# Missed a nice 10 point Friday evening...



## Screeminreel (Jun 2, 2004)

With all of the excitement over the "Freak" I saw last evening I forgot to tell about the 10 point I missed on Friday. 

Ya know I do get buck fever every once in a while I guess. We got out of town early enough Friday for me to get in a little stand time at our family place. I had the wife drop me off and I climbed up about 6:20. As she was leaving he pasture, I had settled in and was checking ranges when I heard leaves crunching up behind me to my left. Since I had spun the feeder a couple of times before we got to the stand, I figured it was the big ol hog I was after so I hung up the range finder and knocked up an arrow. As it got closer, I pulled my face mask down and eased my head around to see just where it was coming from. 

Imagine my surprise when out pops this very nice racked 10 point, which decided to stop about 5 feet from the ladder of my stand. So there I "SIT", with my bow laying on the rail, with no way to get up or into any king of position with out blowing the whole deal, while big fellow just stands there with both ears at full attention listening as my wife drives up the hill to the house. This was the point my legs figured would be the best time to start shaking. I could almost hear the d-rings on the ladder tingling out a tune. Well there is some scrub brush out about 10 yards and as he decides that everything is clear, I decide that when he gets behind it I will make my move. What I didn't count on was that once he got behind it, any sort of shot I had while sitting was now gone while standing. AAGGHHHH

I managed to stand somehow with out blowing my cover and get my bow up. So, I patiently wait as he makes his way around the scrub and along the trail up to the edge of the pasture. Now instead of a nice chip shot of 10 - 15 yds, he is standing slightly quartering away intently looking over the open pasture before him oblivious to me standing at full draw some 30yds off to his right. I settled down and counted the pins, 10, 20, 30, took a slow calming breath and whammo, let him have it. Well thats the way my mind saw it anyway. In reality, he was about 37 yards away, and anticipating the drop from the string, which did not happen, I aimed just at the bottom of his brisket, about 4 ribs or so back of his onside shoulder. This evidently stuck the arrow firmly under his belly and allowed him to not only make a clean get away, but to also get the shaft of the arrow between his legs in such a manner as to break the **** out of it and toss it completely away from where it should have been laying stuck in the ground. 

I called the wife just before dark and had her come get me. All I found at this point was the blinking knock and about 11" of my 29 inch Easton FMJ. The puzzling thing was it was about 10 yards out towards the field on my side of the deer and totally away from any direction it could have gone had he broke it off. Not finding any blood what so ever on it, left me pretty perplexed about the whole affair. finally around 9:30, the initial shot being taken at about 6:40, the daughter and I head back to see if there is any blood, or if he actually did break off the tip section, if he might be laying just up inside the edge of the woods over about 50 yards from the initial shot. We get to the impact area, talk over where I was, where he was, and the whole shot thing and I shine my light down and see something shine back. There laid the other half of my arrow, some 10 feet back towards me from where the deer obviously by the tracks was standing. 

Well with another half of clean unblemished, other than being broken, arrow in hand, we blew off any thought of recovery and I instead had to get an earfull of the great white hunter scenereo for the next half hour. ( God it sucks to have your kid chastise you)

Anyway I promised I would leave him be until this coming weekend, in the hopes the oldest grandson will get him. We checked the feeder this evening before heading home and found he had been to his scrape some 30 yards away, during the night last night. Evidently he is feeling invincible or is pretty perturbed at me because he really made a mess of things under his licking limb. Either way, it was a hoot and hopefully the grandson will be a better shot than Pawpa was.


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## bountyhunter (Jul 6, 2005)

Don't feel bad, it isn't hard to miss them with a bow, I know I've missed as many or more than I've actually killed. Hang in there and you'll get him next time.


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## redduck (Jul 26, 2006)

There are more of my stories about missing than hitting. And I think I am a pretty good shot when everything is perfect (at targets that is).


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