Went to Dike for the weekend and boy do we see deer. Friday evening I quick went to the beaver tree at the lower spot. Just at sundown I rattled and snorted in a basket. He came in all the way from about 70 yards to 10. On the walk out I was followed by a little buck. Saturday morning. I hit a nice buck in the same ash tree I shot Coleman's Giant out of last year this same weekend. This was a 3 yard shot quartering away. He jumped the creek and was out of sight. Half hour later Nick calls and says he shot a nice buck as well. Deja Vu. Same thing as last year, same weekend, same farms...Scary. We convene back at home and go back to find Nick's buck. Excellent blood for 100 yards, then it got dicey. We went 300 plus yards before we jumped him and lost site of him. We checked a pine stand, and Nick finds a funky little shed from this last winter. Cool find but not a deer. We back out to look later. We head over to Coleman's to recover my buck. We track the buck through the woods, into the corn, across the fence, and into another corn field. GREAT blood. He then did something I have never seen a deer do wounded; he crossed an entire bean field. I tracked him all the way to the next section. A mile to be exact. At this point I was sick. I backed out to come back later.
Nick went back out and eventually found his buck about 60 or 70 yards past where we left off the first time. Beautiful buck with some character.
At this time I was headed out to look again for my buck. I tracked for five hours. Some moments I was on my hands and knees. He eventually crossed the creek on the property and then dropped my arrow, again after about a mile and half. 50 more yards or so and that was that. No more blood, no more chance. Game over. At one point I was so close to the dirt I bumped my nose into a log, and this log turned into a nice shed. I backed out and decided to get back into the stand. Froze my ass off. I was soaked from deer tracking and had my coat and a t-shirt on. I have never been so cold.
An hour before sunset my beloved wife calls to chew me out for staying out in the cold. But wait? She shot a nice doe. Great shot and it didn't go far. We waited for everyone and tracked it 50-60 yards and found her in heap.
Two deer in one day is not too shabby.
Next morning after church I got permission to go look one last time for my deer. I took Nick and Dad with me this time and we still found nothing. Oh well that hunting. I unfortunately know this buck is dead and I will never for the rest of my life understand what happened with this buck. It was a decent shot, close, and I was using a large broadhead. Nick attributes it to the shear will of the creature, I know this was God's work. He created shear will that mankind cannot understand. I was truly defeated by a magnificent animal. Dad, Nick, and I headed to my tree to grab my rattling antlers and to check the trail cam. Tons of black birds and shadows on it. One little buck close, and a great shot of a shot wide buck that was a for sure shooter.
Upon comparison, I may have discovered something outstanding and in all honesty statistically impossible. The shed I found is most likely from the buck I shot from the big ash tree last year. The two properties aren't really that far apart and he was an older deer.
I can't even begin to describe how cool this is. Yes, losing a deer is one of the worst feelings in the world, but this is unreal. This was a wonderful weekend and as I explained to my brother in law and to Michael Parker, bowhunting has some of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I am beyond proud of my wife for making a spectacular shot in her usual "there" fashion. I am proud of my brother for not giving up and being persistent as it paid off and got him his deer. I will be dumbfounded and sincerely humbled by the deer I killed this weekend. I will never see him again and I will never know what happened there. Can't wait to get back on the horse.
Stay Tuned
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