This was my third weekend to hunt at my Clay County lease this bow season. The first two weekends, I did not see a deer from the stand. This weekend I threw them a changeup. I did not get in the stand till about noon on Saturday and came off about 5:00 pm and still not a single deer. I was by myself at our place so I decided to dove hunt Saturday afternoon and that was a good decision. Saturday night we had one heck of a storm blow through with a nice temperature drop. I got in a ground blind on Sunday morning and it was like someone had thrown a switch. I felt like I was in Gillespie Co. Deer were everywhere. I had a young forkie come to the feeder but never got in. He must have made about 5 laps around it passing within less than 5 yards from me a couple of times. I had a north wind directly in my face. Then here came another forkie who jumped right in the pen. Neither of these little guys were outside the ears and would not have been legal in Clay Co. I then noticed some does working through a mesquite flat in my direction. The little stud muffins were all fired up and started chasing does all over the place. The ladies wanted nothing to do with these little punks. A few minutes later I spotted a really nice buck about 50 yards to my left headed my way. He paid no attention at all to the young bucks chasing the does. I really cannot say how many points he had because I try to avoid looking directly at antlers when bow hunting. I will say he was not a typical symmetrical deer but was probably a pretty heavy nine point but I cannot say for sure. He hopped right into the pen and gave me a broadside shot at about 12 yards. My shot was a little higher than I would have wanted it to be but I really felt pretty good about it. I did not get complete penetration but saw blood as he jumped out of the pen with fletch sticking out on the entry side and broadhead sticking out on the exit side. I knew it was high but really thought I had caught the top of both of his lungs. He ran about 40 yards into the mesquite and stopped. I figured he would fall any moment. I looked at my watch and it was 8:15 am. I kept watching the buck in the mesquite to my left and into the pen jumps a really big doe who had come in unseen from the east. Oddly enough all the local commotion had not made her uneasy at all and she started nibbling on the corn. I waited about 3 minutes and she took a quartering away angle to the right at about 15 yards. I really don't recall ever taking two deer in one mornings hunt especially with my recurve. But I was about to do it. I drew my bow for the chip shot and watched the arrow sail about an inch over her back. Needless to say, I was really pi$$ed off about missing her at 15 yards but I was still pretty happy about the nice buck I had just nailed. I guess two recurve killed deer was just not in the cards for me. I decided to wait about an hour before retrieving my buck which I knew would surely be dead as a hammer less than 100 yards away. It was a long hour to wait but the little forkies were still busy chasing the other does who still held no interest in their romantic overtones. 65 minutes later, I got out of my ground blind and walked to the area I had hit the buck. I could see his hoof prints in the soft mud where he had wheeled and jumped out of the pen, but no blood on the ground. I slowly walked towards where I had last seen him walking away but still not a drop of blood on the ground. I did find my arrow which was now covered in blood from the tip of the broadhead to the end of the white feather fletching.
I decided to ease out of the area and get to camp to get my best friend who had never yet failed me. Jake would snozz up the buck in no time at all. I got back about 30 minutes later with Jake and he quickly picked up a short blood trail. It only went about 30 to 40 yards further and came to a complete halt. The blood trail was very sparse with only droplets of blood with the larges size spot being about the size of a half dollar. No worries. I still had that good north wind and Jake and I would criss cross the area and he would scent the whole dead deer or I would walk over him. Three and a half hours later, we never found another speck of blood nor did we have the buck.
I later loaded up, went home, and grilled doves on the grill at home. My story does have a moral. Don't count your chickens till they hatch.
I decided to ease out of the area and get to camp to get my best friend who had never yet failed me. Jake would snozz up the buck in no time at all. I got back about 30 minutes later with Jake and he quickly picked up a short blood trail. It only went about 30 to 40 yards further and came to a complete halt. The blood trail was very sparse with only droplets of blood with the larges size spot being about the size of a half dollar. No worries. I still had that good north wind and Jake and I would criss cross the area and he would scent the whole dead deer or I would walk over him. Three and a half hours later, we never found another speck of blood nor did we have the buck.
I later loaded up, went home, and grilled doves on the grill at home. My story does have a moral. Don't count your chickens till they hatch.
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