Well it finally came together last weekend
As some of you know myself and 3 other guys got on a new lease last year in Nolan County. I have hunted a ranch about 15 miles south of this place for several years with good success. We had really high hopes of the place due to the fact that it had a large variety of terrain; i.e mesquite flats, cedar thickets, wheat fields, CRP etc... Also there was a large variety of game including deer, turkey, hogs, quail, dove etc...
Well the cattle rancher decided in June to not renew his lease and pulled his cows off. I don't think anybody would argue that it was a bad thing for the cows to be gone. However, he took all of his watering systems and tanks as well. Of course last year we had a really bad drought and all of the natural water sources dried up well before season. In addition to that there was no wheat planted and there usually was about 150 acres planted in the past. We had an absolutely horrible season last year. Out of 6 hunters total we only killed 2 does all season. There was a lot of sitting and staring at grass dry up and die.
Over the spring and such we were proactie and installed new wateriing systems and such and the deer loved them. We were getting great pictures all spring & summer. Season rolls along this year and the sightings are slim, so we start getting discouraged again. there was a particular place I scouted last year and remember thinking that is was a great staging area for the bucks and does. So, 2 weeks ago I went out and set up my Double Bull and a small feeder along with my Cuddeback No Flash to take a peek and see what might be coming in. We got to the lease early on Friday and I was dying to go check out what was on the camera and to chum a few areas for the morning hunts. I get there and the ground is torn all up, all corn is gone along with the Buck Bran that I had put out and the Cuddeback had filled up a 512MB card!. We raced back to camp and viewed them and was blown away by what we were seeing. I had videos of no less than 6 different bucks that were visiting along with a few does. I got footage of scrape making, doe chasing, buck fights.... all kind of stuff I've never actually seen in the wild before. Needless to say I was pumped.
I was in the blind by 6:15 on Saturday morning. Let me just say that at 6:15am, on a moonless night, inside a DB blind is darker than 10' up a ......well it was dark. Anyway, I went ahead and opened my shooting windows and loaded an arrow and took a little power nap while waiting for daylight. At 7:15, DEER! at the feeder. It's still too dark to shoot so I wait 10 long agonizing minutes until finaly I feel comfortable taking the shot. I pick up the bow, take a couple breaths, turn on the sight light and hammer time. I drew back, settled the pin low and a little back on his chest and the next thing I know, the arrow is on it's way; I don't even remember the bow going off. I just see the Lumenok screaming it's way to the deer at 305 pfs and THWACK! I see the Lumenok disappear and the entire white underbelly of the deer as he does the high tail kick. He crashes off for a few seconds and then total silence. That's when it kicked in, I started shaking badly. I had to gain my braeth and composure and looked at my watch; 7:30 on the nose.
The suspense was killing me. I wanted so badly to get up and go find my arrow because I could not see it lyng on the ground, of course then worry started to settle in. I managed to get a cell signal and called my wife who was on her way home from work and talked to her to kill time for about 45 minutes. She needed to go to bed so I picked up my magazine and read it for another 45 minutes. By now it was 9:00. I got out and picked up the blood trail immediately. there was blood at the impact site and quite a bit of it; so far so good. I followed it for about 25 yards and found my arrow intact and covered with blood. About another 15 yards and all of a sudden the deer jumps up and explodes out of there. I listen and am pretty sure I hear him crash again, but I decided to back out and head back to camp and give him some time. I called my buddy on the radio and told him what happened and we headed to camp.
At 12:30 we decided to take up the trail again. Just as I suspected his last run was when he jumped up out of his bed. We found him about 50 yards from where I jumped him very dead and very stiff so he probably died pretty quickly after I jumped him. When we got to him I inspected the entry/exit wounds and was suprised at what I found. The reaction time of these animals amazes me. this deer was totally relaxed, 25 yards, quartering away, head in the corn eating. In the 1/4 second it took for my arrow to get to him, he lunged and wheeled anough for my arrow to hit him in the hindquarter, travel through and destroy the hip joint, continue through and center punch the liver, and exit at the 2nd rib on the opposite side. The Slick Trick performed flawlessly, there was a huge hole all the way through the deer and the broadhead was none the worse for wear.
Anyway, here he is. He's not a monster but since he's 1.5 years in the harvesting he a trophy to me.
Well the cattle rancher decided in June to not renew his lease and pulled his cows off. I don't think anybody would argue that it was a bad thing for the cows to be gone. However, he took all of his watering systems and tanks as well. Of course last year we had a really bad drought and all of the natural water sources dried up well before season. In addition to that there was no wheat planted and there usually was about 150 acres planted in the past. We had an absolutely horrible season last year. Out of 6 hunters total we only killed 2 does all season. There was a lot of sitting and staring at grass dry up and die.
Over the spring and such we were proactie and installed new wateriing systems and such and the deer loved them. We were getting great pictures all spring & summer. Season rolls along this year and the sightings are slim, so we start getting discouraged again. there was a particular place I scouted last year and remember thinking that is was a great staging area for the bucks and does. So, 2 weeks ago I went out and set up my Double Bull and a small feeder along with my Cuddeback No Flash to take a peek and see what might be coming in. We got to the lease early on Friday and I was dying to go check out what was on the camera and to chum a few areas for the morning hunts. I get there and the ground is torn all up, all corn is gone along with the Buck Bran that I had put out and the Cuddeback had filled up a 512MB card!. We raced back to camp and viewed them and was blown away by what we were seeing. I had videos of no less than 6 different bucks that were visiting along with a few does. I got footage of scrape making, doe chasing, buck fights.... all kind of stuff I've never actually seen in the wild before. Needless to say I was pumped.
I was in the blind by 6:15 on Saturday morning. Let me just say that at 6:15am, on a moonless night, inside a DB blind is darker than 10' up a ......well it was dark. Anyway, I went ahead and opened my shooting windows and loaded an arrow and took a little power nap while waiting for daylight. At 7:15, DEER! at the feeder. It's still too dark to shoot so I wait 10 long agonizing minutes until finaly I feel comfortable taking the shot. I pick up the bow, take a couple breaths, turn on the sight light and hammer time. I drew back, settled the pin low and a little back on his chest and the next thing I know, the arrow is on it's way; I don't even remember the bow going off. I just see the Lumenok screaming it's way to the deer at 305 pfs and THWACK! I see the Lumenok disappear and the entire white underbelly of the deer as he does the high tail kick. He crashes off for a few seconds and then total silence. That's when it kicked in, I started shaking badly. I had to gain my braeth and composure and looked at my watch; 7:30 on the nose.
The suspense was killing me. I wanted so badly to get up and go find my arrow because I could not see it lyng on the ground, of course then worry started to settle in. I managed to get a cell signal and called my wife who was on her way home from work and talked to her to kill time for about 45 minutes. She needed to go to bed so I picked up my magazine and read it for another 45 minutes. By now it was 9:00. I got out and picked up the blood trail immediately. there was blood at the impact site and quite a bit of it; so far so good. I followed it for about 25 yards and found my arrow intact and covered with blood. About another 15 yards and all of a sudden the deer jumps up and explodes out of there. I listen and am pretty sure I hear him crash again, but I decided to back out and head back to camp and give him some time. I called my buddy on the radio and told him what happened and we headed to camp.
At 12:30 we decided to take up the trail again. Just as I suspected his last run was when he jumped up out of his bed. We found him about 50 yards from where I jumped him very dead and very stiff so he probably died pretty quickly after I jumped him. When we got to him I inspected the entry/exit wounds and was suprised at what I found. The reaction time of these animals amazes me. this deer was totally relaxed, 25 yards, quartering away, head in the corn eating. In the 1/4 second it took for my arrow to get to him, he lunged and wheeled anough for my arrow to hit him in the hindquarter, travel through and destroy the hip joint, continue through and center punch the liver, and exit at the 2nd rib on the opposite side. The Slick Trick performed flawlessly, there was a huge hole all the way through the deer and the broadhead was none the worse for wear.
Anyway, here he is. He's not a monster but since he's 1.5 years in the harvesting he a trophy to me.
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