Posted By: Shaw
Up To 25 Years Now….. - 10/24/21 10:25 PM
…..with a bow kill during bow season and the 25th is a probably going to be my most memorable ever. I’ve had the privilege to be able to hunt a very special piece of property in Greene County for the last 16 seasons. It’s family owned land and is extensively managed. Until yesterday I’ve taken a grand total of 2 shots at bucks. Both didn’t end well. In 2007 I shot a very nice 8pt quartering away at 28 yards and hit him high, most likely just above the backbone, and only got about 4” of penetration on him. Trailed blood for about 400 yards before losing it. We were pretty sure it was a non lethal hit. The next opportunity came in 2015 I believe. I got a 33 yard shot on an 8 year old 9 point and managed to barely graze him across the top of his back, another non lethal hit. I have however killed a few pickup bed loads of does off the land. If I wasn’t able to hunt here, my streak would have probably ended long before.
I know there folks on here that turn their noses up at naming bucks. Down here it’s a necessity to keep track on them. Target bucks here now are 5 years old or older. My buddy decided he wanted me to target this buck back before season. He just simply called him “Sonny’s Buck”. I wanted to call him sack, but a 6 year old 7pt already owned that name. My buddy got him under some sawtooth oak trees the opening Saturday evening. He weighed at 241#. This is my target buck. You can see now why I thought he should be called Sack.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/jSJyq5WW/FCEA2149-9-FC5-414-C-9-A4-B-53341394-A25-D.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/CKTkRgDc/09942-FAC-4-ECB-4163-8758-F5-FB484471-A3.jpg)
I was off work this past week and was able to start hunting him Tuesday afternoon. I sat up on an acorn flat he frequented and had a very nice 8pt come in on me about 5pm. I convinced myself he was a 3 year old and I was wrong. According to my buddy and our resident biologist, Matt Brock, he was actually a 5 or 6yo. I had him at 5 yards and never got my bow off the hanger.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/hvM9QY16/5384312-A-B636-4179-85-B6-4946-B0180899.jpg)
I hunted the same spot the morning and had two huge bodied buck cross about 60 yards from me. Judging by the pace they were going, something had bumped them. I hunted that spot again that evening and only saw does and fawns with nothing ever getting in range. I relocated about 400 yards from there to the backside of a foodplot 60 yards into the hardwoods Thursday morning. It rained up until it was time to head to the stand. I got skunked that morning with zero deer sightings, which was unusual. Went back to the same spot again that evening and saw around 20 deer. All does and fawns again with nothing getting in range. I had to take Friday morning off to take my mom for a doctors visit. Friday evening, again, I returned to the same spot. I stopped counting deer at 20. Wound up with a couple of yearlings and a big doe in range and was unable to pull a shot off on the doe.
Saturday I returned to the same spot hoping to get a doe in range. At about 7:15 I had 5 mature bucks cross about 70 yards from me. They weren’t spooked but were determined to get somewhere. I wasn’t able to tell much about them other than they were good mature bucks. Shortly after they moved through, I had two small 4pts come by me at 40 yards headed the same way as well. 15 or 20 minutes passed and two more buck crossed maybe 80 yards behind me and wasn’t able to tell much about them. A friend of my buddy was down and he doesn’t hunt, but he enjoys wildlife photography. Not long after all the bucks that came by me came out on him on a foodplot on a powerline. He was able to get this awesome shot of my target buck from 250 yards.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/4yZWVc9F/DBB34-D54-6-CD5-4-B21-9-D6-A-23-BCAEE8-F859.jpg)
Looking at OnX and based off my previous two sightings, my buddy and I made a guess on where they were bedding and figured they would travel back through on their way to feed that evening. I was able to set up my climber about noon in a white oak on the edge of the foodplot 42 yards from where he’s standing in the pic. The only bad thing was I wouldn’t be able to climb over 15ft. Any higher I wouldn’t have any cover. I headed into to my stand and got settled in about 3pm. Around 4pm I had a buck step out 112 yards to my right and cross. Shortly after 2 does and 3 fawns came out from where the buck when in. 15 minutes later the 8pt stepped back out and they all started feeding my way. As they got closed I could see it was the 5yo I saw Tuesday afternoon. Just as they got into range a small 6pt showed up. So I’m sitting there debating on what to do. I hadn’t killed a buck in 7 years with my bow and would have been proud of the 5yo. My buddy kept telling to hold off. For over an hour he fed around me along with the 6pt and 12 other does and fawns. There were eyes everywhere. I managed to get this shot of some of them.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/RCpV3n82/75246311-A5-E5-47-A2-ABCE-EBBA500-EE477.jpg)
About 5:40 a 6yo 8pt steeped out directly across from me and my heart leap into my throat because he was my buck’s running buddy. He came out right where they went in that morning. Once he got past the 42 yard mark where the pic of my buck was taken, I ranged him at 35 and set my sight. I intended to shoot him if my target buck didn’t show. I caught movement and a 6pt stepped out. I figured it was now or never. I had to stand up because he was to my right and I wouldn’t to turn that far to get a shot from a seated position. Just as I got stood up, one of the 6pts looked my direct and went on alert. This caused the two 8 points to go on alert as well. Just as I was fixing to draw my bow, I caught movement again and it was my target buck stepping out. He stopped and was eyeballing the other bucks that were on alert. After what seemed like an eternity, the alert bucks put their heads down and went back to feeding. Big boy stepped out and walked right past where his pic was taken that morning. As he did I came to full draw. When he hit my 35 yard mark I settled on him and released the arrow. It hit lower than I wanted, but it was at heart level. He jumped straight forward and tore out of there running low to the ground. I was a little concerned because it looked like my arrow only penetrated half way. I listened for a crash and didn’t hear one.
