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Method:
Mathews Switchback The hunt actually started last weekend when I saw this buck while hunting the upper party house field. He was walking the terrace about 75 yards away. I didn't get a chance to get to get a good look at him but I knew he was big. I couldn't wait to get back out there. Well Sunday morning seemed to perfect. I got out to my stand early because I couldn't sleep. Rain had come thoughu Friday and a nice cold snap followed it and it was about 43 degrees that morning. As soon as the sun came up I spotted some movement, it was a small single doe that came in from behind me down the field. I had a 14 yard shot but at 7:15 it was not what I was hoping for. Three more does came from behing me again but walked the terrace about 35 yards up. They were nice but I decide to pass. Had they came in at 14 yards like the other doe I may have shot one. What they did do was convince me to get a range on the exact spot that would prove fatal in 15 minutes. At 7:45 I was standing looking out into the field when there he came running the terrace that would lead to a 35 yard shot. I knew there was a small window because at 35 yards the terrace then turns away and there is no shooting lane. I pulled to full draw and watched him run at a good pace I was worried he wouldn't stop. When he got to the right spot I did my best bleat noise and he stopped at 35 yards quartering slightly toward me. I put my 30 yard pin on him and let it fly. I watched the arrow hit and bury deep in him. He ran up the hill with my arrow sticking about 8 inches out of his side. I felt like I might have hit him high so I gave him plenty of time. I got down about 8:45 and met Brett for breakfast at the house. I wanted to give him a good two hours but it was the longest two hours ever. When Brett and I headed out we fond the blood trail and went to work. At first the blood trail looked good at times and at times not. We tracked him back down the hill into the woods at the bottom of the field. Once into the woods we thought the tracking would be easier but all the sudden the trail went cold. We looked for probably 45 minutes in one spot when Brett all the sudden picked up the trail again. At that point we found the end of my arrow. We followed the trail again up hill for a couple hundred yards then again nothing. At this point Brett and I decided he would be heading for water. We weren't sure where exactly we were so we went back to the party house and checked the map. We decided to head over to Owen's pond by Koob's field. We back tracked from there found the last spot of the blood trail and decided to start the grid search. We split by about 30 yards and started walking in about 75 yards,when, I spotted him or he spotted me. He was laying down and lifted his head and looked at me. I knew he was hurting since he didn't budge. In my haste I left without my bow. Brett decided he would go back to the Rhino for it. On the way back he came across the woods and ended up at right on the deer. He heard Brett and stood up and walked away. We decided that we could try and put a stalk on him. But, cooler heads prevailed and we left. I got my dad and Steve's dad and we went back out at 7:30am the next day. We found our marked area and and started our search. Within 100 yards from the last spot there he was twisted around a small tree. My father in law wasn't sure it was my deer since I told him it was an 8 pointer and this clearly a 10. So to prove it I surgically removed the easy of my arrow from his liver. |
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