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Thread: Blewwww it!

  1. #1
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    Default Blewwww it!

    Some of you who read the other thread I started 'considering the switch' will know that I recently picked up my first crossbow. Grabbed an excalibur equinox on friday morning and after an hour of practice and hitting bullseye's from 10 to 50 yards I headed afield on a nice blue bird afternoon.

    My neighbor has a farm in 81a that I just got permission to a couple months ago, my buddies Dad is with me and set up on the other side of the corn field in a tree stand. The property is ~45 acres of thick bush, and swamp, and about a 3rd of it is cut corn right now. I settle into some tall grass on the field edge at about 14:45. At 16:31 I spot 4 does skylined on the rolling terrain. Good sign, a few minutes later and at about 100 yards, two more deer with really nice racks. They seem content feeding where they are, so I figure I have nothing to lose by grunting a few times. I let a couple grunts out and watch as they sheepishly raise their heads but go back to feeding. They are to my left and I'm watching them closely I grunt a couple more times after a few minutes, and get the same reaction. Except this time I turn my head in front of me and there are two bucks standing right in front of me at about 30 yards. This is where things get interesting.

    The waist wide fallen grass from me walking into where I was sitting is a perfect shooting lane and to my right (the direction they are heading) is another shooting lane where the tall grass ends, and there's a window to shoot before the dogwoods obstruct the view again. So while I was grunting at the deer 100 yards away these two strolled in without my noticing until they were right there in my shooting lane. One buck, had one side broken off and he was standing dead center of my shooting lane, the other buck I could only see his hind at first and when I got a better look, I was stunned. I've never seen anything like it. Really big, tall, symmetrical, bone white, as my buddies Dad put it as he watched through his bino's a once in a life time deer. I had to act fast, because he was moving through my second shooting window. There was a rock in the field I ranged earlier that was 37 yards. I grab my rangefinder to see where he is at and it's all fogged up! NO! I quickly wipe it up and put it back to my eye and still can't see a thing. Put the rangefinder down and can see that he's just a little bit behind that rock at 37 yards. So I settle the 40 yard chevron on the pumper and pull the trigger, only to watch the lumenok sail under his belly! He took two bounds, and I'm trying to convince myself that maybe it was a low pass through, and I'm thinking ok this is where you fall over, this is where you fall over... come on! I load another bolt, and for the next 10 minutes until legal shooting was over he played with my emotions. I would grunt and shake the grass, and he would start coming back but never got closer than probably 60 yards and facing me. At one point he was about to slip into the woods and I grunted pretty aggressively and before he turned back around he started raking at tree making a bunch of racket, that was really cool to see. Never experienced anything like that. Ultimately in the end he walked along the field edge to about the middle point of the corn field and started heading back from the direction they initially came. Then after I pack up and pop out of my little grass blind there's another buck standing on the field edge to my left.

    All in all it was an amazing hunt; I've never seen that many deer in one sit, 4 does and 3-5 different bucks. Since I started hunting in 2016 I haven't seen that many bucks total! I've shot two and seen one other. Between bow and controlled I typically spend close to 100 hours a season afield and as I stated before the sightings are few and far between. As I was limping back to my truck, because I got a calf cramp loading the second bolt haha, my buddies dad starts laughing to himself, and I'm say "what?" he says "Man that was a lifetime deer, that's going to haunt you forever" lol. He watched the whole thing unfold. The next morning I woke up to a text from him that said "how were the nightmares" lol. I reluctantly went back saturday and with the snow and the wind, didn't see anything at all other than a set of fresh tracks that were 20 yards in front of the truck.

    Given the parameters of the public ground I typically hunt shooting something 'nice' is not a likely scenario, and honestly hasn't even been a dream of mine. I enjoy cooking and sharing my harvest, and am happy with whatever I get. With that said, having one like this slip through my fingers still stings. A lot. haha.

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  3. #2
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    That's why it's called hunting. Unfortunate you didn't get to take that once in a lifetime buck, but the memories of the hunt although painful, will always be with you...

    Plus you still have some time left before the season ends... Good luck...
    SkyBlue Big Game Blueticks

  4. #3
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    Cool hunt, and at least it's a cool story to tell for years. Sounds like this new property is a winner compared to the public ground you're used to
    A trophy is in the eye of the bow holder

  5. #4
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    Great hunt and the season isn't over yet keep at it

  6. #5
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    Great account of your hunt, yup a hunt to be remembered for years to come.

    The up side is that place you are hunting sound's fantastic and he will probably be there next year.

  7. #6
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    That hurts for sure. At least you didn’t wound him. Sounds like you have a great property, I’m sure more great stories to come. Good Luck
    "Only dead fish go with the flow."
    Proud Member: CCFR, CSSA, OFAH, NFA.

  8. #7
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    Great story, sad it didn't play out...but you now have a written story as proof to back up the nightmares...
    Mark Snow, Leader Of The, Ontario Libertarian Party

  9. #8
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    Great story and no doubt therapeutic to post it I promise you that as time goes by you will enjoy that memory more and more, without worrying about what might have been.
    "What calm deer hunter's heart has not skipped a beat when the stillness of a cold November morning is broken by the echoes of hounds tonguing yonder?" -Anonymous-

  10. #9
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    Yeah, I really hoped sharing the story would be a good way to document it, and hopefully be somewhat therapeutic haha. With that being the first animal of that caliber I've ever seen, I'm really not that upset with the way it panned out. It was really nice just to see something notable.

    The lesson I'm taking away from this is a rangefinder is a much more crucial piece of equipment when hunting open fields than it is in the bush where after a couple sits you've memorized the yardages of all trees within 40 yards. Also estimating yardage in an open field is difficult as there is no frame of reference.

    I'll be back at it this week.

  11. #10
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    Crossbow doesn't make it too easy huh? Anyways jokes aside, that's a bummer. And I HATE when stuff fogs up. Like ninepoint mentioned, it's good for you to vent your frustrations. I'm sure you've heard "well that's hunting" more times than you'd like to hear, but it just means that it happens to the best of us. If it provides any reassurance it doesn't appear you spooked him out of the area since he didn't snort and just went right back to making rubs. Also try to check your crossbow's zero just in case. Keep going at it!
    "When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

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