My knees turned to jelly and I had to sit down and take in what had just happened. My plan had worked out just as I had envisioned it. After a couple of minutes I was able to gain my composure enough to text my buddy and some more folks. The plan was to climb down, ease out, head back to the house and wait for everyone else to get in before we went up to check the shot site. It was after 7:30 when we went back to check. What we found in the foodplot wasn’t very encouraging. The blood was thin and watery with some food content in it, but it didn’t have a gut smell to it. We decided to back out and give him a little more time and eat supper. After discussing it further over supper we decided to wait a little longer. Around 10 my buddy and I went back. After about 400 yards we found him and he hadn’t been dead long. My entry looked good but he was angled towards me not perfectly broadside. I got the bottom of both lungs and the food content must have been from severing his esophagus. How he managed to stay alive so long is beyond me. Being low in the lungs I missed all the major vessels and part of the arrow still being in him had plugged the holes in the lungs up enough to keep his lungs inflated. My broadhead cut a rib 3/4 of the way through on the way in and centered a rib on the other side. This joker had some thick ribs.
We had estimated his weight at 230, but we were all off he tipped the scales at 247#. He’s either 6 or 7yo and my biggest bow kill rack wise, weight and cod size. 😄 This will go down as my most memorable hunt ever. It’ll be hard for me to top this one from targeting the buck for 4 1/2 days to actually figuring out a game plan and it working to perfection.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/P5sBzz9S/5-EEA286-F-BDAA-433-B-9-C72-139514-FA1-FB0.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/N0nh6dsC/80-EF0-BDC-4-B98-4-CAB-A25-B-8-AF16-E0-DB371.jpg)
I know there folks on here that turn their noses up at naming bucks. Down here it’s a necessity to keep track on them. Target bucks here now are 5 years old or older. My buddy decided he wanted me to target this buck back before season. He just simply called him “Sonny’s Buck”. I wanted to call him sack, but a 6 year old 7pt already owned that name. My buddy got him under some sawtooth oak trees the opening Saturday evening. He weighed at 241#. This is my target buck. You can see now why I thought he should be called Sack.
I was off work this past week and was able to start hunting him Tuesday afternoon. I sat up on an acorn flat he frequented and had a very nice 8pt come in on me about 5pm. I convinced myself he was a 3 year old and I was wrong. According to my buddy and our resident biologist, Matt Brock, he was actually a 5 or 6yo. I had him at 5 yards and never got my bow off the hanger.
I hunted the same spot the morning and had two huge bodied buck cross about 60 yards from me. Judging by the pace they were going, something had bumped them. I hunted that spot again that evening and only saw does and fawns with nothing ever getting in range. I relocated about 400 yards from there to the backside of a foodplot 60 yards into the hardwoods Thursday morning. It rained up until it was time to head to the stand. I got skunked that morning with zero deer sightings, which was unusual. Went back to the same spot again that evening and saw around 20 deer. All does and fawns again with nothing getting in range. I had to take Friday morning off to take my mom for a doctors visit. Friday evening, again, I returned to the same spot. I stopped counting deer at 20. Wound up with a couple of yearlings and a big doe in range and was unable to pull a shot off on the doe.
