Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Hunting Stories

Brother's Buck!

Around the 25th of October 1990, my brother, Steve called. Excitedly, he began telling me of fresh sign he had found. Rubs on trees 10-12" in diameter and half a dozen fresh scrapes with large prints in them. Steve is an accomplished bowhunter, but due to a neck injury tha required surgery, he is unable to hunt at this time. His love of the outdoors keeps his spirits high and he still enjoys scouting and photographing wildlife as part of his therapy.

Sunday the 28th, Steve and I went to check the spot and "no doubt about it" this place was HOT! I was working the 4-12 shift so we made plans to hunt the morning of the 29th. Steve kept telling me, " I guarantee you'll get the big one tomorrow!" Neither of us got much sleep that night.

I arrived at his house well before daylight. Steve was ready to go. He'd picked a spot to glass for deer, while I was to hunt the scrapes. I settled in on stand and waited. The wind was right, the rut just starting, and I had that "opening day" feeling of anticipation! About 6:50 am a Y buck came in from behind the stand. By keeping the area natural, there were no shooting lanes in that direction. I blew a series of grunts on my grunt call while watching the little buck. He did'nt seem to interested. During my second series of grunting, I heard a twig snap from behind me. Slowly turning I saw an Awesome sight, a mature whitetail buck standing about 50 yards from the stand.

As he slowly approached, his antlers shone in the newly risen sunlight filtering through the branches. When he turned his head I could see a big drop tine coming off his right antler beam. Steve was right, this buck was BIG! There was a big oak about 30 yards from the stand. When the buck went behind it, I drew my bow. He walked slowly toward me 25....20....18 yards. When he paused , I released the arrow. The hit looked good, entering the rib area angling rearward. The buck wheeled, ran about 20 yards in a semi-circle, and stopped, out of sight. I checked, and dropped, my watch. it was 7:11 am.

I nocked another arrow and hung the bow on a branch. My heart was pounding and my knees were weak. Sitting on my stand, I kept saying to myself over and over, "Ray what have you done?" After about 5 minutes I saw movement, the buck took about 3 steps from behind the cover, staggered and fell. I fought the urge to yell and instead gave a thumbs up skyward.

Another 5 minutes passed (guessing), and I climbed down to get Steve. As I slowly walked out of the woods, I heard rustling in the leaves behind me. Turning I saw the buck of a lifetime getting to his feet. I fell flat in the dirt and watched as the buck trotted off! My stomach had that sickening feeling and I began cursing myself for not waitig longer to leave the stand. Seeing me without my bow, Steve asked "Did you get him?" I shook my head while putting my hands to my head indicating a rack buck. Steve asked "How many points?" I replied, "Too many to count, he has points coming out all over!"

> Steve and I waited 1 hour before driving my truck back to get him. We walked to the spot where I last saw the deer. We followed the path to a fork, Steve took the right, I took the left with my bow in hand. Steve knelt to look through the briars and yelled "I see him, He's still alive, looking at me! Man what a nice RACK!"

Before I could arrive with my bow, the buck jumped and ran off. We waited another 5 minutes before following and this time he left a good blood trail. Steve located the buck about 60 yards from where we'd jumped him. We congratulated each other, took pictures, and loaded him into the truck.

The buck dressed out at 148 pounds, had seven points on each side, non-typical. All through the pre-season Steve said this was my year. After twelve years of Bow hunting I guess he was right. The buck later scored 159 0/8 and was the #1 non-typical bow kill that year!

I would like to thank the Lord above, my family, (whom hardly see me during hunting season). and especially my brother Steve

This Buck's for You!

UPDATE: My brother Steve has recovered and enjoys hunting and fishing again!


Back To Homepage