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The Lucky 13 Buck

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Hunting with your wife is taboo in certain circles within the hunting community. I can remember early in my hunting career when guys would scoff at the mere notion of me taking my wife hunting. “No way I would ruin my hunting by taking my wife along…” is a comment I have heard more than a few times over the years. Much like those who scoffed at me for making it a point to include my girlfriend/fiancé/wife in my hunting endeavors, I scoffed at the machismo and continued to be thankful for a woman that not only supported my hunting career, but one who wanted a hunting career of her own. For my wife, her hunting career began much like her most recent hunt: in a ground blind, in the cold, waiting for a deer to show up so she could drop the hammer on the muzzleloader. On a late December muzzleloader hunt in 2003, Tracie shot her first deer at 88 yards while it stood over a feed sack full of ear corn her grandfather had given me a few days prior. I will never forget the sense of excitement and fulfillment I had that afternoon and it’s the duplication of that feeling we’ve both been chasing for the past 14 seasons.

The following season, Tracie killed her first buck with a Barnett crossbow within 50 yards of where she shot her buck Saturday. That patch of woods has been good to us and over the years; several of her deer have come from the 11 acres we hope to call home in a little over a year. With the harvesting of her first buck, we had two “firsts” under our belts and the “streak” was underway. Like clockwork over the next 7 seasons, she was able to harvest a deer. In 2011, she added another first to her hunting resume: her first bow kill. She made an absolutely perfect shot on this BB at 27 yards during a flurry of action that included 11 different deer running around us. Also unbeknownst to us at the time of the shot, we even had a 140” 10 point behind a doe less than 40 yards away. That hunt happened on October 23 (10/23), a date which has always been my “lucky” day and it was arguably one of the best hunts of my life.

First Bow Kill



One reoccurring theme over the years was snow and cold. When the conditions were the worst, we seemed to do the best. In 2010, she killed a BB on a still hunt after noticing he was injured and making the decision to end his misery.



A couple of years later, she made a great shot on doe during a drive on my uncle’s farm. That day was one of the most beautiful days I have ever spent in the woods.



Even last year, bad conditions meant it was primetime for Tracie to knock down a deer.



The only season we were unable to kill a deer was 2012 when she was pregnant with Kaydence. We did make an attempt to kill one during gun season (9 months pregnant mind you) but the deer never gave us a decent shot. The 2012 season became the one *asterisk* on the streak. Some of the kills have been hard earned, others where standard “harvests” much like shooting a cow on the Back 40; but one thing never wavered and that was her shot placement. When the hammer dropped on the muzzleloader, I knew we had a deer to recover. Only once did we not recover a deer and that was all my fault. The shot was perfect, but with no blood trail, I made some poor decisions that allowed the coyotes to find the deer before I did. So heading in to this season, Tracie had killed 12 deer in 13 seasons with 12 perfectly placed shots. When we found out she was pregnant with #2 and that she’d once again be too pregnant to bow hunt, and “really” pregnant by gun season, I was starting to fear asterisk #2 might also accompany baby #2!

The one “first” that continually evaded us, is also the one that drives a lot of and that was killing a mature buck. We’ve our share of sightings, a couple close calls, but never have been able to cross that one off the list. The closest we came was during muzzleloader season in 2008. I had a deer I called Dozer on a timer. It was the first time, and really the last, I had a particular buck on such a tight pattern during hunting season. However he schooled us the night we went in to kill him, a lesson I’ll never forget. I was certain he was coming from the south, but he was coming from the north and that gave him the advantage. He came from the north, which put him at eye-level at 50 yards and in our scent stream. I was filming does at the corn when I heard him stop walking. By the time I turned around to see him, turned back around to get Tracie’s attention and helped her get in to position to shoot, he had started his slow retreat back in to the thicket from whence he came. Had I been hunting that night, he was dead (or at least shot at); but it was simply too much for her to execute given how cumbersome the CVA is for someone of her stature. Dozer is truly the “one that got away” from Tracie…



To be continued...
 
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bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
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Appalachia
The hope this year was gun season would be friendly to us and maybe we could accomplish another first that has eluded us: two deer in a season. With the caliber and quantity of bucks I was getting on cam at the farm, I was almost certain we would get a shot at something during our gun season hunts. However gun season came and went with next to no excitement, so once again, it was going to come down to muzzleloader season and the locals weren’t kind to our supply of big bucks. If we wanted to get it done, we’d have to return to our faithful old haunt behind my parent’s house.

