RG_Adult_Onset_Hunter
Well-known member
I got up early and made my way quietly to my blind in the predawn black. The path was less crunchy than the rest of the forest because I had raked all the detritus of the forest out of the way. I knew each range to each tree by heart at this point. I simply had to stay still and wait. Staying still is a real challenge for my active temperament, but the ability to watch the woods wake up after I do is good enough entertainment to keep me engaged. Other than a feral cat bedding down next to me in the dark for several minutes and a sighting of a doe licking her fawn on the neighboring property. I can’t say much about the first day. No matter. The pattern up to this point was like clockwork, the bucks showed up a day after the does on about a 3-day cycle. I’d be getting my chance the next day.
Day two I got up a bit later based on how much time I spent in the pre-dawn black. If I got bored, I knew I would fidget. As such, I got to my stand with a bit more light than I would have liked. I settled into my seating arrangement with my rump on a pad, and my bow nestled on a seat in front of me. I put my binos against my eyes and was immediately looking at a buck just past the northern edge of my property…not just any buck, Donnie Darko. About fort-five seconds later I remembered to start breathing again. I had looked at this animal so many times, but a bow in hand and a tag in my pocket changed everything.
As Donnie disappeared behind the brush, I knew I would be seeing him again soon. Several minutes passed while I tried to remain still and calm. I watched the only buck I could see take a short foray into the property to feed. He was a nice 4x4 buck who stood broadside to me in the creek bottom (20 yards away). He stayed there for several minutes to tempt me. I know for a fact I could have shot that buck, his head was behind the terrain each time he fed and he never would have seen it coming. I figured that he was probably the 3rd best buck in the group behind Donnie, and a 5x5 that I had dubbed Jude Law on account of being so darn pretty. I might have fiddled with my bow, but I knew I could not shoot him with Darko or even Jude around. He left the same way he came, oblivious to the threat.
For a while I saw nothing, then a goofy looking deer came into my shooting lane to feed. He looks like a spike (not legal in my area), but it also looked like he was a forky with VERY low branching antlers. All season I would not consider this guy legal, but upon further review he absolutely would be classified as a forky and would have been legal to shoot. I will be referring to him as the goofy spike, or spike for the rest of the story though, as that is the context that I thought of him throughout the season. While I stared at this buck trying to discern what the heck to classify him as, Darko Emerged as though from thin air. That massive rack on his head loomed next to a tree 8 yards away from my stand. The suddenness of his appearance took me off guard, but I was able to collect my bow, and wait briefly for his head to go down. I drew my bow, and settled my 20 pin low on his heart. The movement got his attention pivoting the two trees on his head to for a Y in my sight picture while he regarded me for what I was. The picture looked perfect, but the draw, the bow, something felt off. We stood there for what was a long time in perception, but a second in reality before Darko correctly assessed that he needed to bolt. He ran to about 50 yards behind some brush and began to bark at me, ensuring that none of his buddies came into my line of fire. I shrunk into my blind until he had moved far enough off that I could leave completely in order to try to minimize the level of spooking. I inspected my arrow, it had gotten kinked in the whisker biscuit when I had the bow on the seat. One simple mistake is all it takes to fail. At least I did not let that arrow fly.
It’s a record I wish I kept throughout the season.
The next time I saw Darko, he was 60 yards away from my blind, and he picked me off easily. He did not bark or spook, he just left and took his buddies with him.
I’d need a new plan if I wanted this guy.
Day two I got up a bit later based on how much time I spent in the pre-dawn black. If I got bored, I knew I would fidget. As such, I got to my stand with a bit more light than I would have liked. I settled into my seating arrangement with my rump on a pad, and my bow nestled on a seat in front of me. I put my binos against my eyes and was immediately looking at a buck just past the northern edge of my property…not just any buck, Donnie Darko. About fort-five seconds later I remembered to start breathing again. I had looked at this animal so many times, but a bow in hand and a tag in my pocket changed everything.
As Donnie disappeared behind the brush, I knew I would be seeing him again soon. Several minutes passed while I tried to remain still and calm. I watched the only buck I could see take a short foray into the property to feed. He was a nice 4x4 buck who stood broadside to me in the creek bottom (20 yards away). He stayed there for several minutes to tempt me. I know for a fact I could have shot that buck, his head was behind the terrain each time he fed and he never would have seen it coming. I figured that he was probably the 3rd best buck in the group behind Donnie, and a 5x5 that I had dubbed Jude Law on account of being so darn pretty. I might have fiddled with my bow, but I knew I could not shoot him with Darko or even Jude around. He left the same way he came, oblivious to the threat.
For a while I saw nothing, then a goofy looking deer came into my shooting lane to feed. He looks like a spike (not legal in my area), but it also looked like he was a forky with VERY low branching antlers. All season I would not consider this guy legal, but upon further review he absolutely would be classified as a forky and would have been legal to shoot. I will be referring to him as the goofy spike, or spike for the rest of the story though, as that is the context that I thought of him throughout the season. While I stared at this buck trying to discern what the heck to classify him as, Darko Emerged as though from thin air. That massive rack on his head loomed next to a tree 8 yards away from my stand. The suddenness of his appearance took me off guard, but I was able to collect my bow, and wait briefly for his head to go down. I drew my bow, and settled my 20 pin low on his heart. The movement got his attention pivoting the two trees on his head to for a Y in my sight picture while he regarded me for what I was. The picture looked perfect, but the draw, the bow, something felt off. We stood there for what was a long time in perception, but a second in reality before Darko correctly assessed that he needed to bolt. He ran to about 50 yards behind some brush and began to bark at me, ensuring that none of his buddies came into my line of fire. I shrunk into my blind until he had moved far enough off that I could leave completely in order to try to minimize the level of spooking. I inspected my arrow, it had gotten kinked in the whisker biscuit when I had the bow on the seat. One simple mistake is all it takes to fail. At least I did not let that arrow fly.
It’s a record I wish I kept throughout the season.
The next time I saw Darko, he was 60 yards away from my blind, and he picked me off easily. He did not bark or spook, he just left and took his buddies with him.
I’d need a new plan if I wanted this guy.