Saturday I returned to the same spot hoping to get a doe in range. At about 7:15 I had 5 mature bucks cross about 70 yards from me. They weren’t spooked but were determined to get somewhere. I wasn’t able to tell much about them other than they were good mature bucks. Shortly after they moved through, I had two small 4pts come by me at 40 yards headed the same way as well. 15 or 20 minutes passed and two more buck crossed maybe 80 yards behind me and wasn’t able to tell much about them. A friend of my buddy was down and he doesn’t hunt, but he enjoys wildlife photography. Not long after all the bucks that came by me came out on him on a foodplot on a powerline. He was able to get this awesome shot of my target buck from 250 yards.
Looking at OnX and based off my previous two sightings, my buddy and I made a guess on where they were bedding and figured they would travel back through on their way to feed that evening. I was able to set up my climber about noon in a white oak on the edge of the foodplot 42 yards from where he’s standing in the pic. The only bad thing was I wouldn’t be able to climb over 15ft. Any higher I wouldn’t have any cover. I headed into to my stand and got settled in about 3pm. Around 4pm I had a buck step out 112 yards to my right and cross. Shortly after 2 does and 3 fawns came out from where the buck when in. 15 minutes later the 8pt stepped back out and they all started feeding my way. As they got closed I could see it was the 5yo I saw Tuesday afternoon. Just as they got into range a small 6pt showed up. So I’m sitting there debating on what to do. I hadn’t killed a buck in 7 years with my bow and would have been proud of the 5yo. My buddy kept telling to hold off. For over an hour he fed around me along with the 6pt and 12 other does and fawns. There were eyes everywhere. I managed to get this shot of some of them.
About 5:40 a 6yo 8pt steeped out directly across from me and my heart leap into my throat because he was my buck’s running buddy. He came out right where they went in that morning. Once he got past the 42 yard mark where the pic of my buck was taken, I ranged him at 35 and set my sight. I intended to shoot him if my target buck didn’t show. I caught movement and a 6pt stepped out. I figured it was now or never. I had to stand up because he was to my right and I wouldn’t to turn that far to get a shot from a seated position. Just as I got stood up, one of the 6pts looked my direct and went on alert. This caused the two 8 points to go on alert as well. Just as I was fixing to draw my bow, I caught movement again and it was my target buck stepping out. He stopped and was eyeballing the other bucks that were on alert. After what seemed like an eternity, the alert bucks put their heads down and went back to feeding. Big boy stepped out and walked right past where his pic was taken that morning. As he did I came to full draw. When he hit my 35 yard mark I settled on him and released the arrow. It hit lower than I wanted, but it was at heart level. He jumped straight forward and tore out of there running low to the ground. I was a little concerned because it looked like my arrow only penetrated half way. I listened for a crash and didn’t hear one.
My knees turned to jelly and I had to sit down and take in what had just happened. My plan had worked out just as I had envisioned it. After a couple of minutes I was able to gain my composure enough to text my buddy and some more folks. The plan was to climb down, ease out, head back to the house and wait for everyone else to get in before we went up to check the shot site. It was after 7:30 when we went back to check. What we found in the foodplot wasn’t very encouraging. The blood was thin and watery with some food content in it, but it didn’t have a gut smell to it. We decided to back out and give him a little more time and eat supper. After discussing it further over supper we decided to wait a little longer. Around 10 my buddy and I went back. After about 400 yards we found him and he hadn’t been dead long. My entry looked good but he was angled towards me not perfectly broadside. I got the bottom of both lungs and the food content must have been from severing his esophagus. How he managed to stay alive so long is beyond me. Being low in the lungs I missed all the major vessels and part of the arrow still being in him had plugged the holes in the lungs up enough to keep his lungs inflated. My broadhead cut a rib 3/4 of the way through on the way in and centered a rib on the other side. This joker had some thick ribs.
We had estimated his weight at 230, but we were all off he tipped the scales at 247#. He’s either 6 or 7yo and my biggest bow kill rack wise, weight and cod size. 😄 This will go down as my most memorable hunt ever. It’ll be hard for me to top this one from targeting the buck for 4 1/2 days to actually figuring out a game plan and it working to perfection.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/Z5DhJdY6/CE02-EB3-F-DF48-438-D-9088-6-FB6-E90991-EC.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/55hjBVy.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/mrT3Q2KN/CB25071-F-5-B72-40-E9-987-A-915-C1895-A7-E5.jpg)