The strategy for getting your 8-month pregnant wife on a deer is pretty simple: Put a ground blind as close to easy access as possible while still allowing you opportunities at deer. And corn. The rest is just a matter of seat time and shot execution. After gun season, I added more cover to the ground blind I had set up behind my parent’s and put corn out at the edge of the flat. The location of the corn allowed for the safest travel possible on our place, while providing a nice shooting lane for us in the blind. The blind itself is only a 100 yards from the barn and with the “urban feel” of the neighborhood these days, we can get away with stuff we can’t do at the farm, like drive the quad straight to the blind. That is exactly what I did to start things off on Saturday too! I loaded up 2 heaters, a sleeping bag, Tracie and our sidekick who was hell bent on going with us despite the cold, Kaydence who was dressed like the Michelin Man! I dropped them off right at the blind, then took the quad back to the barn and hoofed it back to the blind. By 3:15, we were all snug as bugs in a rug!



With 3 good bucks on camera, I was hopeful one of them would make a mistake. The 10 degree weather and available supply of carbohydrates right in front of us helped the confidence level too! But then again, we sat 4 hours at the farm that morning in similar circumstances and got skunked, so I was nervous about a repeat performance. By 3:45, K was sawing logs in between us and we were having some good laughs at her expense while she head bobbed, drooled and otherwise reminded us of a passed out college kid! Poor kid was bundled so tight she couldn’t do anything but fall asleep!

At 4:15, our first customer showed up. I grew tired of watching our BB buddy and return to reading my book around 4:40, but it wasn’t long before Tracie whispered: “There’s another deer!” After getting a location from her, I got my binos up just in time to see a good racked buck, a 6-point and then another solid racked buck. They were traveling on a trail that would force them down in to the drainage 100 yards out, giving us plenty of time and concealment to get in to position. Tracie was able to sit on the arm of the chair which thankfully, was frozen in to the ground and provide a really stable seat. With the CVA resting on the shooting sticks, I went through the scenarios of where they would appear. I kept my eyes to the left, her to the right while we both worked to slow our breathing. Just as I was wondering what was taking so long, I heard her say: “Right there!”

The first buck to the corn was the one she shot. Behind him, the 6-point and behind him, a really nice 3.5 year old 10-point. Neither of the two bucks were the ones I expected to see. In fact, their first appearance on cam was the previous morning, so it was a bit of a surprise. It was obvious the buck she shot was the most mature of the bunch. We were working on clarifying which buck to shoot when the 10-point walked right behind her buck and stopped. For what seemed like an eternity, her buck stood in a perfect spot for a shot, but she couldn’t shoot for fear of hitting the 10-point too. Finally the 10-point walked off and left her buck hanging out to dry.

“You on him?”

“Yes.”

“Shoot him.”

KA-BOOM!!!

White smoke goes flying and I see him take off running back the way they came. Just then, Kaydence snaps awake from her slumber just long enough to mutter a very sleepy and dazed “huh?!?” and promptly, she falls back asleep! Not sure what kind of 4-year old girl we’re raising, but gunshots from 3’ away during her naps don’t phase her! LOL!!!

I waited a few minutes, then went down to check out the impact site, along with what the immediate trail had to say. With nothing of note at impact, I followed the freshest set of running deer tracks down in to the creek where I found a spray of blood as he jumped the creek. For the next 100 yards, the blood was sparse and the most encouraging thing was a large patch of hair next to a tree 150 yards in to the trail. With fading light and doubt about the shot, I headed back to the blind. I grabbed the card from the camera to see what it might tell us and it was obvious that the buck she shot was fully mature, but despite a nice action shot, we still couldn’t tell where the hit was.

Fat Boy



Action Shot



When we got back to the blind, the frustration and angst was all over Tracie’s face. It was clear she was not only worried about wounding the buck, but letting me down. After we were loaded up in the truck, I remindered her that she’d “killed ever deer she’d ever shot at and the only one we didn’t find, was on me. You killed that deer and I won’t let you down this time. We’ll find it.” After taking them back home and recruiting my cousin PJ to help track, we returned to last blood 2 hours after the shot. I always exhaust my resources when looking for deer, but I wasn’t going to make bad decisions this time!

It was partially a blood trail, partially a literal “track” job. With very little blood thanks to the now single digit temps, we had to decipher the various sets of tracks. Thankfully I was able to draw on 16 years of experience running those woods and I had a feeling I knew where he was heading and what trail he’d use. I was beginning to grow concerned after another 200+ yards of no blood and trails that were getting harder to distinguish. We felt he was dragging a leg and based on blood spatter 3’ up a small tree, I was convinced he was hit in the chest. But we were approaching a thick swamp and I felt it may be better to look in the AM knowing the vantage points we’d have, especially with the snow. I was doubling back to check one last trail that would have taken him off the hillside and down in to the creek a little differently than PJ and I had just done when we got the bit of luck we needed.

