MA 2 Arrow buck
- wickedbruiser
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MA 2 Arrow buck
Where can I begin... This buck has given me one of the most memorable hunt/track job to date. After a week of spending quality time with the 'ol man in the north woods of MI without a shot opportunity on a decent buck, I was ready to get back to MA and continue the grind on a few good local bucks. Flew home Sunday night Nov. 19th. Got 5 hours of sleep and finished work early leaving some priorities on the back burner. It was a windy day so on my way home I decided to pull a couple of cards to see if there were any shooters working the areas and sure enough that Monday morning 11/20 this buck came through at 6:45 am. I'm not a huge fan of running cams but decided this year I was going to run more than usual to gather future intel on new areas. This particular spot is not new but a huge factor in my success was the cam data I collected that late morning. It was a stiff 15-20 mph straight W wind and he was headed towards a slight E facing ridge I knew held some beds. It was time to make a move.
Stand on back. Bow in hand. I looped around easing my way towards my destination area only when the wind picked up. The sign headed in was hot with fresh rubs and scrapes which gave me enough confidence to continue on. Hung the stand in the most ideal tree 2 sticks up 50 yards from the bottom of the ridge with a big doe bedding area just NE 100 yds. The back cover and surrounding thickness of the woods made this set possible. I settled in at 2:30 and ranged some shooting lanes.
Around 3:15 as the wind started to die down a little, a red squirrel starts barking up a storm 20 yds out front for 10 minutes. Immediately followed by a blue jay squawking to the right on the ridge. My exact thought "deer is on his feet". Without visualization on what the two critters were making a scene about, I grabbed my bow incase it was showtime. A minute later, antlers pop out at 30 yds and I'm already in kill mode. He mills around a tad and is broadside at 28 yds. It's now or never because a couple of more steps and he's lives another day. Settled my pin and the arrow hit its mark. He spun around, took off and I watched the arrow buried in him until it flung out as it hit a tree on the run. At this point, I was confident with the shot. Texted some people and gave it some time to look at impact and arrow. Looked at impact, no blood. Found arrow, no broadhead nor nock in shaft with blood only covering half way up and flowed to the bottom. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" The insert was still intact with no damage to shaft. At this point, I have a million things running through my head. "Was my broadhead loose?" "Did I not hit him where I thought?". "Malfunction on impact?" I walked a tad more and found little to no blood and was running out of daylight. I marked last speck of blood and backed out. After examining the insert, the broadhead completely broke where it starts to thread to screw in. Now I'm discouraged realizing it had to have lodged into bone for it to break like that.
Buddy came over and we start tracking at 6:30. Blood starts picking up 50 yds from impact but nothing great until we find first bed at 75 yds. Explains why I didn't hear him crash. He must've heard me checking impact and bumped. Now we are on a trail but not promising. We approach decent blood 100 yds from first bed and stopped to discuss our next move. Contemplating whether we should back out, we hear crashing 25 yds away. We bumped him again and he's on the move. Time to check that bed and see what we are working with. And it just happened to be a legitimate buck bed worn to dirt with rubs. Bed was covered in good blood and the blood trail leading out started to become a bit more promising. We now are doing a big loop and the trail leads to a thick bedding area I was familiar with. Phone died. Over a 1/4 mile from first bed to last bedding area and I'm thinking about leaving him overnight. We take a breather and talk deer hunting for a half hour or so. All of sudden we hear crashing less than 50 yds away. "You know I'm not backing out until I check that bed". So we slip through the bedding area quietly until I approached a crime scene with no victim. How is this buck still alive?? Couple of more steps on blood trail and my buddy whispers for me to look right. There he laid alive less than 10 feet away and had to put another arrow in him.
So, what happened with the initial shot? As we spend countless hours scouting, prepping gear, and practicing ethical shots, you would think you will make every shot right. Apparently, my judgement on release was incorrect. He was slightly quartering to and the arrow hit a tad back, deflected off rib, through liver and guts. Which explains why the broadhead was buried in his rear far leg. It was a very bizzare hit that confused me. No gut content on arrow or blood and the blood trail was mostly from artery from the leg. My assumption is the broadhead kept tearing up inside as he continued to get bumped. Extremely humbled by this experience and outcome. Hopefully this is a reminder to never give up on a track job and to bear down 110% before touching off.
Stand on back. Bow in hand. I looped around easing my way towards my destination area only when the wind picked up. The sign headed in was hot with fresh rubs and scrapes which gave me enough confidence to continue on. Hung the stand in the most ideal tree 2 sticks up 50 yards from the bottom of the ridge with a big doe bedding area just NE 100 yds. The back cover and surrounding thickness of the woods made this set possible. I settled in at 2:30 and ranged some shooting lanes.
