I actually shot this buck a few weeks back, but I have been unable to resize the pic to make it small enough to meet the new requirements of the website.
I have finally got it small enough but am not sure how the pic will turn out so here goes nothing...
Last year I shot my first buck with my bow and this year while hunting the Bar E with my dad and brother I shot my biggest buck to date (with a bow).
We did the WT & Hog package arriving in Hondo at about lunch time on Friday. We have been going here for the past 3 years and have always had good luck. We have always chose to bring our own stands (3 tripods and a pop-up) because we have found the animals are very educated to the placement of the stands on the property. We often set up stands across from existing stands but also talk to Larry about animal movement and if we're lucky the hunter's that are leaving before us. This year we had a couple places in mind based off of what we liked last year and some help from Rattler who had been a week before us.
The first evening on stand I saw some great exotics and a few smaller shooter 8s but I'm not too big on shooting the first night unless he's a biggun, so I just watched and enjoyed my time in the woods. This Houston life is way different than my Victoria upbringing.
After we got back to camp we swapped animal sightings with the other hunters and all chose to hunt the same stands the next morning.
My brother was the first out of our group to lay down a buck. This was Justin's first Buck with a bow and he was very excited. As soon as he shot, he began texting me telling me about the shot and all the details. I'm not sure who was more excited him or I?
That afternoon we had decided to set up the popup along a fenceline that had some real good trails but were real concerned with what we might see due to having a foreign object just placed off of one of their trails. We usually brush in our pop-ups and don't hunt them for months allowing the animals time to get used to the stand. However this morning just felt right I guess. I decided to hunt it on our last morning and before daylight could already hear animals eating my corn. I watched and waited eagerly for the sun to come up. As it did I could make out a few sets of horns and a few does as well. There was one deer I wanted a better look at, as he seemed to stay back and check out everything as the others rushed into eat. After about 20 or 30 minutes he came in and even in the darknesss could see he was considerably heavier than the others. I could not yet count antlers due to the darkness and did not want to make a very costly mistake by shooting the wrong deer. A few more minutes and I was able to confirm what I had suspected... I had the deer I wanted to take! He was about 20yds but was facing straight at me. I kept waiting and waiting for him to turn but he never would. He finally began to turn and I drew back, only to have something spook my trophy and watch helplessly as he ran off. I let off and began to wonder if I had seen the last of him. After about 30 mins there he was again, 20yds staring right at me. However this time he turned broadside and I drew back. As he turned just a hare more, I released and watched my arrow bury itself behind the front left shoulder. I knew he was a goner but due to where I was setup could not see him fall. I waited about 30 minutes and got out of the blind to look for blood or my arrow. After a quick search I found neither. I am color blind so seeing blood is very difficult for me. I got back in the blind to wait for a little longer before going to get my dad to help me in the track. I again got out of my blind, and walked the long way around to my dad as not to desturb any of the other hunters. As I got about a 100 yds from where my dad was hunting (same stand where my brother had shot his deer the day before) I pulled out my binos to see if there were any deer around him. I knew I did not want to mess him up as he had not yet shot his deer either. I glassed and could not see him in his stand. I decided to go back to my stand and wait till they came to get me and then begin the track but as I walked back decided I had to have my deer now. (Sorry Dad, what are sons for?) To my excitement I saw my dad walking down the road toward me, I thought maybe he saw me and was coming to find out what was up. I met him down the road only to see him point off of to the left and show me a 9pt he had shot. I was so happy knowing that all of us had bagged an animal but knew we still had work to do to find mine.
We tagged his deer and I began to tell him about mine. As we walked back I described where the buck was at as well as where I had shot and the direction the deer had ran. We walked down a well traveled trail thinking that would be the way the deer would run with no luck at all on blood. We went back and I again showed him exactly where the deer was and where I was. He then got the blood and we could tell it was a good hit. He had actually ran up the road about 10 yds out of sight and then jumped the fence. We found half of my arrow and got on the trail again. As we walked from drop to drop I found myself looking up every step hoping to see my deer. After about 20yds I looked up and saw my guy laid to rest up against some brush. Needless to say I was like a little boy on christmas morning. He ultimately traveled about 45 yds. My shot went through one lung, grabbed some heart and a piece of the other lung. This was the best shot I have made on a deer with my bow and also my biggest buck to date with a bow.
Here's to many more.
Sorry for the long post but I have been wanting to post this for awhile. Now I just hope the pics are okay!
I have finally got it small enough but am not sure how the pic will turn out so here goes nothing...
Last year I shot my first buck with my bow and this year while hunting the Bar E with my dad and brother I shot my biggest buck to date (with a bow).
We did the WT & Hog package arriving in Hondo at about lunch time on Friday. We have been going here for the past 3 years and have always had good luck. We have always chose to bring our own stands (3 tripods and a pop-up) because we have found the animals are very educated to the placement of the stands on the property. We often set up stands across from existing stands but also talk to Larry about animal movement and if we're lucky the hunter's that are leaving before us. This year we had a couple places in mind based off of what we liked last year and some help from Rattler who had been a week before us.
The first evening on stand I saw some great exotics and a few smaller shooter 8s but I'm not too big on shooting the first night unless he's a biggun, so I just watched and enjoyed my time in the woods. This Houston life is way different than my Victoria upbringing.
After we got back to camp we swapped animal sightings with the other hunters and all chose to hunt the same stands the next morning.
My brother was the first out of our group to lay down a buck. This was Justin's first Buck with a bow and he was very excited. As soon as he shot, he began texting me telling me about the shot and all the details. I'm not sure who was more excited him or I?
That afternoon we had decided to set up the popup along a fenceline that had some real good trails but were real concerned with what we might see due to having a foreign object just placed off of one of their trails. We usually brush in our pop-ups and don't hunt them for months allowing the animals time to get used to the stand. However this morning just felt right I guess. I decided to hunt it on our last morning and before daylight could already hear animals eating my corn. I watched and waited eagerly for the sun to come up. As it did I could make out a few sets of horns and a few does as well. There was one deer I wanted a better look at, as he seemed to stay back and check out everything as the others rushed into eat. After about 20 or 30 minutes he came in and even in the darknesss could see he was considerably heavier than the others. I could not yet count antlers due to the darkness and did not want to make a very costly mistake by shooting the wrong deer. A few more minutes and I was able to confirm what I had suspected... I had the deer I wanted to take! He was about 20yds but was facing straight at me. I kept waiting and waiting for him to turn but he never would. He finally began to turn and I drew back, only to have something spook my trophy and watch helplessly as he ran off. I let off and began to wonder if I had seen the last of him. After about 30 mins there he was again, 20yds staring right at me. However this time he turned broadside and I drew back. As he turned just a hare more, I released and watched my arrow bury itself behind the front left shoulder. I knew he was a goner but due to where I was setup could not see him fall. I waited about 30 minutes and got out of the blind to look for blood or my arrow. After a quick search I found neither. I am color blind so seeing blood is very difficult for me. I got back in the blind to wait for a little longer before going to get my dad to help me in the track. I again got out of my blind, and walked the long way around to my dad as not to desturb any of the other hunters. As I got about a 100 yds from where my dad was hunting (same stand where my brother had shot his deer the day before) I pulled out my binos to see if there were any deer around him. I knew I did not want to mess him up as he had not yet shot his deer either. I glassed and could not see him in his stand. I decided to go back to my stand and wait till they came to get me and then begin the track but as I walked back decided I had to have my deer now. (Sorry Dad, what are sons for?) To my excitement I saw my dad walking down the road toward me, I thought maybe he saw me and was coming to find out what was up. I met him down the road only to see him point off of to the left and show me a 9pt he had shot. I was so happy knowing that all of us had bagged an animal but knew we still had work to do to find mine.
We tagged his deer and I began to tell him about mine. As we walked back I described where the buck was at as well as where I had shot and the direction the deer had ran. We walked down a well traveled trail thinking that would be the way the deer would run with no luck at all on blood. We went back and I again showed him exactly where the deer was and where I was. He then got the blood and we could tell it was a good hit. He had actually ran up the road about 10 yds out of sight and then jumped the fence. We found half of my arrow and got on the trail again. As we walked from drop to drop I found myself looking up every step hoping to see my deer. After about 20yds I looked up and saw my guy laid to rest up against some brush. Needless to say I was like a little boy on christmas morning. He ultimately traveled about 45 yds. My shot went through one lung, grabbed some heart and a piece of the other lung. This was the best shot I have made on a deer with my bow and also my biggest buck to date with a bow.
Here's to many more.
Sorry for the long post but I have been wanting to post this for awhile. Now I just hope the pics are okay!
Comment