 Last
year, I told you about my success while hunting an Ohio "bowl". Shortly
after moving to the Buckeye State I took a nice buck in Ashland County.
The 8-pointer, click here, hot on the
tail of a doe, was skirting the upper wooded edge of the deep depression
when he met his end. The bowl has a luscious green field at its bottom
and its sloping sides are covered with varying densities of wood, interrupted
briefly by two breaks; One, a wide swath leading northwest up to an enormous
sea of crop fields, and the other, a narrow farm road overgrown with high
grass and briars, leading east up to a small bramble-covered field that
dead-ends into a hog farm. I knew then that this was special place that
attracted not only a high number of deer but also the kind of bucks that
have been sneaking through my dreams since my childhood.
This year, the bowl brought me another great experience and the
realization of a longtime dream of mine. Dave Conrad, a good friend
and fellow outdoor writer and I, left his home early October 18th, anticipating
a full day of bowhunting.
Dave set up in the "triangle" stand and I set up in the "wood" stand
-- the same one that sits on the upper west edge of the bowl where I took
last year's buck. Just before light, two dark shapes appeared, walking
quickly along the crest of the hill, heading toward the bedding area at
the back of the property. One of the two grunted loudly, but it was
too dark to see if it was a buck or a doe. As the morning wore on,
more deer were sighted -- eighteen in all -- including three small bucks
that passed within five yards of my position.
At last, I decided that most, if not all of the deer had passed and
I was ready to take a doe if the opportunity presented itself. Only
minutes later, a group of four doe that had earlier disappeared into a
thicket to the northeast, emerged once again and headed my way. The
group entered the woods just twenty yards to my right and made their way
along a path that led them within seven or eight yards. I was ready
and had my bow drawn, when the last and largest member of the group stepped
into an opening. As soon as the green twenty-yard pin found its home
behind the doe's forward stretching shoulder, the Rocket Hammerhead tipped
Easton Carbon arrow was launched. After a couple of short bursts,
first right, then back left, she stumbled and fell. This marked the
end of a good morning of hunting and the beginning of a great day of hunting.
While picking up the doe, Dave and I hung a stand at the bottom
of the bowl along the northern edge. Dave had been at the southern
edge a week and a half before and saw promising activity at the opposite
edge. That evening Dave wanted to hunt a stand far on the other side of
the property, so at 3:30 pm, I headed out to the newly hung stand.
Not long into the afternoon hunt, a group of three doe meandered into
the southern end of the field. From that point on, throughout the
remainder of the hunt, what seemed to be an endless stream of flatheads
poured in from the southern border. At thirty-eight, I finally lost
count! Light started to fade and I wondered where the suitors for
all these doe were. My question was answered almost immediately as
a group of seven or eight bucks waltzed into the bottom of the bowl on
its eastern edge.
I quickly came to attention and grabbed my bow. Light was fading
fast and I anxiously watched as the brass decided which way to go.
All of them, including two apparent bruisers, headed for the large open
swath that leads to the crop fields -- save one. A healthy looking
ten-point peeled off and followed seven doe in my direction. Most
of the doe passed within twenty-five yards, but the buck took a path further
out that would keep him approximately thirty-five paces from my perch.
Of course, as it happens, he had to stop along the way to SLOWLY munch
on some vegetation and scan the countryside before moving on.
"Come on already! Get on with it!" I thought.
After what seemed like a lifetime, the buck decided to move on and took
a few strides forward, only to stop again. This time though, he stood
almost motionless right in the middle of my shooting lane, totally unaware
of my presence.
I slowly brought my VFT to full draw, trying to avoid the many eyes
all around me, and settled the gap between my thirty and forty yard pins
behind his shoulder. Before I knew what had happened, the arrow was
on its way, striking the buck true.
He bolted up the side of the bowl in the direction of the overgrown
farm road and hog barn. I thought I heard him crash, but decided
to back out and head to the truck just to be sure. Dave and I then
took up the chase with another friend, Victor, about one hour later.
The truck took us for a bumpy ride up through the fields and around the
rim of the bowl toward the hog farm. My heart sank as we stepped
out of the truck and turned our flashlights toward the bowl. A large
buck stood carefully from his bed and very slowly made his way into the
wooded edge.
"Is that him?" Dave asked.
"Sort of looks like him," I replied, "and that isn't good."
Quickly making my way to the overgrown farm road, I hoped to get a good
look at the buck as he crossed over, in order to confirm that he was indeed
the one. Making my way down the old road and staring intently into
the darkness, I was pleasantly interrupted when I literally tripped over
the head of my buck. What lay in the briars at my feet was the largest
buck, both in rack and body, of my life. A beautiful ten-point that
Dave would later rough-score at 144! That capped off my "double bowl" --
a doe and a buck on the same day. Wow, what a day!
Jon Silks and Dave Conrad are Field Evaluators for Bowhunting.Net
Jon Silks with his buck
from the "Bowl" |
