My Wife’s First Archery Buck Harvest 10.30.09

Knowing it is that time of year that I wait for all year long. The time of year where the bigger bucks are on their feet a little later in the mornings and a little earlier in the evenings I knew my wife had to get in the stand. With a weather change forecasted for Friday morning I knew this would be a day she needed to be in the stand. She had arranged with our good buddy Steve to get some stand time in that morning. Being busy with work and my own hunting plans for the coming week, I did not think I would be able to swing it and sit with her. But I knew with the weather and the timing, I had to be in the stand with Stacie last Friday morning. So I made a few calls, adjusted my schedule and was able to join her. With my own plans of getting some serious stand time in the next few weeks I was scrambling Thursday night to get my hunting clothes re washed, organize/stock my hunting tote, and charge camera batteries for whatever the next few weeks of hunting the rut may bring in 4 states. I got to bed around 1 am and the alarm went off too quickly @ 5am. Stacie and I started our pre hunt ritual of feeding and taking care of Rufus first, putting him a way and then showering, etc, to become as scent free as possible. After loading all the hunting and camera gear in the truck and we were off to one of our Metro spots where we have permission to hunt.

We met our buddy Steve there and got ready for the Hunt. We were met with unseasonably warm weather and rain. These are not very favorable conditions for camera gear and warm is not exactly what you want to keep mature bucks on their feet. We were going to sit in Stacie’s favorite stand. The same stand she encountered and passed up a nice 2.5 year old 4×4 back in September and also had a nice encounter with a coyote. This stand is on a field edge in-between a couple food plots and kind of a hub location between a few different bedding areas, and a ridge where bucks usually cruise and scent check for does With the rain still coming down we were just trying to get the last few items settled in our stand and as I was putting the rain cover on the camera. Being Velcro along the bottom of the cover I knew I had a decision to either just RIP it apart or slowly make noise for a longer time. I elected the quicker way. A minute later, I was trying to get the rain cover adjusted on the camera, when Stacie whispers shhh. I look up and in an instant I knew why she told me to be quiet. There stood at attention on the edge of the field a massive body and in the low light of about 10 minutes before shooting light I could still see the reflection of his white heavy main beam and knew instantly this was a big deer. He was looking our way and stood there for a few minutes before moving off the field edge and down the ridge. After discussing his body size and etc. with Stacie and where he came from, we got settled in and ready for the rest of the hunt. It only took a few minutes in the stand and we had our first encounter with a shooter. Not even 5 minutes later another deer appears on the ridge and quickly makes his way along the ridge and just as quickly as he appeared he was gone. Impatiently waiting for the first minute of shooting light I asked Stacie if she could see her pins and through her peep. She confirmed, “Yes”. I grabbed the horns and grunt tube and started a little grunt / rattle sequence in hopes of turning that first big boy around and come to investigate again. With no luck, I sat down and I could just feel it. The calm, warm, rainy weather we woke up too was about to change as the wind stirred about and was trying to switch as it begun to pick up in intensity. The temp started to drop a little bit and a chilly wind was now being felt from the NW.

