.jpg)
*If you haven’t read my “Bittersweet Buck” blog, take a moment to go read that one before proceeding. It will help explain why Baby Brows is my ‘Bout Time Buck and add more meaning to this one. Here is the link:
http://community.deergear.com/Article/BittersweetBuck I haven't updated it on my blog yet but its still currently up on the Legendary Whitetails page.
It was a typical weekend in the Texas Hill Country with rain forecasted which always seemed to happen when we headed there to hunt; it never failed it would rain at least one day but it was a hot Friday; Texas hot. We were hunting
ground blinds in thick cedar (as much as I love being in a tree this area was not prime for tree stands, climbers, or even tripods so we had to forgo the hot boxes). It was 94 degrees and we sat in different areas; my husband, best buddy, and me, sweating,
in shorts and snake boots waiting for the last possible moment to put on face masks or face paint. Rain was on the way the next 2 days so we were hoping for a successful hunt on Friday; It didn’t happen. We saw some movement but nothing legal or old enough.
.jpg)
Saturday morning it poured rain as we sat in our ground blinds listening to the pitter patter on the roof, watching a few drips come through, and hoping for it to let up and the deer to get moving. It didn’t happen. With a full moon and
rain the odds were stacked against us but a cool front moved through with the rain and dropped the temperatures down to 59 degrees. The cloud cover from the cool front had blocked out the bright moon and Saturday afternoon looked to be the most promising for
activity. We all made it to our stands early and I saw some movement about 4:00pm but nothing legal or mature. I was just happy to be in rain boots and pants instead of shorts and sweating!
A text message showed up on my phone about 6:30pm that our buddy shot a doe and he could see her laying about 20 yards from where he shot her. I texted back my congratulations and looked up to see a buck walk out of the brush. There he
was standing broad side but with the antler restrictions in the county we were hunting I needed him to look at me or away to check his rack size. *The antler restrictions are for a 2 buck county where 1 buck must have one unbranched antler (a spike, 3 pt,
or freak) and the other buck must have an inside spread greater than 13 inches, usually at the tips of their ears when alert. He finally turned to look in my direction and I confirmed he was big enough, a beautiful 9 pt. (The final measurement was 15 3/4 inches). My heart began racing…
.jpg) |
| Trail Cam pic from the week before of Baby Brows |
I was already in disbelief that this buck was even close enough to shoot. We were hunting a low fence, low deer population area with some of the most skittish deer I have ever hunted. They are definitely always on high alert compared to
the deer I have hunted in South Texas and spook very easily; in 5 years of hunting this place the quantity of deer taken was low, well deer taken with a bow. The neighbors are content rifle hunting and shooting young deer or being reckless with their kills so our management
of passing on young, although legal, bucks was in constant battle with those around us without the same management ideas. Regardless of what others were doing though we stayed true to our morals and ethics over the years and passed on young bucks more times
than I can count hoping we would be rewarded.
As my heart started beating in my ears I made the decision of using my 20 yard pin. He was standing about 25 yards away because I had ranged a group of cactus in front of him at 22 yards and a group behind him at 28 yards earlier when I
first got in the blind. I try to range landmarks early instead of waiting until the deer is in front of me to range distance so I can eliminate unnecessary movement. As I began to lift my bow, I caught a glimpse of another set of antlers in the brush so I
pulled out my binoculars to look. He was a much younger buck but now I had another set of eyes to potentially bust me. My buck was now alternating between looking forward at the other buck and in my direction at the blind. I was completely blacked out in the
blind with a long sleeve black shirt and black face mask but as I mentioned before, these deer are always on high alert.
I was trying to calm my breathing as I picked up my bow to draw. There wasn’t a breath of wind and the woods were dead silent so I knew I was going to have to be extremely stealthy and make small movements. I drew back but it was the slowest
I had ever drawn my bow making it the most difficult. The adrenaline was pumping and as I lowered my pins onto his shoulder they went black. No longer could I see the fiber optics of my pins of green, yellow, red etc; instead my tunnel vision took over and
I watched my top 20 yard pin hover over his shoulder. At this point he had turned in my direction and was looking at the blind. I watched the muscles in his shoulders for any type of twitch that would indicate he was about to run just as I released on him.
.jpg)
He didn’t jump my string and as my arrow slammed into his shoulder I heard the beautiful ‘thwack’ of the hit. He turned and I saw about 4 inches of my arrow with the lighted nock stick out. My arrow had passed through, although not a complete
pass through, but I knew I had made enough penetration to drop him hopefully nearby. I could only watch him run a few yards before he was out of sight because the cedar trees are extremely thick; so I listened. I thought I heard a crash but my heart was still in
my ears and I was shaking so bad I wasn’t sure what I heard. I fumbled for my phone to text that I had just shot a buck. Now the hard part…wait. I waited for about 30-45 minutes and my husband crossed the ranch to meet me to start tracking.
