The "Almost Buck" by Trophy Ridge Prostaffer Dan Schultz

The “Almost” Buck                              

 

My quest for a self filmed buck with my bow was almost fulfilled on an early November afternoon in 2009. After spending the day with my son at a model train show, I took advantage of the crisp, clear weather and hunted at my grandfather’s. It was kind of day where the deer activity is non-stop and you even have trouble just getting to the stand. I love those days!

 

Walking in, I was covered in deer already. Does were everywhere. Bumped a spike horn, more does, then I spot a good buck working a ridgeline, nose to the ground. I dropped my climber and hid behind it, but he didn’t see me and I didn’t call to him. Once he was out of sight, I quickly picked a tree and climbed up and set up my gear. A doe watched me climb from 15 yards, never flinching. She must know Gramp’s rule about not shooting does!

 

Once I got settled, I activated an estrus doe Buck Bomb canister and threw it 15 yards in front of me. I gave a quick rattling sequence and waited. It didn’t take long for a 4 pointer to come in. he walked right up to the can and smelled it for what seemed like an hour. Finally frustrated that it wasn’t a real receptive doe, he walked off. 10 minutes later he came back and double checked, just to make sure. Poor little guy.

 

About an hour before sunset, I spotted movement out in front of me, so I stood up and looked through the binos. I saw a doe on a dead run, zig sagging, with a buck in hot pursuit; A GOOD BUCK! Knowing he was a shooter, I turned on the camera and began to follow them. He chased her towards me and she ran right under the tree I was in, but he veered off once he hit the path the airborne Buck Bomb scent travelled. He followed that scent trail like he was on a string, the whole time I am panning on him, keeping him in the viewfinder. At 18 yards I drew my bow, double checking to make sure he was still in the frame. I mouthed a bleat, “meennnt” and he stopped at 17 yards, quartering away…triple checked the camera screen, he was dead center. I put the top pin of my Trophy Ridge Micro Alpha 3 on the 12 ring and pulled through the release. I watched the arrow disappear through his vitals as he spun and ran back down hill. I watched him until he was out of sight, then I heard that wonderful, tale tell crash! I was pumped! PUMPED!

 

Anyone who shoots a good deer, or any deer for that matter, knows the feeling, the high, you experience right after. The shakes, the excitement, yeah, the GOOD STUFF. I panned the camera back to me and gave a babbling post shot interview where I compared these feelings to that of a school girl being awarded Prom Queen…and to this day, I still have NO idea where that thought came from! I shut the camera down and started to collect my gear and climb down. Once I got down I decided to check the footage. I couldn’t find it. Saw all of my other footage, but none of this sequence. I started to panic, but decided I better find this deer first and worry about the footage later. It didn’t take long to find him, I mean, you shoot any critter in the boiler room with a Rocket Hammerhead and it WILL leave you a nice blood trail to follow. He didn’t make it sixty yards.

 

He was my second best buck ever, a great NY 8 pointer, and my shot was equally fantastic. It was, just an absolute awesome hunt, start to finish. Except…..I never hit the record button on the video camera! It was turned on, he was in frame, he did his part to become a movie star…I just screwed up and didn’t MASH that blasted record button! I was so disappointed, and honestly, it tainted that hunt. It still haunts me to this day. I checked that camera one hundred times for that kill sequence.

 

Messing up in the woods is part of what makes hunting so challenging and fun, you not only have to overcome outwitting an animal with amazing hearing, eyesight, and smell, but you have to sometimes outwit yourself…and that can be hard.