Little John’s Buck
I told John, that if I got a minute I would write up the story of him getting his buck from my point of view. So, here it is.
I have always liked helping others experience the outdoors and in particular hunting. Having rasied two hunting daughters I have a special spot in my heart for helping girls and children, however I have helped plenty of friends who needed a little assistance as well.
Over the last five years, I have switched from being a trophy hunter, to really just enjoying the experience of being out. This was partly due to a huge loss in income from divorce and retirement, but it was also just a general attitude change.
I was lucky enough to be on an excellent lease in Brady with my friend Buff. We had tags for something like fifty does each year. I took over a dozen new hunters each year to get their first hunting experience, meanwhile taking as many as eight in a season myself. That experience took the edge off me needing to kill deer and really solidified my joy at helping others.
Last week with the last few days of deer season winding down, I decided to make one last trip out to the lease. This year I had helped my GF, Sandy, to take her first bow only buck (coyotes ate it up), and her cousin get her first deer on her first hunting trip ever with a little .243 that at least thirty people have used for their first.
Little John has been a very good friend to me over the last few years. Anytime I have needed help on the ranch or broken down somewhere he and his father have been right there to help me. He is kind of guy who will grade your driveway for you as a surprise.
I knew that he had gone through and was still having major issues in his personal life, which I won't go into detail here. I knew that he had not had a chance to hunt deer at all. I decided to call and invite him to come with me to the lease. He accepted. He is also great company and entertaining on road trips.
On the drive out there we discussed the plan. I told him that we could take a mature doe or an older buck that needed to be removed from the herd. The key was to take an animal that would benefit the herd in general. He doesn't have a lot experience aging deer, but he listen carefully and asked a lot of questions.
The first evening I put him in one of my two stands that we call the Back stand. I hunted at the Gate Stand. I put him in that stand because I knew he would see deer. This is something that he is not use to as he has never been on a quality deer lease. Like many he has only been able to hunt pubic land or those big family paper company type East Texas leases where you are lucky to see a deer.
It was not long before he reported several small bucks. He also had a doe, but she spooked before he could get a shot. I was happy because he was seeing animals and I could tell he was excited.
Meanwhile at the gate stand, I had small spike and a button buck. Then with about thirty minutes to go, two does and a yearling jumped into the pen. One doe gave me about two dozen perfect shooting opportunities. I am talking about six to eight yards slightly quartering away. Just begging for an arrow.
I thought about shooting, but really wanted LJ to get a chance and if I shot a doe, we would be done shooting does. We see a lot of bucks, but mature bucks of course are harder to come by. So, I just sat there and it got dark. No regrets.
The next morning, I put John in the Gate stand. I felt for sure the does would come back and give him the can’t miss shot.
Before it was even light enough to see he was texting me that he had animals in front of him. Even though it was only texts, I could feel his excitement. As it got lighter he reported several deer and at least one was a buck. The he reported he had a mature buck under the feeder.
I wrote back for him to take the shot. Yes, I knew that it would mean I couldn’t shoot a buck, but I knew that it mean a lot more to him. Besides in the last three years on this lease I had only killed a couple of cull spikes. I would much rather he shot a buck than me. I had no hesitation in telling him to shoot.
I also had complete confidence in him making a good shot. In the last couple of years, nobody, and I mean nobody has worked harder to become a good archer. I have never known anyone to progress as fast as he has.
Then came the text that he had shot the buck. He said the arrow had disappeared into the white patch of the arm pit. Well that sounded good, but no reason to push it. I told him we would sit an hour. I posed all the regular questions. I normally want to get as much information from the hunter when it is as fresh as possible. Many times they just have an impression, because they are so excited. The more you can find out right after the shot the better your chances of finding the animal.
No does came in and I headed for LJ. He told me the buck had jumped out of the fed pen to the right and crossed the fence, or so he thought. A quick search of the area showed no sign of a hit or blood. With a low chest hit, I expected to find blood right away. I was a tiny bit concerned.
I started to expand the search and found a tiny speck of blood. I then had the general direction, which was about forty five degrees off what John thought. Once I was on the blood I had a steady trail and in something like fifty or sixty yards had the buck.
When I first saw the buck, his body was solid but not massive. However his face and features looked old. I had a moment where I thought he might be only three and we should have left him for another year. Of course this would have been my fault, because he was my quest and my responsibility.
Back at camp a closer examination revealed a wounded leg with an abscess about as big as an orange, and a broken lower jaw right at the front teeth. The buck was mature, but was not in the best of health and his body was smaller than it should have been for his age. He turned out to be both old and wounded, so an excellent deer to take.
John was rightfully proud of him, and his perfect shot. I can tell you he was way, way better than my first buck. Congrats to a good friend and bowhunter, I am sure you will have many more successes in the near future.
I am so glad I was there for your first bow buck.
I told John, that if I got a minute I would write up the story of him getting his buck from my point of view. So, here it is.
I have always liked helping others experience the outdoors and in particular hunting. Having rasied two hunting daughters I have a special spot in my heart for helping girls and children, however I have helped plenty of friends who needed a little assistance as well.
Over the last five years, I have switched from being a trophy hunter, to really just enjoying the experience of being out. This was partly due to a huge loss in income from divorce and retirement, but it was also just a general attitude change.
I was lucky enough to be on an excellent lease in Brady with my friend Buff. We had tags for something like fifty does each year. I took over a dozen new hunters each year to get their first hunting experience, meanwhile taking as many as eight in a season myself. That experience took the edge off me needing to kill deer and really solidified my joy at helping others.
Last week with the last few days of deer season winding down, I decided to make one last trip out to the lease. This year I had helped my GF, Sandy, to take her first bow only buck (coyotes ate it up), and her cousin get her first deer on her first hunting trip ever with a little .243 that at least thirty people have used for their first.
Little John has been a very good friend to me over the last few years. Anytime I have needed help on the ranch or broken down somewhere he and his father have been right there to help me. He is kind of guy who will grade your driveway for you as a surprise.
I knew that he had gone through and was still having major issues in his personal life, which I won't go into detail here. I knew that he had not had a chance to hunt deer at all. I decided to call and invite him to come with me to the lease. He accepted. He is also great company and entertaining on road trips.
On the drive out there we discussed the plan. I told him that we could take a mature doe or an older buck that needed to be removed from the herd. The key was to take an animal that would benefit the herd in general. He doesn't have a lot experience aging deer, but he listen carefully and asked a lot of questions.
The first evening I put him in one of my two stands that we call the Back stand. I hunted at the Gate Stand. I put him in that stand because I knew he would see deer. This is something that he is not use to as he has never been on a quality deer lease. Like many he has only been able to hunt pubic land or those big family paper company type East Texas leases where you are lucky to see a deer.
It was not long before he reported several small bucks. He also had a doe, but she spooked before he could get a shot. I was happy because he was seeing animals and I could tell he was excited.
Meanwhile at the gate stand, I had small spike and a button buck. Then with about thirty minutes to go, two does and a yearling jumped into the pen. One doe gave me about two dozen perfect shooting opportunities. I am talking about six to eight yards slightly quartering away. Just begging for an arrow.
I thought about shooting, but really wanted LJ to get a chance and if I shot a doe, we would be done shooting does. We see a lot of bucks, but mature bucks of course are harder to come by. So, I just sat there and it got dark. No regrets.
The next morning, I put John in the Gate stand. I felt for sure the does would come back and give him the can’t miss shot.
Before it was even light enough to see he was texting me that he had animals in front of him. Even though it was only texts, I could feel his excitement. As it got lighter he reported several deer and at least one was a buck. The he reported he had a mature buck under the feeder.
I wrote back for him to take the shot. Yes, I knew that it would mean I couldn’t shoot a buck, but I knew that it mean a lot more to him. Besides in the last three years on this lease I had only killed a couple of cull spikes. I would much rather he shot a buck than me. I had no hesitation in telling him to shoot.
I also had complete confidence in him making a good shot. In the last couple of years, nobody, and I mean nobody has worked harder to become a good archer. I have never known anyone to progress as fast as he has.
Then came the text that he had shot the buck. He said the arrow had disappeared into the white patch of the arm pit. Well that sounded good, but no reason to push it. I told him we would sit an hour. I posed all the regular questions. I normally want to get as much information from the hunter when it is as fresh as possible. Many times they just have an impression, because they are so excited. The more you can find out right after the shot the better your chances of finding the animal.
No does came in and I headed for LJ. He told me the buck had jumped out of the fed pen to the right and crossed the fence, or so he thought. A quick search of the area showed no sign of a hit or blood. With a low chest hit, I expected to find blood right away. I was a tiny bit concerned.
I started to expand the search and found a tiny speck of blood. I then had the general direction, which was about forty five degrees off what John thought. Once I was on the blood I had a steady trail and in something like fifty or sixty yards had the buck.
When I first saw the buck, his body was solid but not massive. However his face and features looked old. I had a moment where I thought he might be only three and we should have left him for another year. Of course this would have been my fault, because he was my quest and my responsibility.
Back at camp a closer examination revealed a wounded leg with an abscess about as big as an orange, and a broken lower jaw right at the front teeth. The buck was mature, but was not in the best of health and his body was smaller than it should have been for his age. He turned out to be both old and wounded, so an excellent deer to take.
John was rightfully proud of him, and his perfect shot. I can tell you he was way, way better than my first buck. Congrats to a good friend and bowhunter, I am sure you will have many more successes in the near future.
I am so glad I was there for your first bow buck.
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