Felt like a kid again, intense encounter

[bowmike]

I just had to be in the woods last night with this late October cold front. I'm lucky to live right at the base of the mountain in PA. The wind would have bucks bedded on my side. I slammed my dinner, (deer roast with carrots and potatoes), threw on some camO, grabbed my pack, and my recurve and hit the mountain.

They just logged everything so I was banking on a buck to bed towards the end of a hillside where the cover is. I snuck up a logging road, and found a blow down. I had a logging road in front of me and a huge brush pile that the deer could not get down wind to my left, well within range they couldn't get down wind anyway. This is one of my better grouse covers to give you an idea of the thickness of it.

I had 3 shooting lanes in front with a logging road about 4 yards ahead, at my rear was a small bench, that was somewhat open, but the tops of timbered trees blocked any access to the bench from above, where I was banking on the deer coming from.

I started off with some chasing/tending grunts and a few estrous bleats with my inhale exhale grunt call. I sat still for a while and had nothing moving in range. Light was fading fast. I did a few more aggressive grunts and followed it up with two snort Weeze's. I was trying to give the illusion that another buck joined the party. Nothing approaching immediately so I sat my recurve down and hit the rattle bag.
Being on the ground I could crash the brush and stomp the ground as well. Really put emphasis on the calling sequence. I no sooner picked my bow back up that I had a buck coming in stiff legged right down the ridge, right at me.

I was shaking so bad that my arrow about fell off the shelf. Lol I haven't got like that since I was 14. I call in a lot of deer every year, but typically I am 20' off the ground with my compound. I could hear the buck walking right into me. Crunching leaves, snapping branches as he drew nearer. Larger body to him but couldn't make out his rack. Every step he came closer, my arrow wiggled more on the shelf.

He looked to be a good buck but went right into my left side to try and get down wind. I figured any good buck would do that. So there I stand just 10 yards between me and an angry hair standing on end buck buck. He is just motionless behind a tangle of grape vines. I could just see glimpses of his body between the grape vines.

A zillion thoughts run through your head when you are that close to a buck on the ground. Hearing his breathing made my heart rate increase, I swore he could hear it. He just stood. Unable to get down wind because of the tangle he let out an angressive grunt. He was totally engaged but just could not bring himself to swing wide through my shooting lanes.

My face mask was about half way up as I didn't have time to pull it up before that deer was on me.

What to do, what to do.....
I started scraping the ground since my feet were behind the brush pile and snort weeze right back at him. He challenges back.

At this point I'm about to pass out. "Don't be stupid just sit tight" I scold myself. "He is engaged, he can't get your wind just sit there." So I did. With no pins to worry about and 10 yards I knew if he circled in front I would get my shot.

Light is fading now as a few minutes passed by, now or never, I give out a doe bleat and a few grunts, he starts to move. He locks up. I decide to go for broke and turn my head down hill to make it sound as the buck chased the doe away from the intruder buck. I've done that in the past with great success, they flush like a pheasant to chase the other "deer" He catches my movement, sticks his tail up and slowly walks off. Pausing and looking back, I could just make out his tongue licking his nose frantically to get some kind of deer scent. He hated that there was another buck with a doe in his area, but was smart enough to not give in.

So close! Talk about intense! lol haven't had a rush like that in quite some time. My recurve range at the moment is 10-15 yards and I had that buck there. As I watched him walk off I tried my best to see his horns but it was just too dim. He had a larger body, and the fact that he didn't just come charging in leads me to believe he was a decent, older buck but I'll never know for sure.

All that I do know is that this is what I live for with archery hunting. Hunting with traditional equipment on the ground is just so pure, and you are more connected to the woods. It engages all of your senses, makes you have to plan every detail to ensure you can get that deer into your short range. With my compound I could have set up a bit more in the open and probably smoked him at 30 yards no problem. You just can't do that with a recurve, well I can't yet anyway.

Calling whitetails is one of the biggest rushes out there. Getting fully engaged with your quarry is just amazing. Having a recurve in your hands with no sights, no rest, no release, really hones in your senses. Even though I did not harvest that buck I learned a lot.

There is a fine line between too much cover and not enough with a recurve. I learned that my ability to set up where a deer can not get down wind of me without giving me a shot is at the best it's ever been. I learned that I need to set up with just enough cover for concealment but also give myself a little more shot opportunities. Had I been just outside that thicket I may have been able to get a shot but that's hunting.

If you don't learn every time you go out, then you're going to lose some of the excitement. Tonight took me back to being 14 years old again, the night before my first archery hunt watching "so you want to be a bow hunter" for the 20th time and listening to every word that Bob Foulkrod and the other guys said. Sitting on my bed with my golden eagle bow, whisker biz kit, and muzzys. Just dying with anticipation of the next morning.

Traditional archery is something that I am getting into and falling more in love with each hunt. It is lighting a spark in my hunting desires that somewhat faded in recent years. I am not fully committed to it and love my compound, but there is a certain aspect about traditional archery you can't really describe to someone who has never tried it.

All I can say is that tonights hunt may not be successful in the eyes of some as I didn't kill the buck, but calling in a buck to 10 yards, on the ground, and not having him wind you is a win. Coming up with a plan, executing every thing you wanted to happen, except the blood trail is good enough for me. Having the gumption to give my compound a break, knowing darn well it cuts my range down to 15 yards is a win, and a start to something that I've been longing to do for a long time. I just couldn't accept the chance of not shooting a deer because he was out of my effective range. Still not sure if I will take it with me this weekend or not, but if I get a buck, it will be the only weapon I use for the rest of archery season.

[moog5050]

Talk about a great hunt! Well done even if no dead buck at the end of the night. You had him fooled.

[Lockdown]

What a cool encounter. I felt like I was right there with you.

[bowmike]

Thanks guys.

LOL I love writing about hunts and such. In this case and with my trad gear I don't think I would be able to hold out for a 3 year old buck or better. But I am not sure I would have been able to keep the arrow on the shelf.

[oldrank]

Sounds like a great hunt !!

[bowfreak8]

Sounds Intense!

[headgear]

Very cool story!

[john1984]

Awesome hunt man!

[ttsbuck]

Great hunt Mike, in that situation if you had killed that buck I don't think rack size would matter. In my mind a great hunt is more satisfying than a rack.

[drew13]

Great story, Mike! You'll remember that encounter for a looooong time, that's for sure... Well done.

[moog5050]

I shot my biggest buck last year with a recurve and when I started to draw, the arrow got stuck in that stupid plastic arrow holder and pulled off the string. Thankfully I had time to pull it from the holder and re-nock it. Its certainly not as simple with the trad gear. If the sole goal is to kill, then a compound is the better choice, but trad gear is very rewarding. All that aside, the back and forth with that buck sounds like a blast!

[Killemquietly]

GREAT STORY!!!, I too am lugging around the old recurve and loving it! Good luck this season.

[Ognennyy]

Oh man any hunt that gives you that type of rush and experience is a win if you ask me.

[Stanley]

[bigbucks1234]

Thanks for sharing your story... I can never get enough good story's like that. What an awesome encounter!!!! Good luck the rest of the season. Hopefully more stories to came