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Post by wilmsmeyer on Nov 1, 2009 19:19:56 GMT -5
Today was the 1st day I have been able to bowhunt due to buying a house that needed a bunch of work. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I will share the story later if anyone is interested, but this is the result. Still can't believe it. The shot was straight down....3 yds from the tree...thought I hit too far back..... No blood. Found him 50 yds from the last place I saw him after giving him 8 hrs. Later
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Post by jims on Nov 1, 2009 19:21:51 GMT -5
Nice deer.
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Post by dougedwards on Nov 1, 2009 19:25:43 GMT -5
EXCELLENT!!!!! Now for the story...........
Doug
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Nov 1, 2009 19:39:56 GMT -5
Here's a few more pictures from the scene of the crime. I gotta get some sleep....I'm beat.
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Post by Dave W on Nov 1, 2009 20:00:37 GMT -5
Very nice buck Wilms. Looks like letting them walk is starting to pay off. If you had just let him go another couple years that might have been a 3 beam monster. ;D Just kidding, nice buck with some "character". Congrats and can't wait to read the details.
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Post by whyohe on Nov 1, 2009 20:03:55 GMT -5
that is a nice deer!! I love the charicter that "third" brow tine gives it. man, can you send some of that luck my way! ;D
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Post by dpoor65 on Nov 1, 2009 20:36:44 GMT -5
nice deer, congrats....glad to see it on the web
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Post by ozark on Nov 1, 2009 21:23:52 GMT -5
It pleases me to see your seccess Wilms. I hope to get the full details in the story later. Very nice buck and I am curious why you would give it 8 hours. I have never had that kind of patience.
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Post by sw on Nov 1, 2009 21:42:01 GMT -5
:)That's an excellent buck! I'm curious as is Ben, why wait so long. A straight down shot is very hard to get both lungs but great for the liver. Let us know where you hit him, broadhead.
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Post by sagittarius on Nov 1, 2009 23:06:10 GMT -5
Great deer, especially with a bow.
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Nov 2, 2009 6:11:15 GMT -5
This deer came through the woods making soft high pitched grunts. Just vocalizing about every 3 steps. There were no other deer in sight at the moment...but there had been does around at daylight.
Anyways, he came into a 35 yd lane and stopped broadside. I will admit that other years I may have shot him right there. But this year has been a little different. I still had not sized him up good enough....I knew he was good....but I still wasn't sure. Being only in the woods 1 hr and the 1st time out, I didn't want to really end it and be tagged out unless he was something I'd be happy with. Secondly, I will admit that my practice sessions with the bow this year were sloppy. I did not take the time to practice as much as I wanted or needed to make a 35 yd shot feel 100%. Other years have been different. I had a self imposed 25 yd limit.
So....he stoood there for 10 seconds and could have went the other way, which would have kept him on the trail he was on. However, he turned and started walking right at my tree...head on. The minute I got that view, I went on auto pilot....I was going to try and kill him. He walked, without stopping, and without going behind one obstacle, and without giving me one chance to draw or see his side. Eventually he was 3 yds from the tree and I had a better angle on his periphery vision to draw...which I did. As soon as I had the bow back and the peep and pins lined up I softly said "maaa" and he stopped. I aquired the closest lung trying to just miss the spine and hit the release. I will tell you that my pin was dangerously close to being in his rack but I knew from practicing this shot over the years that my 20 yd pin hits about 6 inches above POA shooting straight down.
As I hit the release he took a small step forward and when the arrow hit him I cringed because it looked too far back and only went in half way. He whirled and ran about 60 yds and I could just make him out standing there....for 10 minutes. Could only see the arrow sticking straight up and his horns. He then walked slowly 2 or 3 steps and was out of sight. I waited an hour in the tree hoping to see him come out somewhere else or hear him crash or thrash...but nothing. There is a big golden rod field 20 yds from that spot and he could have went there too.
During that hour I had a small 6 pt and a decent 8 point ramming does under the stand and all around the spot he was in. It was a fun show. But I was feeling low...and bad...because I knew my shot was not where I wanted it.