Around 3:15 as the wind started to die down a little, a red squirrel starts barking up a storm 20 yds out front for 10 minutes. Immediately followed by a blue jay squawking to the right on the ridge. My exact thought "deer is on his feet". Without visualization on what the two critters were making a scene about, I grabbed my bow incase it was showtime. A minute later, antlers pop out at 30 yds and I'm already in kill mode. He mills around a tad and is broadside at 28 yds. It's now or never because a couple of more steps and he's lives another day. Settled my pin and the arrow hit its mark. He spun around, took off and I watched the arrow buried in him until it flung out as it hit a tree on the run. At this point, I was confident with the shot. Texted some people and gave it some time to look at impact and arrow. Looked at impact, no blood. Found arrow, no broadhead nor nock in shaft with blood only covering half way up and flowed to the bottom. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" The insert was still intact with no damage to shaft. At this point, I have a million things running through my head. "Was my broadhead loose?" "Did I not hit him where I thought?". "Malfunction on impact?" I walked a tad more and found little to no blood and was running out of daylight. I marked last speck of blood and backed out. After examining the insert, the broadhead completely broke where it starts to thread to screw in. Now I'm discouraged realizing it had to have lodged into bone for it to break like that.
Buddy came over and we start tracking at 6:30. Blood starts picking up 50 yds from impact but nothing great until we find first bed at 75 yds. Explains why I didn't hear him crash. He must've heard me checking impact and bumped. Now we are on a trail but not promising. We approach decent blood 100 yds from first bed and stopped to discuss our next move. Contemplating whether we should back out, we hear crashing 25 yds away. We bumped him again and he's on the move. Time to check that bed and see what we are working with. And it just happened to be a legitimate buck bed worn to dirt with rubs. Bed was covered in good blood and the blood trail leading out started to become a bit more promising. We now are doing a big loop and the trail leads to a thick bedding area I was familiar with. Phone died. Over a 1/4 mile from first bed to last bedding area and I'm thinking about leaving him overnight. We take a breather and talk deer hunting for a half hour or so. All of sudden we hear crashing less than 50 yds away. "You know I'm not backing out until I check that bed". So we slip through the bedding area quietly until I approached a crime scene with no victim. How is this buck still alive?? Couple of more steps on blood trail and my buddy whispers for me to look right. There he laid alive less than 10 feet away and had to put another arrow in him.
So, what happened with the initial shot? As we spend countless hours scouting, prepping gear, and practicing ethical shots, you would think you will make every shot right. Apparently, my judgement on release was incorrect. He was slightly quartering to and the arrow hit a tad back, deflected off rib, through liver and guts. Which explains why the broadhead was buried in his rear far leg. It was a very bizzare hit that confused me. No gut content on arrow or blood and the blood trail was mostly from artery from the leg. My assumption is the broadhead kept tearing up inside as he continued to get bumped. Extremely humbled by this experience and outcome. Hopefully this is a reminder to never give up on a track job and to bear down 110% before touching off.
- Jackson Marsh
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Big ol mature buck
Congrats wickedbruiser on a dandy buck!
Congrats wickedbruiser on a dandy buck!
- jmaas07
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Congrats again buddy! Great buck and great job, another one to add to the collection, he’ll look great on your wall!
- PK_
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Great story. Great buck.
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Nice buck! Whereabouts in Mass are you from? Im in southern NH right on the Mass border by Winchendon.
- Hawthorne
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Congrats that’s a stud!
- MATexbow
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Congrats! good to see a fellow MA beast hunter put one on the ground! He is a bruiser. great story and great job with the recovery. I have had a similar experience with the broadhead getting lodged after a strange shot. amazing how much just a few inches can change everything.
Public ownership of land is a vital component of a democracy worth living in. Corporate interests that destroy quality land for profit buy their way into power in our government and actively undermine the rights of public land hunters like us.
- tgreeno
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Congrats...Great buck!
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It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
- Ack
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Great buck....congrats!
- RidgeReaper
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Awesome!! Beautiful buck!
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Good job staying after it. Nice recovery, nice buck
- Haus86
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Great job! Way to stick with it!
- Edcyclopedia
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Great buck Ross! Sometimes, the hits are not always as they seem thats for sure.
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Re: MA 2 Arrow buck
Great hunt and glad the recovery worked out for you!
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