KANSAN's 2006 archery buck

KANSAN · November 7, 2006

Sunday evening my wife & I were set up on a shelterbelt splitting two picked crop fields. We've been seeing the majority of deer movement coming out from a point, and this night (11/5) was no exception. At 4:30, a doe came out to the east, 250 yards away. The deer in this place like to come out by 4:30, and like clockwork she was on time. Fast-forward thirty minutes. A familiar buck comes out and puts on a show by making a scrape and rub. We'd seen him the night before, he's a young buck but give him a couple years and he'll be a whopper. I had no intention of shooting this buck, but I pulled out my "Can" call and tipped it over a few times, just to see what he'd do. The buck shrugged it off, and continued on his way. I look back toward the doe and she's walking to our tree, on a mission. She heard the estrous bleat, and was coming in on a string!! I'm not real big on shooting does this time of year, but I got to thinking, "what the heck, why not??" and decided if she got close enough I'd take her. She got within 70 yards and veered up the shelter belt, out of range. The wind would be an issue here, and as she worked her way along the belt I knew she would pick us off. She let out a half-dozen loud snorts, but I figured she was far enough away it wasn't a big deal. Was this a sign? Am I not supposed to shoot a doe tonight? After all, prime time is now, and it would be dark in 30 minutes. I made up my mind if another doe came out, I'd let her pass and fill my antlerless tag on a seperate hunt. I heard some commotion behind me, and sure enough, another doe is coming up out of the creek. This one wrapped around me through the shelterbelt. Not long after, I heard some shuffling around back in the creek. A nice buck came out grunting, on the doe's trail. When I saw him, I decided to shoot if given an opportunity. He wrapped around and followed the same path the doe had taken, with his nose to the ground. I drew back ..."BEE-YUPP" and stopped him. This would be the longest shot I'd ever attempted in my bowhunting career, but practicing from that distance gave me all the confidence in the world. I settled the sight and touched off the shot. The arrow hit perfectly - the buck ran 80 yards and I heard him crash ten seconds later. I turned back to Alicia (who was filming the entire hunt) and gave, what she calls a "very Stan Potts-ish" reaction. The 4-blade Muzzy dit its job, and we found him easily after an awesome blood trail. The shot took out a lung and the top of his heart. He's not the biggest deer I've killed, but I'm very happy with him, and that's what matters the most to me. He's a nice 9-pointer. Alicia took some field photos the next morning, including this shot. Now it's her turn!!! For all who've yet to harvest a buck, I wish you all the best!!

Gator · November 7, 2006