After backing out and talking to my buddies at camp we decided to give him time. I said 8 hrs earlier but it was more like 6 1/2. 7:30 to 2:00 pm. The other 4 guys in camp came in from the back side and strung out on the opposite side of the big golden rod field with vantage points to see if I booted him as I tracked him. No blood...even where he stood for 10 minutes. No body anywhere in a 30-50 yd circle. (All thorn bushes) I stepped out into the golden rod and started going down the edge looking for sign and there he was laying there.
The arrow was farther forward then I though but not much. It had hit a vertebrae and smashed it up a little...hindering penetration. It entered right where the hanging tender ends in the middle of the back and went in 8 inches at the most. It cut the main artery that runs down the spine. It didn't even scratch the liver and barely scratched the stomach. He was stiff and had probably died fairly quick and his cavity rearward of the diaphram was full of blood.
That's the story. A good buck and a marginal shot that ended up finding the fuel line which the fuel pump nicely pumped out all the fuel. Broad head was a Montek fixed 3 blade.
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Post by whelenman on Nov 2, 2009 12:18:22 GMT -5
Nice! Glad it worked out well. I lost a nice buck four years ago and it was finally found earlier this year by the farmer burning brush out of his pines. That one had bothered me ever since. Nice that yours was sooner and you got some freezer fodder.
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Post by DBinNY on Nov 2, 2009 12:18:41 GMT -5
That's awesome Wilms. I bet that deer died very soon after you lost sight of him. Good judgement though. No sense risking it and chasing him out of the county.
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Post by Dave W on Nov 2, 2009 22:25:15 GMT -5
You left out one small detail-SCORE! ;D
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Nov 3, 2009 6:11:11 GMT -5
Our "official" sewing tape is missing from camp.....
Last night we dis-assembled his carcass and I grabbed some thin wire and did my best using it and then measuring the wire with a tape measure. We came up with 142 5/8 gross.
Note worthy was the bases which were 5 1/2 and 7 inches. Spread was 17 3/4" Tallest tine 9 3/4 inches. The larger base was hard to measure because of the extra point in the way. Maybe a smarter person can tell me how to deal with that....7 inches seems a bit big but it was the smallest measurement the 2 ways I did it.
The guys want me to mount it and the cape and head are ready to go. Not sure if I will....Money for one...and I already have 5 heads and a small house. He would rule the other 40+ racks at the camp on the trusses.
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Post by dpoor65 on Nov 3, 2009 6:48:45 GMT -5
The guys want me to mount it and the cape and head are ready to go. Not sure if I will....Money for one...and I already have 5 heads and a small house. He would rule the other 40+ racks at the camp on the trusses. [/i]
you may get with the local taxidermist that you would be using and ask him/her at what angle to cut the skull for a possible future mount. He probably would cut it him/herself knowing they may have a future mount....I have been there with fish, and a picture says a thousand words....take plenty of pics so if you do get it mounted later on, you have a skull cap with the proper angle cut and pics so that any taxidermist worth his curing salt can airbrush the detail of the hide onto another hide.....once again thats a great deer wilms......
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Post by ozark on Nov 3, 2009 9:12:20 GMT -5
I sure enjoyed your story of the kill and recovery. Nice job harvesting a nice deer. The antlers and pictures would be all I would need to save. The whole kill is etched in your mind and I would bet that twenty years from now you could describe the same event without missing one detail. You are obviously a good hunter and cool in the heat of battle. That isn't as common as you may think. Congratulations.
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Post by whelenman on Nov 3, 2009 11:40:35 GMT -5
Lots of people have never practiced shots straight down like yours and think because it's closer they need to aim low with their 20 yard pin. That's how low misses occur. You knew where your's hit which made harvesting this buck possible. I use my 40 yard pin for straight down shots. I used to shoot a few tournaments and our local club had a couple of raised stands built where we could have a very vertical shot included in the 25 target course. We had a special target with scoring rings on the top. Lots of people found out about shooting high for vertical shots on our range.
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Post by edge on Nov 3, 2009 12:16:15 GMT -5
Congratulations, that is a great buck with character edge.
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Post by Dave W on Nov 3, 2009 18:17:01 GMT -5
If you took the smallest circumference, I believe that is correct, at least that is the way I do it.
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