After an uneventful morning hunt I got with redcloud and decided that with a west wind I might have some luck in the same area that he killed his buck in on tuesday. Maybe he can help me out with the arial shot from his "hunting ground west" thread. If any of you remember that thread I belive I was in spot 4. I was sitting in an oak flat on top of a ridge. the ridge runs diagonal from my right, cuting across in front of me to a point and then continuing straight away from me. to my left about 20 yards away is a fence that seperates the woods from a pasture. on the otherside of the ridge is another pasture and beyond that a beanfield. The fence to my left ends almost right beside me and then there is a steep hill that runs down to yet another pasture. the whole thing looks kinda like a turkey foot, the foot and toes being a wooded draw and everthung else is pasture.
I had been watching down into the draw all day and hadnt seen anything all day. Until about 6:45 when a buck "appeared" on the other side of the fence to my left at the corner where it comes up the hill. I didnt see him coming so he must have come up from the lower pasture along the bottom of the hill.
At first he started moving along the fence but was working away from it out into the pasture. but he didnt get far before he came up close to the fence to feed on some acorns. He had the missfotune of stopping in the only spot I had a clear shot through, and as luck would have it the fence post he was next to I had used as a yardage marker when I first got set up. So there he is. I knew that post was 22 yards from me, and he wasnt anymore than 10 yards beyond that. so I came to draw, anchored, settled my thirty yard pin about the middle of his boilerhouse.... At this point I said to myself... "self, you have practiced at thirty yards for a while now, but you have never tried a poke like that from a tree. do you really feel good about this?" To bad my hand wasnt listening, it made the decision for me. before I could second guess myself, the arrow was already on its way.
I have lighted nocks and could see the arrow was headed to the sweet spot, but as it cleared the woods I lost track of it. But the loud smack, told me it hit its mark. The buck jumped, kicked and bolted with its tail tucked, "oh yeah, he's hurt" he started to head the same way he was going before but then he turned and started a wide circle out intothe pasture, running hard the whole way. He got about 80 yards before I lost sight of him. but he looked like he was going to keep his circular path and end up heading back west at the other end of the pasture.
My heart was pounding... I sent a text to redcloud telling him I might need some help, and to bring a flashlight with him. Next i started getting my gear down and started down the tree. The whole way down all I could think was I have to find the arrow. I need to make sure I hit him and hit him good. But there was no arrow and no blood. This is about the time redcloud showed up. i described the whole thing to him and he agreed with me that the buck had probably circled down the hill and back to the west and was probably laying down there somewhere. We traced the route the buck took but found no arrow and no blood. now i was really second guessing myself. I was starting to question if I had even hit it.
By now it was dark, and we still couldnt find the arrow, even with the lighted nock, until he noticed the faintest green glow laying in the grass. The nock was so covered with blood you couldnt hardly see it. There was no gut smell, no foam, just dark red blood and both white and brown hair. the front of the shaft was relatively clean so we figured the arrow passed through but stopped about 6 inches short of coming comletely out, and as he ran it worked its way the rest of the way out.
Now for the rub...
The buck ran about 150 yards before the arrow came out, the only blood we could find was right next to and under the arrow. We couldnt find a single other drop, anywhere. and believe me, we looked for hours. It looked like he made it into a thick brushy area. So with no blood, no light, and what we figured to be a lung / liver hit we decided to give it till tomorrow morning.
I had been watching down into the draw all day and hadnt seen anything all day. Until about 6:45 when a buck "appeared" on the other side of the fence to my left at the corner where it comes up the hill. I didnt see him coming so he must have come up from the lower pasture along the bottom of the hill.
At first he started moving along the fence but was working away from it out into the pasture. but he didnt get far before he came up close to the fence to feed on some acorns. He had the missfotune of stopping in the only spot I had a clear shot through, and as luck would have it the fence post he was next to I had used as a yardage marker when I first got set up. So there he is. I knew that post was 22 yards from me, and he wasnt anymore than 10 yards beyond that. so I came to draw, anchored, settled my thirty yard pin about the middle of his boilerhouse.... At this point I said to myself... "self, you have practiced at thirty yards for a while now, but you have never tried a poke like that from a tree. do you really feel good about this?" To bad my hand wasnt listening, it made the decision for me. before I could second guess myself, the arrow was already on its way.
I have lighted nocks and could see the arrow was headed to the sweet spot, but as it cleared the woods I lost track of it. But the loud smack, told me it hit its mark. The buck jumped, kicked and bolted with its tail tucked, "oh yeah, he's hurt" he started to head the same way he was going before but then he turned and started a wide circle out intothe pasture, running hard the whole way. He got about 80 yards before I lost sight of him. but he looked like he was going to keep his circular path and end up heading back west at the other end of the pasture.
My heart was pounding... I sent a text to redcloud telling him I might need some help, and to bring a flashlight with him. Next i started getting my gear down and started down the tree. The whole way down all I could think was I have to find the arrow. I need to make sure I hit him and hit him good. But there was no arrow and no blood. This is about the time redcloud showed up. i described the whole thing to him and he agreed with me that the buck had probably circled down the hill and back to the west and was probably laying down there somewhere. We traced the route the buck took but found no arrow and no blood. now i was really second guessing myself. I was starting to question if I had even hit it.
By now it was dark, and we still couldnt find the arrow, even with the lighted nock, until he noticed the faintest green glow laying in the grass. The nock was so covered with blood you couldnt hardly see it. There was no gut smell, no foam, just dark red blood and both white and brown hair. the front of the shaft was relatively clean so we figured the arrow passed through but stopped about 6 inches short of coming comletely out, and as he ran it worked its way the rest of the way out.
Now for the rub...
The buck ran about 150 yards before the arrow came out, the only blood we could find was right next to and under the arrow. We couldnt find a single other drop, anywhere. and believe me, we looked for hours. It looked like he made it into a thick brushy area. So with no blood, no light, and what we figured to be a lung / liver hit we decided to give it till tomorrow morning.
