We have called this deer Patch 10 because he loses a patch of hair on his back each season and has been really easy to identify because of it. This deer has been a typical 10 for the past 4 years we have hunted the place. He appeared to be 4.5 the year we first saw him so that would make him 8.5 this year. My lease partner and I never really paid much attention to this buck because he has always been a basket racked mid 130’s deer and never changed much. Well this year he made a good jump and we were both alright with me shooting him as a management deer even though he is bigger than what we typically call management.
I got in the blind opening morning without blowing any deer out of the area so things seemed off to a good start. This guy frequented this set up so I felt my chances on getting shot were pretty good. When the sun rose there was already a bunch of deer in the pen and around it waiting for the plate to spin. After the feeder spun, some of the bigger deer started to come out of the shadows. Finally, I see my target coming from my left off a ridge and I grabbed my bow and got the camera ready. I waited for a bit watching him until my heart settled and I stopped shaking. He finally gave me what I thought was a good shot and the arrow made a complete pass through. I watched it back on film with my little camera screen and felt good about the shot. I didn’t think it was perfect, but I did think he was a dead deer. I sent out a few text that I had released an arrow and that I thought the shot was good.
Here is the video of the shot. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXB3O8rYFOU"]Patch Ten - YouTube[/ame]
I waited about 30 minutes and went to look at my arrow. It was covered in blood and looked promising. No smell of paunch or any other concerning sign. I snuck out of the area and went back to camp to change clothes and get my dog to practice tracking with. She is primarily a house pet but I like to get her on tracks when possible. She had no luck on this one. Mitch and I looked, and looked, and looked, and could not find the deer. I asked him if it was time to call Matt McWilliams, and we both agreed so the call was made. I told Matt to expect an easy track as I felt confident that I hit this deer in the lungs. Matt showed up and I knew this thing was in the bag. As soon as he turned his dog loose, I was counting down until he said "I found your deer". What started off as a few minutes of waiting turned into hours. Matt finally came back after busting his butt all over the place and said “you will probably see that deer show back up on camera sometime”. I was scratching my head trying to make sense of what happened. Was the shot that bad? It didn’t look terrible on video. What the heck happened???
I reviewed the video more on the big screen and felt less confident about my shot. It was farther back than I wanted it and a little too high. I have still seen deer die with similar shots so I didn’t want to give up hope that I could find him.
I spent the next two days watching for buzzards and doing grid searches with no sign of him. I was planning on going back the following week to see if there was any further sign and Mitch called me Friday morning all excited saying “he is in the freaking pen right now”. I was shocked! When he sent me the pictures, I was even more shocked. How in the heck did this deer take that shot and survive!!!
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]
I packed my stuff and hit the road to Brady. Matt texted me “don’t shoot that same spot again”, LOL, I didn’t realize how hard that was going to be not to do.
I got settled in the blind and a few doe ran off but came back 5 minutes later trying to figure out where I went. I had all of the windows shut in the Krivoman and was waiting for all of the deer to get in the pen before opening the window for fear of too much scent getting out and boogering up this hunt. I had the Ozonics going and I had camo mesh over the window so they could not see the glare from movement when I slowly opened the window. The combination was working well. I had several deer show when the feeder spun but not him. I waited and waited and the corn was almost gone. I began to think he would not show and was distracted on my phone and when I looked up, and HE WAS IN THE FREAKING PEN! He was quartering away at 25 yards but I wanted him closer. He finally committed to 12 yards and I drew my bow. All I could focus on was that big hole I put through him the week before and I watched as my second arrow on this deer entered just inches from the first shot. My goodness, had I made the same mistake twice? All kinds of thoughts ran through my head. I was planning on a lower shot placement, but the commitment had been made and I would need to see how this one payed out. I felt better about this shot than the last one and when I played it back on camera, I was thinking dead deer!
Here is the video of the shot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq5F...ature=youtu.be
I snuck out the back of the blind and made it back to camp. I changed clothes and got my dog just like last time hoping and praying for a different outcome. My pup took me to him and he didn’t make it 50 yards from the feedpen.
I loaded him up and we took pics back at camp. The pics don’t do him justice. He had some great tine length. One G2 was 12” and the other was 10 6/8”. One heck of a deer for something neither of us planned on killing.
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]
He scored 146 2/8 and was 8.5.
Pics didn't load in order but hope you enjoyed the story.
Thanks for following along and thanks for all the support I got from my friends when I was sulking over my first shot!
I got in the blind opening morning without blowing any deer out of the area so things seemed off to a good start. This guy frequented this set up so I felt my chances on getting shot were pretty good. When the sun rose there was already a bunch of deer in the pen and around it waiting for the plate to spin. After the feeder spun, some of the bigger deer started to come out of the shadows. Finally, I see my target coming from my left off a ridge and I grabbed my bow and got the camera ready. I waited for a bit watching him until my heart settled and I stopped shaking. He finally gave me what I thought was a good shot and the arrow made a complete pass through. I watched it back on film with my little camera screen and felt good about the shot. I didn’t think it was perfect, but I did think he was a dead deer. I sent out a few text that I had released an arrow and that I thought the shot was good.
Here is the video of the shot. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXB3O8rYFOU"]Patch Ten - YouTube[/ame]
I waited about 30 minutes and went to look at my arrow. It was covered in blood and looked promising. No smell of paunch or any other concerning sign. I snuck out of the area and went back to camp to change clothes and get my dog to practice tracking with. She is primarily a house pet but I like to get her on tracks when possible. She had no luck on this one. Mitch and I looked, and looked, and looked, and could not find the deer. I asked him if it was time to call Matt McWilliams, and we both agreed so the call was made. I told Matt to expect an easy track as I felt confident that I hit this deer in the lungs. Matt showed up and I knew this thing was in the bag. As soon as he turned his dog loose, I was counting down until he said "I found your deer". What started off as a few minutes of waiting turned into hours. Matt finally came back after busting his butt all over the place and said “you will probably see that deer show back up on camera sometime”. I was scratching my head trying to make sense of what happened. Was the shot that bad? It didn’t look terrible on video. What the heck happened???
I reviewed the video more on the big screen and felt less confident about my shot. It was farther back than I wanted it and a little too high. I have still seen deer die with similar shots so I didn’t want to give up hope that I could find him.
I spent the next two days watching for buzzards and doing grid searches with no sign of him. I was planning on going back the following week to see if there was any further sign and Mitch called me Friday morning all excited saying “he is in the freaking pen right now”. I was shocked! When he sent me the pictures, I was even more shocked. How in the heck did this deer take that shot and survive!!!
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]
I packed my stuff and hit the road to Brady. Matt texted me “don’t shoot that same spot again”, LOL, I didn’t realize how hard that was going to be not to do.
I got settled in the blind and a few doe ran off but came back 5 minutes later trying to figure out where I went. I had all of the windows shut in the Krivoman and was waiting for all of the deer to get in the pen before opening the window for fear of too much scent getting out and boogering up this hunt. I had the Ozonics going and I had camo mesh over the window so they could not see the glare from movement when I slowly opened the window. The combination was working well. I had several deer show when the feeder spun but not him. I waited and waited and the corn was almost gone. I began to think he would not show and was distracted on my phone and when I looked up, and HE WAS IN THE FREAKING PEN! He was quartering away at 25 yards but I wanted him closer. He finally committed to 12 yards and I drew my bow. All I could focus on was that big hole I put through him the week before and I watched as my second arrow on this deer entered just inches from the first shot. My goodness, had I made the same mistake twice? All kinds of thoughts ran through my head. I was planning on a lower shot placement, but the commitment had been made and I would need to see how this one payed out. I felt better about this shot than the last one and when I played it back on camera, I was thinking dead deer!
Here is the video of the shot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq5F...ature=youtu.be
I snuck out the back of the blind and made it back to camp. I changed clothes and got my dog just like last time hoping and praying for a different outcome. My pup took me to him and he didn’t make it 50 yards from the feedpen.
I loaded him up and we took pics back at camp. The pics don’t do him justice. He had some great tine length. One G2 was 12” and the other was 10 6/8”. One heck of a deer for something neither of us planned on killing.
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]
He scored 146 2/8 and was 8.5.
Pics didn't load in order but hope you enjoyed the story.
Thanks for following along and thanks for all the support I got from my friends when I was sulking over my first shot!
Comment