Finally took a trophy with my crossbow!!!

[hunteronwheels]

I will put the full story on tomorrow as I am exhausted but I had to post a pic. Have been hunting 20 years from the wheelchair and finally took a trophy buck with the crossbow to go with several shotgun and black powder wall hangers. Incredible day, as I saw at least 3 different bucks with this one coming in with just a few minutes left of shooting light. I've been hunting especially hard this bow season and it finally paid off!

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[brettgerhart]

WOW! What a great buck!!! I can't wait to read the story!! Congratulations and job well done!!

[osprey]

Congrats! That's a nice one!!

[THE DEER HUNTER]

CONGRATS! More to come I'm sure. ;D

[busco]

Congrats..... Nice deer....

[hunteronwheels]

This is a little long but I know I enjoy getting the details of a great hunt from you guys so I thought I would provide as much detail as possible:

It had been a good season so far. I had been bow hunting about 10 times and seen deer all but two outings. I knew there were a couple of shooter bucks that were visiting my areas with varying frequency since I had put my camera out in July. I had passed up on a good thick 5 pointer that would be a good cull buck since his antlers hadn’t changed much from the prior year and looked to be three and half years old. I was hoping my sister or son would get a crack at him. I had checked my camera Thursday afternoon and the 5 pointer seem to be frequenting the area. I had a picture of him running off a button buck from the acorns I spread around. I was really hoping a big eight pointer would also be around that I had seen since July. I had spotted him the weekend before the 3 day black powder but he stayed out of range as he patrolled. I had pictures of him the Wednesday before black powder and I hunted morning and evening Thurs-Saturday but he did not show. I saw plenty of deer but no racked bucks. But I was seeing more sign that the rut was getting nearer with rubs and scraps multiplying. I few people I talked to saw bucks actively chasing early hot does.

So Saturday arrived with my sister showing up with her crossbow and gear at 5:45. We loaded her stuff on my Kawasaki Mule with my bow and wheelchair and headed off. On the way to the blind I had set up for her we had a doe run across in front of us. I thought that was a good sign. I dropped her off to walk in the rest of way and I headed to my blind. I pulled up directly behind my blind and left the 4 wheeler running as usual to mask my noise as I assembled my wheelchair in the dark. Once I had it together I turned off the mule and slid into my chair. I grabbed my crossbow and backpack and rolled into the blind. I started the routine of cocking the bow and setting up my shooting sticks. There was a very pungent smell like BO and urine. I knew some animal had marked some place very near my blind with their scent. I hoped it was a buck and not a fox or coon. It was about an hour till shooting light so I took my time and tried to be as silent as possible. The wind was perfect out of the NE as my blind faces north and the strong pungent smell was so intense I figured it would mask me pretty well anyway.

As the first little bit of light filtered into the woods I thought I could see a darker figure near my acorn pile. It was that time of the morning when you’re just starting to be able to distinguish the black from the dark gray. As I strained my eyes I noticed the figure started to move. It was by itself and it moved left to right only 25 yards away but it was too dark for a shot and I could tell the size or sex. I texted my sister with the update and waited another 15 minutes before shooting light. Normally at least one group of does come through my area around sun up but not this morning. I wondered if the strong pungent smell permeating the area was keeping them away. At 8:30 I noticed a shooter buck walking left to right through the brush. It was obvious he would not come in to my acorns so I tracked him with my scope. There were a couple of shooting lanes and he paused in one of them with his head behind a tree and his vitals exposed. I put my 40 yard red dot on him and debated about pulling the trigger. I was confident I could hit a 2 inch target at 40 yards but I wasn’t confident of the exact distance the buck was standing. I reluctantly decided to let him walk. I did try grunting a few times but he paid no attention and walked off casually.

I fished out my rangefinder and ranged the tree that I judged to be the closest to where he had paused. It was exactly 40 yards! I started cursing under my breath. I didn’t see any other deer and neither did my sister. At 10:00 I decided to pull out. I picked up my bow target before heading over to pick up my sister on the other side of the property. In the field I set the target up at 40 yards and pulled the trigger. My bolt hit the 2 inch square target perfect. I was disappointed to say the least. I decided that I was definitely going to hunt the afternoon. My sister took a pass on the evening hunt because she wanted to prepare for the storm.

