Black Friday Bow Buck

[Huntress13]

My personal goal has been to shoot a buck with my bow, 6 points or better. I got a new bow this year with better energy potential and worked since April practicing and getting the pounds up to 48#.

Bow season opened Oct. 1 and it was a strange season with very few buck sightings, though the doe sightings seemed about the same. I had only 2 bucks within range, neither where I could shoot, and one was only a 5 point though I probably would have shot him if he stepped into the open.

Bow season came and went and I decided to keep trying with the bow. Nobody shot anything on our property yet. Gun season opened 11/16. Black Friday, 13 days into gun season, weather was cloudy, a high of about 30 with a NNW wind, and no snow was predicted but there were occasional lake effect snow showers. The snow wasn't enough to stick, but there was a faint dusting in some areas.

For the afternoon hunt, I chose a stand with a trail sometimes used between bedding and food. The wind was wrong for me, but just off enough that I thought I might get away with it. I never would have sat this stand on any north wind before Hunting Beast. The wind was hitting the right side of the back of my head mostly, though the winds were not high, sometimes calm up to maybe 8mph. Milkweed was sometimes dropping to the right, or floating out in front of me to the left, into my most open shooting lane.

About 45 minutes before legal sunset, I let out one single bleat on a can call. A few minutes later I heard rustling in the brush, and 10 minutes later this guy came limping out of the brush from the west. I drew before he reached my clearing. He stopped broadside in front of me at 20 yards, but there was a tree between us. He was looking right at me and I thought he must be starting to get into my scent stream and if he moved past the tree he would definitely get a nose full. So I shot between a Y in the tree, hit a twig and got him in the neck. He went down like a box of rocks. It looked fatal, but I sent another arrow just in case. I had to stand on the far right edge of the platform to be sure to clear the tree.

That neck shot could have gone bad, so I know it was lucky. He used to be an 8 but one side was broken off, and other tines were broken short, so he's a small 7. And I'm happy with that for my first successful bow buck!

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Here's where I was sitting at the yellow arrow, standing at where the deer was.

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Here is what I shot through.

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[stash59]

I'd rather be lucky than good!!!!! Great job!!!

[jmaas07]

Congrats, way to go!

[Huntress13]

I'd rather be lucky than good!!!!! Great job!!!

13 is my lucky number.

[john1984]

Well done

[headgear]

Congrats!!!

[hunting_dad]

Congrats on your first bow buck!

[mheichelbech]

Congrats! Look forward to seeing you talk about many more. It’s been enjoyable to read your journal about this journey.

[Jackson Marsh]

That's outstanding Huntress13

Good job getting another arrow into him. Congrats on the first bow buck, hopefully you will have many more.

[Ghost Hunter]

Way to get it Huntress13.

[backstraps]

Congrats Huntress13 Had to be a very exciting hunt with him at 20 and knowing he was so close to your scent stream!

Congratulations on your hunt, the follow up shot, and YOUR FIRST BOW BUCK!!
Hope he is the first of a bunch more to come.

[matt1336]

Nice job! I shot my first deer with my ezv this year too. (Assuming those was your first with the sight) Do you think the sight part of the reason you hit the twig?

[218er]

Persistence paid off. Nice buck. Congratulations

[Huntress13]

Nice job! I shot my first deer with my ezv this year. Do you think the sight part of the reason you hit the twig?

No. It was just low enough lighting that I couldn't see all the twigs. When I saw the arrow hit him in the neck, I was initially surprised, then I realized there were more branches and twigs there than I realized.

[Lockdown]

Way to get it done! Congrats!