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Yep I Know It....You don't....lol....

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,855
260
SW Ohio
AWESOME JOB PHIL!!!!!! What a great buck buddy!!!! Well deserved TOO! Congratulations on another outstanding buck!:smiley_clap:
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Congratulations Phil! I'd have shot him just because I liked him. If my bride was on my butt that bad, I may have shot her!:) Mine is better trained. It's November, she's a widow. Told her over 20 yrs ago that's how it would be. Divorce is her only option.:)
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
And not even a fuggin text..... hmmphhhh

You get busy. Long track job. Poor shot is about all I can take credit for outside of rattling him in and finding him. The good Lord has blessed me once again.

Bit more story. Hunted all day. Saw nothing. Came in, ate lunch, did some paperwork, showered/smoked up again. Headed back out. Got in the stand after dragging a tarsal gland from last year's buck and some doe estrous pee on a scent wick the last 100yds in. Winds were supposed to be SSW. They were more WSW when I got in the stand. This put my scent and the tarsal/doe estrous blowing into where I expected them to be bedding. The winds ended up shifting to the SSW the weatherman predicted about 415. Good. Now my scent should be just on the edge of where I expected the bucks to come from. At 400PM, 445, and 515 I turned over the can call, did some chasing grunts, and rattled a set of shed antlers I found on the farm I was hunting. Good sized sheds. I didn't care if I spooked off small bucks. Not what I was looking for. Want to call in big bucks? Use big rattling antlers is what I have always read.

Around 530-540pm I was standing with bow in hand hoping one of the big boys would show from my last sequence of rattling. I glanced over my shoulder periodically as well. Then I felt it. I knew there was a deer behind me. I look over my shoulder and had a 1-2 second window to size him up and decide to shoot or not. Given the frustration over the constant hunting my wife has been issuing, I knew he was a solid deer I shouldn't pass. He wasn't on the "hit list" but he was on trail cameras and I knew it would be a decision from the tree stand. As my decision was made, he continued to walk. When I spotted him he was in my pre-ranged 20yd lane exactly where I should be loosing an arrow. Unfortunately, he was walking when I saw him. I had an opportunity to draw and did so. He continued to walk and my shooting opportunity was diminishing every step. I panicked and rushed the shot. Watermelon whop was the sound I heard as I watched the fletching go through his guts. My only hope was I had enough quartering away angle to knick the liver. I watched him run and knew my shot was bad. He stopped in a clearing 60+yds away. I had him hurt, with nothing to lose, so I launched another arrow and narrowly missed. When I recovered my arrow it was in the tracks of his blood. Must have been just high or low. I couldn't tell from the distance. I did hear it hit a tree limb, so I knew there was damage from one arrow to go on.

I sat in the stand and wondered what I would do if he bumped one of the big boys my way. The devil on my shoulder said "Nobody knows you shot this one. Let him lie and shoot the bigger one." Then the angel on my other shoulder said "What do you tell your children the definition of integrity is?" My thoughts: Doing the right thing when nobody is looking. With that I raised my rope and lowered my bow to the ground. I went to look for blood and the arrow which hit him. I found neither. I followed the path he took and found blood roughly 50yds from shot. Maybe even 75yds. It was pretty good, but not great. I went home.

Myself and three friends met at 9pm to go look. 945pm we were there, unloaded, and on first blood. This is where I found the second arrow I launched. We tracked blood a long long way. Steady blood with moments of real good blood. Then we heard him. He was hurt. He was thrashing. I was sickened by not only my poor shot, but the fact we were pushing this wounded deer. I told the guys, "Rain or no rain in the morning, we are done tonight." This morning I got the kids on the bus at 7am and we took off. Fearing we would push him off the property, one guy went to the spot we pushed him and myself and TOO's very own Whitetailspecialies (Mike) walked the thicket back towards my guy standing. Then I found blood. We weren't going to push him. He was already out of the area. Fortunately, we were able to track the blood a good ways. Probably another couple hundred yards. Maybe a few hundred. Then the blood seemed to vanish. I told Mike to stay put at last blood as I had a hunch. The deer had meandered off the straight path he was following. There was a natural drainage and I hopped down into it and made a semi-circle through the drainage towards the direction the deer had been heading. Then I saw fur and antlers! Dual fist pumps in air from me as Mike was only maybe 30-40yds from the deer where we lost blood.

Long story short. He wasn't one of my main target deer, but I would be a fool to pass him. I made a bad shot, but with determination not to lose this deer and the meat he will provide my family, we found him. I am feeling rewarded today by the blessing it was to find him.

Thank you all for the congrats. I truly appreciate it.