It was now dark and the ground was still wet from the rain and visions of my Bittersweet Buck danced in my head for fear of the same situation. I found blood at the impact site and both pieces of my arrow 5 yards behind there covered in blood.
It resembled a lung shot because of the air bubbles so I knew the blood trail was going to be more minimal than a heart shot. We began tracking a small blood trail, marking each last spot with my lighted nock before moving forward. The positive of the wet
ground was the imprints of his tracks as he ran and dug into the ground. We had only tracked about 30 yards when we saw a large pile of fresh deer droppings and a larger pool of blood. We both smiled at each other because that was a great sign! We both shined
our flashlights up and there another 10 yards was my buck lying against a tree.
.jpg)
From where I stood I couldn’t even see his antlers but I didn’t care. I immediately burst into uncontrollable tears (yes ladies probably the ugly cry) from joy, years of hard work and never giving up, accomplishment and gratefulness. I
just stood there holding my hands over my mouth as 100% pure unfiltered emotion took over. I grabbed my husband as he gave me a big hug and I cried. He walked over to him first because I was still frozen and ensured he was expired and grabbed his antlers.
I finally followed and was able to see my buck as I took a huge deep breath. It is so hard to explain in words that exact moment and feeling especially after years of heartbreak and frustration; it was ‘Bout Time!!! (and if you couldn't tell the name Baby Brows came from his super small brow tines but they had character because he had green moss/tree leaves on them from rubbing - which I also found a fresh rub while tracking him!)
.jpg)
I filled out and attached my tag, loaded him up and then headed to pick up our buddy’s doe he had already tagged and field dressed. We headed back to camp to take a few pictures and hurry to get him cleaned and on ice. Although
it was a cooler night, the temperatures still required us to get him cleaned, quartered and on ice as soon as possible. We decided on a European mount for my buck and wrapped his head up for transport. I was on cloud nine for the rest of the weekend (ok... I still am) and could barely sleep that night with such a big grin on my face! The entire hunt from start to finish was an out of body experience that I replay over and over in my mind that I will never forget.
I am working on a more poetic version of the feelings, emotions, sights, sounds and overwhelming joy in an attempt to explain that moment from my heart in a way that I feel will capture it to the best of my ability.
.jpg)
Congratulations not only on the taking of your buck but also on another well written adventure. Felt as if I was there myself
ReplyDeleteThanks again for reading! And thank you for the congrats! I'm glad I was able to describe it in detail to bring you along with me in my journey! Happy Hunting!
DeleteGood job and good story. Let's not talk smack about rifle hunters though. We know Rifle is not a compound bow. Nor is a compound a recurve bow just as a recurve is not a spear. And a spear is not a rock. Each weapon has their own challenge. I am sure you wouldn't like to hear a long bow shooter's thoughts about compound bows if he started talking smack. Also, as long as we are not paying for other people's hunting licenses, there is no need to talk about their legal deer. Hunters already have enough enemies, no need to add more. Good luck on your next hunts!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to read my blog. In this fast paced world of instant gratification reading such a lengthy post can be rare, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteLet me try to clarify what I was saying because in no way was I attempting to bash rifle hunters it was merely an attempt to show how & why this buck was such a challenge & how much it means to me.
The rifle hunter neighbors however are reckless unfortunately and is not reflective of all rifle hunters however. For example we had been watching a beautiful 9pt buck on trail camera who we nick named Notched Ear due to the large cut in his ear, only to find him on our cross fence between us & the neighbors w/a rifle shot on his shoulder, hung up and destroyed & mangled by coyotes. I have pictures but they are too graphic & inappropriate to post. I actually cried because we had heard the shot the evening before and now this buck and his meat had been wasted. They never came looking for him, or asked to come onto our property etc and he wasn't far from their blind. Yes it happens but this was not the first time and to me this is reckless. If you shoot a deer, especially with a gun, and you give up looking for it (in this case less than 75 yards from where you shot it) that in my opinion is reckless.
As far as legal deer it is not a negotiable concept in this county because it has antler restrictions and for good reason. Texas Parks and Wildlife data shows that prior to the antler restrictions being put into place, the average age of a deer killed was 1.5 years old. Now after years with these laws the average age of a deer killed is 4.5 years old. They work but unfortunately there are still 2.5 year old deer (although legal by antler restrictions) being shot which is why Baby Brows even making it to 4.5 years old was such a big deal.
