One Legged Redneck Gettin er Done

As some of you know about 6 weeks ago on the archery opener i fell down the side of a steep ravine and fractured the large bone between my knee and ankle (tibia) on my right leg vertically like a piece of kindling. Long story short 4 to 6 month recovery during which i am supposed to stay off of it. Well a man can only take so much and after missing rifle the first week of November i have been plotting on how to circumvent my limitations. The plan i came with was:


- one of the ladder stands at camp is accessible by a relatively wide flat hard trail that is only 400 yards from where i park the truck - should be able to negotiate it on crutches
- 90% of the time deer taken here come in from the north or west and drop in the open field to the east so recoveries are easy
- i am 56 but relatively fit except for the busted leg and can do reps of 10 pull ups for 3 or 4 sets. I figured surely i can haul my rear end up the rungs on a 16 foot ladder even if i have to take a rest half way. In fact it should be easier than pull ups as i have one good leg to push off with for each rung.
- need a day with correct wind and snow on the ground for easy tracking
- hopefully do it during rut and just before a weather front is moving in
- need someone on one hour standby just in case things go south or if recovery is difficult.


Well today the stars aligned and all my boxes were ticked. Got to camp at 2 pm and strapped my Matrix to my pack, suited up, put my pack on and hobbled to the stand. Setting the crossbow was a challenge and required leaning with back against the tree trying to balance on one leg with no crutches. Definitely tweaked my leg but i got it done.


Hauling my rear end up the ladder with only one leg proved relatively easy as i had hoped. The view to the left:


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and to the right:


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At 4:56 pm a nice 6 pt buck popped out of the bush to the northwest and almost instantly gave me a broadside shot at 25 yards. I immediately took the shot. He jumped and headed straight into the open field running about 150 yards very erratically before dropping. I lowered my pack and crossbow and than slowly descended the ladder and hobbled over to look for the bolt. This is what i found:


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Hobble back to the cabin and got the backhoe to head over to where i saw him drop and this is how i found him:


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Backhoe made the recovery easy and by 7:30 he was dressed and getting loaded into the truck:


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So definitely tweaked the leg setting the crossbow plus twice more while i was field dressing. Tomorrow will tell the tale on any price i am going to pay for my cabin fever relief.

awesome! glad you still managed to get out there! deer gods threw you a bone!

Nice looking buck awesome work on getting out. Hope you didn't stress out the leg too much.

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That's a nice deer. I admire your determination, but man, that is risky! I guess nobody was available to actually accompany you on the hunt?
I did something similar one year when I totally messed up my back. I was on some serious painkillers. 2 km back in the bush on foot I had an opportunity to take a deer, but I had to pass because there was no way I would be able to get the deer out of there.

Great story of determination and a true outdoorsman.
Congrats on the fine looking buck and story.
Wishing you a complete recovery.

very nice deer. i think hunters are a bit I will say crazy. I also had knee surgery few years ago just before the controlled hunt. put leg up on quad fender drove to back of bush, got off crutches moved about 20ft and sat down in chair. shot a nice doe was quite the job field dressing a deer with one leg so I know your pains.

A fine tale and a well earned trophy.

Sometimes a man just has to go it alone and test himself.
2 thumbs up.

Congrats. Lotta determination in getting that done.

Nicely done, Congrats

Great story. Sometimes you have do what you want and not what the doctor wants.

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Nice buck hope you didn’t didn’t do any serious damage to the leg

Way to go. Living life to its fullest, ailments be damned.

I am pretty jealous, not because you got that nice deer but because of all the great equipment you have got. LOL Well done...

Persistence at times can be very rewarding as per your post, but can be very detrimental in the long run. Hopefully you get away with it this time and wish you all the best. Nicely done. What did you say your Dr.'s phone # is... I think one of those ankle monitors are in order here...

Pete

Great story and congrats! That's determination! Nice deer too.

Well where there's a will there's a way! You certainly have the will and a patient wife I bet! LOL. Congratulations!

Well done!! Glad you make it out with the leg!! Congrats

awesome really happy for you that you were able to get out. I know how much you contribute on the forum and can imagine how much hunting means to you, so this makes me happy

Oh man that's awesome. I knew you'd find a way to make it happen eventually this fall. Congrats. Great read as always

That is great, glad you not only managed to get out but to also get a nice looking deer too, fantastic.
Hopefully the pain isn't to great in the morning.
Congrats well deserved.

Good job nice deer. I’m glad you got out. Forget the pain the deer is worth it lol

You've been extremely childish by omitting the best part of this hunting tale. What was your wife's reaction when she heard that her husband had hobbled out into the bush with a broken leg, trying to shoot a stupid deer!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fenelon

You've been extremely childish by omitting the best part of this hunting tale. What was your wife's reaction when she heard that her husband had hobbled out into the bush with a broken leg, trying to shoot a stupid deer!

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Wife was happy as me skulking around the house being ornery for 6 weeks was driving her crazy.;);)

Knew a guy who wore adult Attends diapers in the duck blind after getting a bad dose of the Norwalk virus. My buddy was hunting with him and he almost pissed himself laughing because the dude would get all serious when some birds would show, meanwhile you could hear his guts boiling with the high pitched squeals and gurgles. That would have been a blue ribbon story if you had been on the crutches wearing diapers!

Nice going Species, I was hoping you could get out eventually and you did and to top it off were successful on a nice buck.
Congrats

Good show! You’re very dedicated and determined. I would be pushing the envelope too if I had a broken leg. Deer season only comes around once a year, and we’re not getting younger.

Way to keep the successful hunting steak from 1982 till now alive! Congrats

Good for you species.....glad you where able to get out hunting and take a fine buck.....
Congrats!