First Good Buck
First Good Buck
November 2004, and this is my favorite hunt of all-time. I had not killed a deer with my bow in 2 or 3 seasons and I was having terrible luck. I shot over a deer or two, and I had shot under a deer or 2.
John told me in his own subtle way that maybe I should start coming to some 3D shoots with him. Which actually meant, maybe if you practiced a little more you might hit one!!! So the summer before that season I shot every 3D shoot with John & Mark. We even travelled to Jasper and shot in a shoot. My confidence was pretty high.
John filmed a 9 pointer the last weekend of October that he told me he probably should have shot, he was 4.5 and probably scored in low 20's. He also told me that he really thought I would shoot that deer on sight, and I would probably be very proud to hang that buck on my wall.
John dropped me off at "The Palace" and told me the same words he told me before every hunt, "Drill One..." I got settled in my blind about 30 minutes before sun up. The feeder spun, and deer instantly poured in. I am guessing about 8:30 or so that 9 point wandered in. John was correct, I wanted him bad. I had a tree that was 15 yards out of my left shooting hole that I corned behind so the deer would eat and I could draw. When I got my first VE, Tyge (Fulldraw) coined that tree the "Kerrville Blindfold" which is what John and I called those types of trees from that day forward.
He settled behind that tree and started eating, and I drew my bow and steadied my pin. I released the arrow and smoked that hoss. I videoed the hunt and I replayed it about 100 times to confirm exactly where I hit him. Right behind the shoulder through 2 lungs.
I sat back in my chair, as hard as that was, and waited. About 30 seconds later it started raining, looking back on it now, it was no more than a drizzle, but I thought I would surely loose my blood-trail. I grabbed my video camera and started running down the road to John...
I cleared the first hill and the truck wasn't there. Where did he park it? I cleared the second hill and still no truck. What the heck was he thinking? I cleared the third hill, and there was the truck, just beyond the 4th hill. I could have murdered him. He parked down at the intersection of our 2 roads, which was way closer to his spot. I am sure he did that just to make sure I would have a good hunt, even though it greatly reduced his chance of a seeing a shooter. Again just another example of him wanting success for everyone else, that is all he ever thought about.
Well I drive up to his feeder just about 9, and he immediately knows I had shot something. John screamed, "Did you get him Matt?" I yelled back, "I drilled one Paw-In-Law!!!" He busted out of that blind and wanted to see that video, and he watched it one time and said, "Yep, Drill Job... He ain't going far!!!"
We went back to the area, and I started looking for sign, and my arrow, just like he had taught me. Well he decided to walk ahead and look for the deer, which he found. My buck had rounded the corner and went no more than 50 yards, he was dead in a bald open field. Meanwhile, I find my arrow, and the sign on the arrow looks good, but I find nothing where I shoot my buck except 2 little drops of blood.
So I drop to my hands and knees, again something he taught me. He then says, "Matt sometimes when you hit a deer good like you did on this guy, you need to come ahead and check the trail for bigger, better sign." The whole time I am thinking, he has never said that before, and that makes no sense to me. I stay on my hands and knees and continue looking for sign, I am still inching forward, not knowing John is looking at my buck.
He tells me again, "Matt sometimes you need to just forget what you know, and just check ahead for bigger, better sign!!!" I promptly tell him (because now I am getting upset with him), "John are you going to help me or not, because if you say no, I'll just find him on my own!!!" He then said, "Would you please just come here and look at this, I found some big sign!!!"
I walk to where John is standing, and I see my buck laying "dead as a door nail" in the middle of this field. He found him within 15 seconds of getting on the scene, but he strung me along for about 15 minutes. I didn't know whether to hug him or punch him in the mouth. He deserved both!!! LOL
Jubilation set in, and we hugged. I thanked him for dragging me along everywhere he went, for making me practice every day, and for being such a great Paw-In-Law. I found out that Sunday that Jennifer was pregnant, which meant he was going to be a Paw-Paw.
Definitely a life-changing weekend, and one I am going to cherish as long as I walk this earth. Best buck of my hunting career to that point, and finding out John and I were going to have a little hunting buddy, it doesn't get any better than that.