Being a little antsy after those first two pre-light encounters, I did not wait as long as I normally do between calls. It had only been less then 10 minutes since I rattled last, but I grabbed my grunt call. I gave the Primos Buck Roar a louder longer grunt and in an instant a buck pops his head over the ridge and is looking onto the field in our direction. Stacie taps my leg to let me know that she sees a deer. The buck scans the field for a good 20 seconds as I take my eye off him and struggle to get the camera around Stacie and on this buck. Having the rain cover on the camera does not give me the luxury of looking at the nice big colored LCD screen. Instead, I have to film through the small black and white view finder, which I’m not used to at all and a pain in the butt. This buck is not quite on top of the ridge like the past two deer were and just as was I getting close to getting him on camera, when he begins to move. I am forced to pop my head out of the view finder and forget about trying to film this buck as I had to try to figure out what was on his mind and what his next move would be. He is now moving just off the ridge top as he disappears behind some topography and trees and is headed in the same direction as the other bucks did. Not seeing him for about 5 seconds I had to make a move or we would possibly never see this buck again. Not quite getting a good look at this buck yet, as he sort of surprised us and created a few moments of panic for at least me, trying to get him on camera and figure out his next move in this sudden chess match. I quickly grabbed my Primo’s long bleat can and turn that up side down letting go a long estrous bleat. I quickly followed that up with a series of tending grunts. All the time thoughts of how big was this buck were racing in my mind? I was not sure as Stacie and I waited for him to make the next move. Would he reappear or would he just slip out the back side and down the hill and not be seen again??? Well, just like that he pops up over the hill about 30 yards down the field edge from where he first appeared. However, this time he was not standing there scanning the field. He was coming up and onto the field in a steady march pace. I finally got a good look at this buck through the small view finder as I hit record on the camera. I whisper to Stacie that he is a “shooter” and to get ready as she slowly raises her bow up on that rainy unstable October morning. After getting a good look at him I remember his body being big and his rack was good and high. He is still coming in on a string at his marching pace and he is quickly closing the distance as I lose him on camera as he goes behind some pines in the middle of the field. I quickly find him again in the view finder on the other side of the pines and he is still marching in parallel to us as I tell Stacie that he will be 25 yards away. I remind Stacie to draw back and as she comes to full draw on this buck as she has both waited for and been in this moment before. The buck is just about to become broad side. He is in a pretty open area that soon gets cluttered with a mixtures of trees and pines. So I quickly give out a soft mouth grunt as the buck stops on a dime and turns his head towards us to locate the intruder buck. I slowly zoom in and tighten the picture up a little bit as about 3 seconds have gone by since my soft mouth grunt when I hear Stacie’s DXT go off and launch a Carbon Express towards this buck. My eyes and brains recollect an excellent shot tucked right in behind the shoulder as the buck starts to kick like a mule as he takes off. I remember still seeing her arrow in the deer as it ran behind the pine limbs and out of sight for me instantly. I pan the camera back up to Stacie as she is intently watching and listening to hear if the buck crashes like her doe did just about a month ago. I tell her good job and that she drilled him, as I think I almost knocked her out of the stand by punching her in the shoulder from my excitement. She asks for confirmation on the hit again. I tell her it was hard to see from the small view finder, but I think she snuck it in behind the shoulder. She thinks she might of hit the shoulder??? She quickly texts our buddy Steve, to let him know she had shot one and he says he’ll be over in awhile as he has bucks running all around him at the moment. While waiting for Steve, we replay the footage back numerous times in the stand and it is hard to tell but it appears she got about 8-10” of penetration. The rain that has been consistent all morning decides to really let go and dump on us as I can see Stacie’s spirits drop as the rain comes down as she lets out a grimace when it starts to dump. With that the wind decides to start to howl also. After reviewing the shot footage with Steve when he arrived and having another confirmation of a good hit, we start to try to find this deer. With not a trace of blood found at impact, we start heading in the direction the buck took off. 20 yards later we find Stacie’s arrow busted in half confirming around 10” of penetration. The rain has finally stopped and it is about an hour after the shot. A spot of blood was finally found and it confirmed Steve’s suspicion of where this buck was heading to. Steve said, he was heading for the bottom of the deepest nastiest ravine on the property. A few minutes later the deer was found within feet of where Steve had said he would be. Finally, a smile appears on my wife’s face as she has just recovered her first buck and finally able to put her hands around some horns. A big relief was also felt by me as this is something that she definitely deserves and I’m so grateful I was able to be there and experience this with her. Like a seasoned Pro that I truly believe she is, she made an awesome shot and drilled the buck @ 26 yards. I asked her if her emotions ever got crazy and she said her heart started to race when he popped up over the ridge and started to come in, but she said she just focused at the task at hand and was fine. I then asked her how come she did not get the shakes that bad after the shot. She replied back that she started to, until I drilled her in the shoulder and knocked it out of her. Now the question arises, just how are we going to get this big bodied, un gutted 3.5 year old out of the bottom of this ravine. I guess Steve and I are in for our exercise for the month.

I would just like to Congratulate my wife on her first buck and a well deserved buck. I’m really proud of you and astonished how you have matured as a hunter over a few short years. All your patience, hard work, practice and putting up with me over the years have finally paid off. I would also like to thank Steve Huettl for giving Stacie an opportunity to hunt in the Metro and for all that he has done for the both of us, it is truly appreciated. . The next adventure on Stacie’s list is the SD Rifle Season as we will be heading back to her parents for almost a week of chasing muleys and whitetails in the Black Hills of SD during Thanksgiving. We will see if she can put another big buck don to make her total 2 on the year and Lip a big Fat ZERO so far. Me, I’m heading back down to join the Guys today on our lease in WI. Dean one of the boys in camp downed a nice mid 130’s 4×4 yesterday morning, more on that too come. For now, I’m out as I need to get my butt down to BC and get in a tree. The action has been pretty good as encounters are being had almost every time out for our camp of 5. Hopefully, it is only a matter of time for me until he right one presents a shot for me. Until next time, Lip is outie. **CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE**