11_10 buck
While running out of days and energy, I connected mid-day Thursday on this fine representative of a north-central PA buck.
My season to this point was somewhat normal on sightings and opportunities. I had a too-close encounter on nice 7 pt a few weeks ago but never got a shot. Really blew a chance on a buck of a lifetime a few days later. With the warm weather earlier this week, daylight deer sightings were few and far between. However, I knew with the peak of the breeding going on in my area, anything could happen at any time. Well I burned myself out. Fatigue and chronic back pain coupled with disappointment had me in quite a funk. I decided to take it easy Thursday morning. I slept-in to recharge mentally and physically, with the plans to hit a potential mid-day travel route. This stand site has produced several pics of 12 o'clock bucks during the last week of the archery seasons of the past few years.
I settled in around 10:30 feeling pretty good. The drop in temps with a cool breeze got me back in the mood. After about an hour on stand I heard a deer walking through the dense woods behind me. I turned to see a doe coming into the clearing for lunch. Brought her fawn along and I was hoping a buck too. Just as they started to munch on the grass a buck appeared from the brush below the clearing. I moved into shooting position as I noticed a spike enter the field from my left. The buck, a shooter, trotted across the opening as I drew on him, 30 yards. The shooter buck darted at the spike as I released my arrow. I tried to hold off but was already in the act of releasing. The arrow grazed the buck's hindquarter and all 4 deer ran off out of sight.
Disappointed was an understatement, but I quickly nocked another arrow just in case. About 10 minutes later I heard a grunt from where I last saw the deer. I answered with a single grunt of my own with renewed enthusiasm. Seconds later the shooter re-appeared on a direct path to my tree. He was heading straight at me with no trees to hide my draw. I decided to move anyway in the hopes I could freeze him long enough for the second shot. He glanced downward sniffing the leaves at about 20 yards, never stopping. I drew. At 10 yards, he turned slightly to his right, opening for a frontal shoulder shot.
As my fletching disappeared I knew the shot was good. The arrow exited just in front of the last right-side rib. He barely made it 40 yards. As it turns out, he's not the biggest buck we've seen in the area this year, but one of the largest ever that's been killed by our group. As others have also stated, he's a trophy to me.
post edited by Claypool313 - 2011/11/11 18:45:58
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