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Diamond C does it again

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    Diamond C does it again

    Got back last night from another great weekend at the C. I decided to give my wife the weekend off and take both boys with me on a hunt at Diamond C. It was August and going to be hot, but still better than mowing the lawn. We got to the ranch around 1pm on Friday. Unloaded all the gear and relaxed. The list was a little ambitious but there was only one animal that I really wanted. Addax. The "hope" was that I could take a nice Addax bull, then chase a nice Axis buck. My older son would shoot a doe and my younger boy a hog. Both boys had taken animals before with their crossbow but this time my older boy (10 yr old) would be going after his first animal with his Hoyt Ignite.

    Friday Evening sit- We headed out to the stand around 6pm. When we pulled up to the blind we would be hunting, what do you know? The Oryx and Addax were already there. Dang it. We decided to do the normal routine of putting out feed in hopes they wouldn't go far and would come back in. The boys and I got settled in the blind. Not long after Skylar left we had animals showing up. I think we saw just about everything except Axis. We had Elk, Red Stag, Fallow, Blackbuck, Audad, Sika, whitetail and a couple smaller pigs. After about 30 minutes I saw one of the Addax coming back in. 5 min later a second was heading in and finally a 3rd. I knew there were 4 of them but never saw the 4th. He had decided to join the Oryx where ever they ended up going. I waited patiently for them to get settled in and for all the animals to arrange themselves in just the right position to allow for a shot. One of the Addax bulls was noticeably bigger than the other two so I decided I was going to wait for him to present the shot. Finally after about another 20 minutes things lined up pretty well. I drew back but my position in the blind and the Addax's position in the window meant I had to lean forward a little. I let the arrow fly and watched it cut right through him. I didn't really like what I saw. The shot was a little further back than I had wanted and knowing these African animals I was a little worried. They ran off and I could see one the Addax hanging out around the tree line about 60 yards back. I was hoping the one I shot wasn't far. We gave the animal about an hour before Skylar showed up with the dog. In the meantime we watched as all the animals came back in to feed, including the other two Addax. Once Skylar showed up we got out of the blind and Skylar said the Addax was bedded down just inside the tree line about 60 yards away, but still alive. So I decided to see if I could get another arrow in him. He was laying down, facing directly away from me, but was looking back at me. I got to about 25 yards from him but didn't have a good shot at anything except his rear. I decided to keep getting closer in hopes he'd stand and give me a quartering shot. I got to about 20 yards and he stood up. I came to full draw but he never turned, just sort of jogged straight ahead. He went about 20 yards and bedded back down. Once I saw that I knew he was hurt bad or he would still be running. Once again he was facing away so I decided to go around and come at him from the front at an angle. I got to about 15 yards and came to full draw again. I put it through his front shoulder. He stood up, then dropped right back down, never taking a step. At that point I knew it was over. After he expired I took a closer look and it appeared that my first shot got one lung, which was better than I had first thought. Not enough to kill him quickly but enough to keep him from really going anywhere. The second arrow finished him off. It was a great way to start the hunt.

    The rest of the weekend was mainly about getting my oldest his first bow kill. I would only let him shoot if the animal was about 10 yards. At 10 years old he doesn't yet pull a ton of weight so I wanted to keep it close. We saw plenty of does and other animals as well. All over the place. It seems we had the opposite problem that you normally get. Instead of all the big bucks hanging out around the far side of the corn and the other animals being forced closer to the blind, we had nothing but big bucks taking up residence within 10 yards of the blind. Its like there were making a barrier to block any shot opportunity. Finally, the last sit of the trip we had a white fallow doe give us an opportunity. I gave him the green light and he got to draw his bow and let the arrow fly at a live animal for the first time. Unfortunately he hit her high and she ran off. He was so excited that he finally got to shoot an animal with his bow that I don't think it bothered him much when I told him we would be lucky if we found her. To me, the arrow looked like it hit her in the backstrap. I think if he was shooting more weight it might have spined her but her backbone stopped the arrow. There's no doubt in my mind that she's back at the feeder eating, recovering from her flesh wound. Even though I knew it would be futile, Skylar got the dog and spent about an hour and half looking for the doe. We never could find her. She was just not wounded enough to slow her down and keep her from moving around. On the way home I think my son had time to reflect and his disappointment for not having made a better shot kicked in. I explained to him it was bowhunting and we all make bad shots from time to time and that is why we practice so much. But, the excitement and happiness he had after he released that arrow was definitely something I'll never forget.

    My younger son never did get a shot off. We sat for hogs and had them come in but we also had about 20 other animals come in. Sometimes there is such a thing as too many animals. As they all moved around, chased each other and got in front of and in back of target animals, it proved to be a huge challenge. Not to mention my son is only 7 so he needs a few seconds to find the animals in the crossbow scope and get it set up before he squeezes the trigger. As we all know, hogs don't stand still very long. Seemed like every time we got on one and he was starting to squeeze the trigger they would move. He'll have to keep practicing to get quicker if he wants to shoot a hog. He's taken a deer before, but hogs are more difficult.


    As usual, we had a great time. The boys didn't want to leave. Skylar did a great job and the lodge is awesome. Definitely looking to go back after that Axis buck.

    If you are considering hunting at the "C", do it. You won't regret it.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Nice Addax! Congrats!

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      #3
      Congrats!

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        #4
        Congrats on the addax! That's some quality time with the boys too!

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          #5
          Awesome critter!

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            #6
            Thanks for the write up and congrats!


            Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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              #7
              Good read, thanks for sharing and congrats.

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                #8
                Nice animal congrats! Love going to the C this will be our 3rd year we are going in a couple of weeks!

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                  #9
                  Very nice, congrats!

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                    #10
                    Way to go man!


                    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                      #11
                      Great Addax!!! You throwing the C is great but your boys throwing the C is so freaking awesome. Diamond C is such a cool place for kids to get to see some animals. I'll be there with Rangefinder aka Red Ninja on Sept 1.

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                        #12
                        Very cool.

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                          #13
                          Congrats!

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                            #14
                            Heck of a trophy! Shoulder mount?

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by ostey22 View Post
                              Heck of a trophy! Shoulder mount?
                              yes sir.

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