Jumping across the creek, I spotted a small drop of blood right where I landed. Picking my light up revealed a bed. Beginning to look around, I spotted another bed. And another. All three beds where in close proximity, so I knew the game had just changed! Getting down on my knees to crawl under some brush, the smell of buck hit me about the same time my lights hit his back. There he laid in bed #4 some 475 yards from the shot with a perfect bullet hole mid-chest, behind the shoulder. Further examination would show the bullet entered in the center of the top 1/3 of the front side lung, exited low-rear of the opposite lung, then ricocheted down the rib cage/stomach/thigh and exited near his scrotum. The TC Shockwave never mushroomed and the 10” long channel down the inside of his stomach/thigh was a perfect hole clean through. Truly an amazing bullet wound and a phenomenal display of their will to live, even when shot clean through. In a year where I learned to doubt my broadheads, now I think I may need to reevaluate my muzzleloader sabots!

The 300 yard drag back to the quad was epic. With no knife or saw, we were forced to drag him through thick brush and in/out of the frozen creek multiple times. At a dressed weight of 185 #s, this was no small chore! The buck had 13 points fresh out of velvet, but broke 4 off throughout the year. His rack is very similar to my 2008 buck which was shot on the same trail the Lucky 13 buck traveled to his death. Her 13th deer was a 13-pointer and somehow that seems fitting! And so ends the quest for her first mature buck.

We’ve had a lot of great times in the woods together, accomplishing many firsts together. The future looks bright as K loves to hunt and I’m certain Kenna will as well. These family adventures are what my life is all about these days and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Hunting with my wife is, and always has been one of the highlights of my season and this season was one for the books!



 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
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North Carolina
Nice write up Jesse, I lol when you mention K at the gunshot that was hilarious lol....

Congrats too you all again on another eventful muzzy season...


 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
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Enjoyed reading it! There is no better way to pass time in the blind than reading about one that went right! Congratulations!
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
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Ohio
Great story dude. Thanks for sharing.

TC Shockwaves suck, in my opinion. I'm still shooting them only because I have like two left in the pack. They group nicely, but their performance on game is less than satisfactory. I recovered one from a deer I shot last year... Damn thing traveled almost two feet inside the deer and never expanded. It looks like it just came out of the package. The plastic tip is still in place for crying out loud.
 

jlane

Junior Member
523
0
dunn nc
Jessie, I.m right there with you.
My absolutly best hunting partner IS my wife, she has almost the same passion as i do.
She will go to the stand and leave me where ever.
This year will be one of the most memorial hunting days I have, thinking the same for you.
GOT TO LOVE THOSE WIVES that support what we enjoy. priceless.
she said tell K congrats on a fine buck and to enjoy those steaks.
 

loose_is_fast

Junior Member
618
108
McClure
Very nice write up Jesse. I too have had the same experience twice with the 200 grain shockwaves. Two years ago i shot a doe straight on with a shockwave. I hit her dead center where the neck reaches the body. When the smoke cleared she was laying there dead. As i looked her over there was no exit hole but i could feel the bullet under the skin on her left ham. Upon skinning and gutting her it revealed that the bullet had ran the entire length of her body and followed the right side of the spine the whole time. When i examined the bullet it had retained everything no nicks no nothing. The plastic aero tip was still in perfect condition. My cousins daughter used the same gun and same load that evening, even took the same shot with the same result. It is hard to not shoot these bullets as the are extremely accurate but they do not mushroom for shit. The button buck i shot yesterday was perfect broadside at 75 yards I double lunged it and he still went 200 yards. The entry and exit holes were exactly the same size. I imagine once again that the bullet retained its shape on this shot also.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Sounds like we've all had similar experience. I love how they group, but they do not do enough damage for my liking. I'll be trying a few different types out before next season.
 

moundhill

Senior Member
Supporting Member
5,327
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Hebbardsville..
Awsome story man, and congrats to you guys! Your wife is a trooper for sticking it out and hunting year after year. Awsome job on the entire hunt. And it's too cool your daughter was right there to see it all. Well, when she wasn't asleep lol.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Congrats to you and the wife! Great story that I'm glad you took the time to write up. My wife has absolutely no interest in hunting with me or anyone else lol. You got a keeper!