Went hunting in Marion county last Sunday morning. I was behind the camera while my brother Stu was hunting. We were sitting in the same tree, me just over his right shoulder. He had bought a brand new Hoyt this summer and was anxious to put it to use. He works on a farm so his hunting opportunities have been few this fall, and when he had gotten out he hadn't had much luck. So I (and his wife who had to listen to his frustrations) was hopeful that w/ the rut on, the corn shelled, and a very promising hunting site, he'd get a chance at a good one.
Well we didn't have to wait long. Just as it was getting light enough to glass the finger of cut cornfield we were sitting on, he spotted 2 deer about 100 yds out. I couldn't make them out in the camera screen yet but I could tell by the body size of the second (and his body language: nose to the ground, quick purposeful steps) that it was a buck tailing the doe. Before I got the camera focused on them he whispers over his shoulder "I think he's a shooter."
It doesn't take long before the buck pushes the doe and she runs away from him, angling towards us. It's barely 6:30 and the game is on. The doe runs by broadside about 45 yds out. Not going to be close enough. The buck is coming in, they're both cross wind. We didn't put much out for scent lure, he had just set a small jar of gland lure on the ground at the edge of the field, about 5 yds in front of us. With the doe staying out away from the trees it didn't look as though the buck was going to present a shot right away.
As luck would have it, he inexplicably turns off the trail of the doe, who is still standing in the field only 20-ish yds from him, and starts walking STRAIGHT at us. Game is really on!! He continues to walk straight in, and now I'm starting to worry he's not going to present a good shot angle. He gets to the field edge just in front of us and starts to turn ever so slightly broadside at 7 yds and Stu, already drawn and set, grunts to stop him. Shooter buck bolts! Oh no. No way he's going to stop before he gets to cover. There went a great opportunity. Dang the luck.
As the whitetail gods would have it though, they stopped the buck at about 25 yds and quartering away hard. Stu's still drawn and had turned and was on him, I'm still on him with the camera, all is still good. He hits the trigger, I see impact just at the rear of the rib cage and hear that sweet sound "Thwack"! Off he goes like someone just hurt his feelings. He hit the treeline 100 yds away at full speed and still running well. We listen and hear some crashing, then a couple seconds of quiet, then more crashing. Surely he's down in there. A great shot. Sounded like he went down. But man he sure was running well.
We had to wait till 9-ish to get down and look b/c the owner of the property was hunting nearby. We find his arrow from the stand with our binos, with once white fletchings streaked w/ red. Good sign. We watch the video over and over and can't see how the shot wouldn't kill him, and quickly. This surely has to have a happy ending.
Well after his agonizing wait for more than 2 hrs and in the neighborhood of a 300 yd blood trail, we find his buck at the bottom of a big ravine. He'd run full tilt the whole way, making it as easy to follow the trail of churned up leaves as the blood trail itself. Entry hole back of ribs on the left side, exit just behind off-side shoulder. Just where it had to be for the angle he had.
Good hunt. Good pictures. Decent video (we're amatuers). Great deer! Can't wait to do it again.
I'll try to post photos and video if I can figure out how.
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