there. he stood there for 10 minutes. then took some very careful steps away from me about 15 yards and laid down. he stayed there for 20 minutes, got up, and gingerly walked about 10 yards and laid down again. laid there for another 20 minutes or so, got up and slowly walked 20 yards and laid down again!
the entire time i'm watching this and thinking PLEASE DIE!!! well, he laid in that last spot for THREE HOURS before he got up again, tried taking a step but couldn't, and laid down - this time facing away from me.
as dark was approaching, it started to rain. that made me decide to get down and try to make my way over to him to get another arrow in him. i wear size 15 boots and have NEVER been a good stalker, but i thought the rain would give me just enough of an edge.
i got down and SLOWLY made my way to him. i got to what i thought was about 35 yards and he must have heard me because he stood up and looked right at me! i drew, guessed 35 yards, and let it fly. WHACK my arrow either hits solid bone or a rock. he bolts away from me heading out of the swamp and into the hardwoods (phew). i go look for my arrow and can't find it anywhere. figured it's either stuck in the swampgrass somewhere out of sight or stuck in the deer.
i couldn't believe he got up and ran. i didn't think he had it in him! i immediately began second guessing my first shot, thinking it was gut shot.
i text my dad and told him what happened. he met me and we eventually found a real good blood trail which probably means my second shot made contact.
instead of following it i said lets back out, grab dinner, and come back after. so we came back two hours later and got on the blood. very easy (for him - i'm red/green color blind) to follow the blood for the first 80 yards, then it slowed. about 130 yards into tracking, we jump him. we went forward about 5 more yards and heard him again. so he didn't go far at all when we jumped him. at that point it's time to back out and let him sit and hope the coyotes don't get him.
so i drive the 1+ hours home, get VERY LITTLE SLEEP, and up before sunrise headed back down. turns out he was dead less than 30 yards from where we backed out! my first shot passed through his liver (rage 3-blade). second shot drilled him high in the shoulder/neck area.
the 11 pointer dressed out at 167 pounds. never taken a deer w/ more than 10 points so very excited about this guy!
oh and i got the shot on film too - need to do the normal edits and i'll get it posted!
here are some pics: