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Joel's 2014 buck

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Most of this story started last year after gun season for me. I bought a crossbow after gun season and for the first time started hunting outside of the Ohio gun seasons. I put countless hours in sitting in the cold and around the end of January finally got a shot at a big buck that I had been hunting since I caught a glimpse of him during gun week.

I hit him and tracked him in the snow for over 2 miles, closer to 3, in a big circle then lost the trail in -10 degree weather and he showed back up on the camera a couple days later. I never got another chance last year and ended the season with an unfilled tag.

In the off season I could not stop thinking about deer. I had cameras out early, scouted quite a bit and looked out the window almost every day at dusk to see if I could spot one in the field or woods behind my house.

Once the season started I got in the blind on the first night and passed on a small doe. The next night I had a chance at a bigger one so I took it, made a good shot and got my first archery kill and the 6th deer since I started hunting. I was going to hold out for a buck after that but I was having so much trouble with my crossbow that I decided to trade it in and took another doe a few days later to test it out.

About the second week of November I was back in the blind and around 3:00 out of nowhere a big bodied buck with a big rack came walking by. I stopped him with a bleat at 30 yards and took a shot. I will never know what happened but I found a small amount of blood about 40 yards from where he was when I shot him and never found anything else. No arrow, no more blood and no deer. I was pretty devastated but after a couple days decided to get back at it.

I hunted every chance I could and was starting to get discouraged. I was not seeing any deer and kept thinking about the other 2 bucks I shot that I did not recover. I decided that I would not take a shot unless I got a decent one that was nice and close and I was confident I could make the shot as I did not want the feeling of tracking another buck and coming up empty handed.

I hung a new stand on Thanksgiving and was planning on hunting that for gun week and even had future plans for late muzzleloader season if I was still looking for my buck. Also my ground blind blew away a few days before so yesterday I got that set back up. I had just bought a hose/adapter for my heater and had a 20 lbs tank filled so I wanted to try it out.

I got in the blind and got my heater going around 4:00 and my blind had been back for not quite 2 hours. I honestly wasn't expecting much and was sitting there mentally planning the rest of the season. Around 4:45 I saw a deer moving behind some trees. I took the safety off the crossbow and got it propped up on the shooting stick and just watched. I saw an antler and my heart started beating faster. When he came out from behind the trees I instantly decided I would shoot him but only if he gave me a good shot. He walked a couple steps, stopped, looked around, couple more steps and then finally walked the rest of the way to the corn pile. At this point I was watching him through the scope with my finger on the trigger guard and waiting for him to turn broadside. He stayed in that position for almost 2 minutes, which felt like an hour, and just would not turn. Every couple seconds he jerked his head up and looked around. Then he turned slightly away and his body language looked like he was getting ready to bolt. I put the crosshair on what I could see of his shoulder and squeezed the trigger while his head was up.

I heard a thud and he sort of spun around and tripped and fell down. At this point my heart was racing and I was just praying he would stay down. I saw him kick and when he did that I jumped up and cocked the crossbow again as fast as I could. By the time I looked back up he was not moving anymore. I texted Rick (xbowguy) and all I could get out was "start a thread" Lol. Then I texted Chad, my wife and another friend. I was shaking bad and kept looking back at the rack on the ground.

I did not see any movement for a few minutes so finally I got out of the blind and walked up to him slowly with my crossbow. He was dead. Words cannot describe how I felt at that moment. This is what it's all about. After all the time, effort, waiting, freezing, getting frustrated and everything else I had finally gotten my buck.

I have seen a lot of very nice deer on TOO so I know mine is not a monster and he isn't nearly as big as the other 2 I shot and could not recover. But, he's mine and it's finally over (until next season). You can bet I told the processor to save the cape because I am having this deer mounted and to me he is absolutely a trophy.

Thank you Toozers for making me feel at home, encouraging me to keep going and inspiring me through your stories. I will get a few pictures on here later but the wife is getting annoyed and wants to go shopping haha.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Screw the size of the rack. That was a hard earned trophy! You have put a lot of time in the last two seasons we have followed along. There are plenty of big deer in your future. That is a very very nice buck! Congrats!
 

rsmith

Member
1,835
52
Absoutly awesome Joel! You deserve it after everything! Great write up and great buck, congrats again, with a story like this he is defiantly a trophy buck and he is deserving of a mount.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Thanks for the kind words, guys. I also should add that the only thing I used this season for scent control was the scent smoker. No scent away spray, detergent, nothing. Wood chips was all I needed and all three of these deer were shot from the ground at around 20 yards from the same blind.

Here are a couple more photos that weren't in the other thread and what I believe is a trail cam photo of him before he broke off the one brow tine. IMG_0644.JPGIMG_0647.JPGIMG_0654.JPGWGI_0035.jpg
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,738
274
North Carolina
Great story Joel.... Very happy for you buddy..... Savor the harvest and start planning for next season....