After running some kids on motorcycles off my property around 2:00, I slipped back into my blind at 3:00. I was disappointed that the wind seemed to have shifted out of the west and seemed to be changing and swirling. I could still smell the pungent odor but not as strong. I settled in and did some reading. By 5:00 the wind seemed to have shifted back from the NE. At 5:30 a tall spike buck came in to the acorn pile. I did my practice routine putting my scope on him silently and mentally taking a shot. Almost on cue the buck suddenly jumped and ran a few steps and stared intently to the east. He started walking off cautiously. I didn’t think he was spooked by me but he headed away and hurriedly ran across the creek. Then he started snorting and the squirrels started barking. I didn’t think I had spooked him but I figured every deer in the woods were now on alert. I looked through the side slits of my blind hoping a bigger buck had scared him off but I didn’t see anything. I figured that would be the last deer I saw that evening.

It was getting darker and there was only about 10 minutes of shooting light left. I hadn’t seen or heard anything that sounded like a deer. At least the squirrels had stopped barking their alarm. I glanced out of the side slit of my blind and my heart almost stopped. I could see the antlers and face of a nice buck walking right towards the front of my blind at about 10 yards! I eased my head down to my scope and prayed that he wouldn’t discover me in time. When his face appeared in my front window he was only about 7 yards away and filled my scope. I suddenly realized I had never shot at a target that close but assumed my 20 yard dot would be close enough. My biggest fear is that he was going to bolt before I pulled the trigger. As soon as his shoulder passed the dot I pulled the trigger. The sound of my crossbow limbs snapping forward was nearly simultaneous with the sound of the bolt crashing into his side! My heart was pounding.

The buck ran about 25 yards and stopped to look back my direction. It then slowly walked into some brush and seemed to disappear. I figured he may have laid down so I didn’t make a sound. But now I realized I was trembling from the adrenaline rush. I texted my sister that I thought I had just shot the big one. She immediately texted back that she was on the way. My next text went to my 15 year old daughter who was the only family member home. She called me immediately. I told her to grab a flashlight and head on down. I then packed up my bow as quietly as possible and waited. I didn’t see or hear anything from where I had seen the deer last as my daughter made her way to me. I pointed to where I had last seen the buck and my daughter started looking for blood while I got loaded back into my mule. I was confident it was down but there’s always a little doubt until your get those antlers in your hand.

My daughter soon shouted out “I found blood!” I instructed her to look a few yards further to where I thought the buck stood for moment. There she found a large amount of blood. I asked her if she wanted to wait till some more people got there but she told me she wanted to be the one to find it. It was too thick to drive my mule through but Rachel headed in with her flashlight following the blood trail. I decided to circle around to where she was headed. Before I got there I heard her yelling. I turned the mule off so I could hear. “I can smell it, it must be close!” I encouraged her and turned the mule back on so I could look also as I drove along. She started to yell out again. “I found it!”

I drove up and found Rachel smiling next to the buck. It had only gone another 25 yards from where I saw it standing. I felt triumphant! I fell out of a deer stand in November of 1991 and when I got out of rehab one of the first things I purchased was a crossbow. I set a goal to kill a trophy buck and though it took 20 years to finally get one that was wall worthy, I had finally done it. Rachel and I were soon joined by my oldest daughter, sister and two friends of the family who field dressed the buck and got it loaded in my mule. It was a great day all the way round and we ended up getting a very late dinner to celebrate after taking the buck to the butcher.

I’m still on the high of the kill and have looked at the pictures again a million times. Now I’m hoping to get my sister on a nice buck. My 15 year old son got his first deer during youth season last year and I’m hoping to put him on one as well. I feel like the deer will be on full tilt rut after this storm passes and the temperature drops. I can’t wait to get the buck back from the taxidermist to put it next to the bucks I have taken with shotgun and muzzleloader. But I still anxious to get back in the woods!

[hunteronwheels]

This is a pic with my daughter Rachel. She is the best blood tracker I know!

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[hunteronwheels]

This is my sister who took out two deer on her first ever bow hunt and has been hooked ever since.

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[hunteronwheels]

My buddy Ray who did the field dressing for me. That's the one thing I can't figure out how to do from the chair. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know.

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[bucksathome]

Man that is awesome! Looks like hunting definetly runs in your family. Congrats on that buck!!

[hunter]

Awesome!! buck my friend and congrats!!! on a great hunt and really good story.

[BIG FOX]

That is freaking AWESOME.. Big congrats to you.....

[Bartman]

Congrats to you. Nice story, glad to hear your persistence paid off.

[Gungnir]

Congrats! That is an awesome story!