wisconsinteacher
Handloader
- Dec 2, 2010
- 1,976
- 290
To say the rut was on was an understatement.
On Friday night, I grunted in a 1/2 rack 6pt that I decided to pass. My wife saw a doe cross the creek and knew she needed to move her stand.
On my Saturday morning sit, I saw 2 does and 2 small bucks. One of the bucks was running with a doe. The plan from there was to have my wife meet me in the woods so she could hunt. For the past 2 weeks, she has been asking if we can move her stand so I said sure, I trust where you are seeing deer and will do anything to help. So, we moved her stand next to a creek where the deer have 2 crossings. I got her in the tree at 2:00 and went to move the truck for the night's hunt. As I move the truck across a big hay field, I see a monster walking across it like he owns the world. Man, this will get a guy fired up. So, I haul butt to my stand about 125 yards from my wife and the creek. About 45 minutes before sunset, I hear water splashing and rocks rolling by the creek. I get a text, "I just shot, he is bedded 40 yards away on my trail out to the field what do I do?" I told her to relax and watch him and that he is hurting. Give it time. 15 minutes later, he stands up and doesn't move until another buck comes along and pushes him. At this point it is dark but still between my wife and the truck. So I loop around the property and go get her from her stand so we can sneak out for the night. She is not happy with the decision to leave but I know we have to.
At home she tells me the story and points to a picture saying this is where I hit him. I thought, if she hit him there, he should have tipped over in sight. Something was not adding up. So at 8:30 the next morning, we go to the bed 40 yards from her tree and see a little blood. I look for an hour and make it 20 yards further. It was not looking good. I knew if he was still sick or dead, he would be in the creek bottom. We divided the bottom in half and started grid searching for a body at this point. After an hour and a half, we had nothing. We took a break and started on the second half of the bottom. We were almost through it and my wife said, "how much farther are you going to go?" I said to the property line. When I got to the line, I noticed a foot bridge that the neighbor built and had to take another look at it. It was a neat bridge of old pallets. At that point we were 3 hours in and I knew it was not looking good. I gave my wife a hug and said we have all been here. We did our best and I don't know what else to say other than I love you and that it will be okay. She was down but said she would not stop bow hunting in the future but done for the year. We hugged again and turned to head to the truck. As I turned, not 5 yards away laid her buck with his head up!!! At that point, I knew he was hurt but we needed to finish the job. She went to the truck and got her bow and did what needed to be done. When it was all over, she was right, she hit him right behind the shoulder but a little low. The problem was that the arrow did not penetration due to the expandable broad head she tried this year. The arrow broke 2 ribs and touched a little of the lung. Max 6" of penetration. What killed the buck was the hole in his rib cage and his lungs collapsing. 18 hours after the shot he was still alive but not going to make it. We got very lucky but by waiting till daylight and knowing the land, we were able to make a good plan and it worked out. The biggest lesson is don't always trust the guys at the sports shop. They told us have no fear of expendables and her draw weight, young kids shooting less have no issues. Well, that lesson has been learned and she will be using 2 blade cut on contact heads next year. She went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. I'm very proud of her and told her time and time again, we are hunting partners and have to work hard together to be successful. She made a good shot and is now fired up for next year!!!
On Friday night, I grunted in a 1/2 rack 6pt that I decided to pass. My wife saw a doe cross the creek and knew she needed to move her stand.
On my Saturday morning sit, I saw 2 does and 2 small bucks. One of the bucks was running with a doe. The plan from there was to have my wife meet me in the woods so she could hunt. For the past 2 weeks, she has been asking if we can move her stand so I said sure, I trust where you are seeing deer and will do anything to help. So, we moved her stand next to a creek where the deer have 2 crossings. I got her in the tree at 2:00 and went to move the truck for the night's hunt. As I move the truck across a big hay field, I see a monster walking across it like he owns the world. Man, this will get a guy fired up. So, I haul butt to my stand about 125 yards from my wife and the creek. About 45 minutes before sunset, I hear water splashing and rocks rolling by the creek. I get a text, "I just shot, he is bedded 40 yards away on my trail out to the field what do I do?" I told her to relax and watch him and that he is hurting. Give it time. 15 minutes later, he stands up and doesn't move until another buck comes along and pushes him. At this point it is dark but still between my wife and the truck. So I loop around the property and go get her from her stand so we can sneak out for the night. She is not happy with the decision to leave but I know we have to.
At home she tells me the story and points to a picture saying this is where I hit him. I thought, if she hit him there, he should have tipped over in sight. Something was not adding up. So at 8:30 the next morning, we go to the bed 40 yards from her tree and see a little blood. I look for an hour and make it 20 yards further. It was not looking good. I knew if he was still sick or dead, he would be in the creek bottom. We divided the bottom in half and started grid searching for a body at this point. After an hour and a half, we had nothing. We took a break and started on the second half of the bottom. We were almost through it and my wife said, "how much farther are you going to go?" I said to the property line. When I got to the line, I noticed a foot bridge that the neighbor built and had to take another look at it. It was a neat bridge of old pallets. At that point we were 3 hours in and I knew it was not looking good. I gave my wife a hug and said we have all been here. We did our best and I don't know what else to say other than I love you and that it will be okay. She was down but said she would not stop bow hunting in the future but done for the year. We hugged again and turned to head to the truck. As I turned, not 5 yards away laid her buck with his head up!!! At that point, I knew he was hurt but we needed to finish the job. She went to the truck and got her bow and did what needed to be done. When it was all over, she was right, she hit him right behind the shoulder but a little low. The problem was that the arrow did not penetration due to the expandable broad head she tried this year. The arrow broke 2 ribs and touched a little of the lung. Max 6" of penetration. What killed the buck was the hole in his rib cage and his lungs collapsing. 18 hours after the shot he was still alive but not going to make it. We got very lucky but by waiting till daylight and knowing the land, we were able to make a good plan and it worked out. The biggest lesson is don't always trust the guys at the sports shop. They told us have no fear of expendables and her draw weight, young kids shooting less have no issues. Well, that lesson has been learned and she will be using 2 blade cut on contact heads next year. She went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. I'm very proud of her and told her time and time again, we are hunting partners and have to work hard together to be successful. She made a good shot and is now fired up for next year!!!
