I've shot a lot of does as I hunt primarily for the meat and the fun. Saturday evening I was really hoping to see this guy as I've watched him around my area (I almost hit him with a car on Thursday just down the street from my house). I've seen him half a dozen times and anytime it's during hunting hours he won't stray off the posted property. That very morning, in fact, I'd watched him in a dead sprint after 3 does cross over about 200yd downhill and head back onto the "forbidden zone"
There are 4 "neighborhood" bucks near me and with the houses laid out the way they are I can bowhunt from about a dozen trees on my property and the neighbor's (that gave me permission). I was sitting in a tree that is on my neighbor's property, technically over my line about 3 feet. For the sake of this hunt, I'm still counting it on my land.
I was watching 4 does run "zoomies" around a field on a posted field about 90 yards from me for half an hour when all of the sudden they put the brakes on and started to stare over their shoulders. This guy arrived and pushed them out of the field right to me. The biggest doe was first and she's very smart, has a 6th sense it seems and ducked an arrow on me once already this year from 27yd. I was hoping for meat in the freezer, I would have been very happy with the old nanny doe that's busted me so many times, but a chance at a record (for me) buck I wasn't going to pass up.
She crosses into the property that I'm hunting and before crossing my tree decides to just look straight up at me. Busted.
She turns and starts to walk away, not too fast but definitely alert. The next 3 does all followed her lead and the buck was hot on their tails walking along through the ~10yd of scrubby understory that I wouldn't shoot through. Then right as he steps from under a scrubby bush he stops, sniffs, I felt the wind change and decided that it was now or never. I let him have it. Total ranged yard down from the tree was 13 yards after the shot from me to his chest on the ground. The arrow went in, severed the spine and he dropped in his tracks. I was 8yd up in a tree and so the effective shot distance was only 10yd.
While he's nowhere near the biggest whitetail I've seen posted here, but he's my PR overall and I got him 10min from closing time on the closing day of archery buck season... so I'm really happy. I decided to splurge and get a European mount on the antlers/skull because of how nice and symmetric the rack is, plus it's a momentous occasion personally... first archery buck off my own property.
I was so rushed that I had to sit down and count to 10 before I even started to put together my equipment and climb down. He went 137# dressed, no idea on the score and I didn't think to check before I turned in the animal for butchering and the mount, just looking at pictures of other deer, I would be hard pressed to see him go over 115, not a record book but for me, it's every bit a record.
There are 4 "neighborhood" bucks near me and with the houses laid out the way they are I can bowhunt from about a dozen trees on my property and the neighbor's (that gave me permission). I was sitting in a tree that is on my neighbor's property, technically over my line about 3 feet. For the sake of this hunt, I'm still counting it on my land.
I was watching 4 does run "zoomies" around a field on a posted field about 90 yards from me for half an hour when all of the sudden they put the brakes on and started to stare over their shoulders. This guy arrived and pushed them out of the field right to me. The biggest doe was first and she's very smart, has a 6th sense it seems and ducked an arrow on me once already this year from 27yd. I was hoping for meat in the freezer, I would have been very happy with the old nanny doe that's busted me so many times, but a chance at a record (for me) buck I wasn't going to pass up.
She crosses into the property that I'm hunting and before crossing my tree decides to just look straight up at me. Busted.
She turns and starts to walk away, not too fast but definitely alert. The next 3 does all followed her lead and the buck was hot on their tails walking along through the ~10yd of scrubby understory that I wouldn't shoot through. Then right as he steps from under a scrubby bush he stops, sniffs, I felt the wind change and decided that it was now or never. I let him have it. Total ranged yard down from the tree was 13 yards after the shot from me to his chest on the ground. The arrow went in, severed the spine and he dropped in his tracks. I was 8yd up in a tree and so the effective shot distance was only 10yd.
While he's nowhere near the biggest whitetail I've seen posted here, but he's my PR overall and I got him 10min from closing time on the closing day of archery buck season... so I'm really happy. I decided to splurge and get a European mount on the antlers/skull because of how nice and symmetric the rack is, plus it's a momentous occasion personally... first archery buck off my own property.
I was so rushed that I had to sit down and count to 10 before I even started to put together my equipment and climb down. He went 137# dressed, no idea on the score and I didn't think to check before I turned in the animal for butchering and the mount, just looking at pictures of other deer, I would be hard pressed to see him go over 115, not a record book but for me, it's every bit a record.