First Good Buck
November 2004, and this is my favorite hunt of all-time. I had not killed a deer with my bow in 2 or 3 seasons and I was having terrible luck. I shot over a deer or two, and I had shot under a deer or 2.
John told me in his own subtle way that maybe I should start coming to some 3D shoots with him. Which actually meant, maybe if you practiced a little more you might hit one!!! So the summer before that season I shot every 3D shoot with John & Mark. We even travelled to Jasper and shot in a shoot. My confidence was pretty high.
John filmed a 9 pointer the last weekend of October that he told me he probably should have shot, he was 4.5 and probably scored in low 20's. He also told me that he really thought I would shoot that deer on sight, and I would probably be very proud to hang that buck on my wall.
John dropped me off at "The Palace" and told me the same words he told me before every hunt, "Drill One..." I got settled in my blind about 30 minutes before sun up. The feeder spun, and deer instantly poured in. I am guessing about 8:30 or so that 9 point wandered in. John was correct, I wanted him bad. I had a tree that was 15 yards out of my left shooting hole that I corned behind so the deer would eat and I could draw. When I got my first VE, Tyge (Fulldraw) coined that tree the "Kerrville Blindfold" which is what John and I called those types of trees from that day forward.
He settled behind that tree and started eating, and I drew my bow and steadied my pin. I released the arrow and smoked that hoss. I videoed the hunt and I replayed it about 100 times to confirm exactly where I hit him. Right behind the shoulder through 2 lungs.
I sat back in my chair, as hard as that was, and waited. About 30 seconds later it started raining, looking back on it now, it was no more than a drizzle, but I thought I would surely loose my blood-trail. I grabbed my video camera and started running down the road to John...
I cleared the first hill and the truck wasn't there. Where did he park it? I cleared the second hill and still no truck. What the heck was he thinking? I cleared the third hill, and there was the truck, just beyond the 4th hill. I could have murdered him. He parked down at the intersection of our 2 roads, which was way closer to his spot. I am sure he did that just to make sure I would have a good hunt, even though it greatly reduced his chance of a seeing a shooter. Again just another example of him wanting success for everyone else, that is all he ever thought about.
Well I drive up to his feeder just about 9, and he immediately knows I had shot something. John screamed, "Did you get him Matt?" I yelled back, "I drilled one Paw-In-Law!!!" He busted out of that blind and wanted to see that video, and he watched it one time and said, "Yep, Drill Job... He ain't going far!!!"
We went back to the area, and I started looking for sign, and my arrow, just like he had taught me. Well he decided to walk ahead and look for the deer, which he found. My buck had rounded the corner and went no more than 50 yards, he was dead in a bald open field. Meanwhile, I find my arrow, and the sign on the arrow looks good, but I find nothing where I shoot my buck except 2 little drops of blood.
So I drop to my hands and knees, again something he taught me. He then says, "Matt sometimes when you hit a deer good like you did on this guy, you need to come ahead and check the trail for bigger, better sign." The whole time I am thinking, he has never said that before, and that makes no sense to me. I stay on my hands and knees and continue looking for sign, I am still inching forward, not knowing John is looking at my buck.
He tells me again, "Matt sometimes you need to just forget what you know, and just check ahead for bigger, better sign!!!" I promptly tell him (because now I am getting upset with him), "John are you going to help me or not, because if you say no, I'll just find him on my own!!!" He then said, "Would you please just come here and look at this, I found some big sign!!!"
I walk to where John is standing, and I see my buck laying "dead as a door nail" in the middle of this field. He found him within 15 seconds of getting on the scene, but he strung me along for about 15 minutes. I didn't know whether to hug him or punch him in the mouth. He deserved both!!! LOL
Jubilation set in, and we hugged. I thanked him for dragging me along everywhere he went, for making me practice every day, and for being such a great Paw-In-Law. I found out that Sunday that Jennifer was pregnant, which meant he was going to be a Paw-Paw.
Definitely a life-changing weekend, and one I am going to cherish as long as I walk this earth. Best buck of my hunting career to that point, and finding out John and I were going to have a little hunting buddy, it doesn't get any better than that.
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