I hunted with rifle for years before picking up a bow & do not have anything against rifle hunters, however those around us at this place are reckless and purposeful in their sabotage of our hunts (stealing tree climbers, cutting feeder wires, walking the fence line with their rifle during prime hunting hours & during archery only season). Again this is why it is such a challenge.
Regarding traditional archers...I have a recurve and it is the hardest challenge I have ever decided to accept. I have tremendous respect for all traditional archers and have said before on social media that I would gladly accept a separate traditional archery only season without compound bows because the skill set & challenge is truly that much greater (as with a spear or throwing a rock as you mentioned) and the same reason I disagree with crossbows being allowed during archery only season-different skill set.
Again I am sorry for it appearing as if I was bashing rifle hunters but that is far from what I was saying. I hope this helps clear up any confusion and you continue to read my blogs. Let me know if you follow me on Twitter/FB so we can interact.
Thanks for the reply. I like your blogs. I check out the blogs and the videos of other hunters, too and sometimes I share my opinions with them. You had a great hunt. I read your blog and I loved it. In my humble opinion, you don't need to talk bad about other hunters to make your hunt more challenging. If people steal from you, damage your property or shoot a young legal deer, write a separate blog. Trust me, you will see, the world will become a better place, instantly. Personally, I would much rather reading about a hunt and the history of a specific deer instead of talking smack about other hunters.
ReplyDeleteCompound bows are shooting at the speeds of 350+ fps in these days. Traditional archery equipment and even most crossbows can't even get close to this number. If a long bow or a recurve bow hunter thought compound bows shouldn't be allowed in archery season, I know you wouldn't like it. Actually, back in the day, this was a topic of discussion and we forgot about it. Same as crossbow hunters vs compound bow hunters today. We will forget about it. Crossbow is a bow since the 4th century and it evolved like every other type of bow. That's why more states are allowing crossbows in archery season because it is a great tool for people who have limb disorder, older folks, people who have smaller bodies and weaker upper body strength or the people who simply like to shoot this type of a weapon which has an ancient history. Don't forget, William Tell shot the apple above his son's head with a crossbow and became a legend :)
Again thanks for your thorough response. I've learned I can't please everybody and the mention of everything you disliked was solely to prove the challenge of this buck and I guess we differ on that because the unethical hunters around us are sometimes the biggest challenge. It's not bashing them it's just the circumstances of where we hunt. Highlighting unethical behavior should have a positive effect so others will strive to avoid that behavior. We can agree to disagree but I appreciate such a passionate response. Robin made a point below that it's not the weapon that was the challenge it's the hunters around me.
DeleteTraditional vs crossbow vs compound will always be debatable but I would not be mad if traditional archery was separate from compound or crossbow. That's what I mentioned in my previous post because I agree that traditional archery is a completely different skill set. We could debate for hours! Lol.
Your hunt was a great hunt as I said before. Next blog, if possible i'd like to hear more about the specific deer. How long have you been watching him, where else he has been in the property on your trail cams etc. These are the stuff I like when I read about a hunt instead of how unethical others are. Believe me, your neighbors will not have a story like this even if they get a moose :) I don't really care about the weapon of choice and who did what as a reader, that's a conversation over a beer with a friend. Please accept this a constructive criticism.
Delete10-4. I'll do my best. Have a great day & Happy Hunting.
DeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteI completely - completely! - understand your emotions when you found the buck. It's similar to what I went through when I found my first big game kill, a bear, the morning after shooting him. The sense of relief is strong. You shot him AND you recovered him. I couldn't get excited until after I found him.
I hunt with a rifle most of the time. Bow is new to me this year. I got what you were saying about the neighbors. Regardless of what they were shooting, they were the problem, not the weapon. I let a legal but barely legal buck last year. Yes, I could have shot him. He'd have been my first ever deer. No, it wasn't the ethical thing to do. Above all else, remaining ethical is most important to me. I'll get my buck some day without behaving like your neighbors.
Congratulations again, and excellent job!
Thanks for the congrats & for saying exactly what I was trying to say (not surprised another writer was able to sum it up) with it was the person not the weapon. I love hearing about the excitement of others when they get their kill regardless of weapon used. We have seasons & laws for a reason whether we like them or not we should all abide by them. Congrats on passing on the buck. It's a VERY hard thing to do but it's all about managment and sustaining the population with healthy genetics for the future generations. Congrats again on your bear too!!
DeleteThanks for writing thhis
ReplyDelete