 After
hunting with fellow Bowhunting Net Field Evaluator Dave Conrad for a full
week in early November I had not seen much and went home empty handed.
Six days after starting my new job in Dayton, Ohio I had another opportunity
to hunt with Dave. I got to my stand very early and almost immediately
started seeing deer. Most of the deer came in far down the hill into a
little field at the bottom; we call it the "bowl". I stood the entire time
facing the tree and watching the deer, including two tremendous bucks,
eat from the bowl.
Occasionally a few does would walk the length of the field behind me
and pass right by my stand. About a 1/2 hour before dark I heard a doe
running behind me - and sure enough, up over the hill a decent buck appeared
trotting through a strip of high grass. In one motion I picked up my bow,
spun around and came to full draw.
A soft bleat and my movement stopped him at exactly 30 yards. I settled
the pin behind his shoulder and let it fly.
The buck was dead in about 6 seconds after taking only a few hops. If
the left side of his rack had matched the right side, the one I saw when
I made the decision to shoot, he would have scored around Pope and Young
minimum. Not a bad buck for my first Ohio harvest!
Also, I should note that a monster buck came right up on me when I was
field dressing this buck. Ask Dave for a picture of that "Big Boy" because
Dave shot him this past week!
Jon Silks with his buck
from the "Bowl" |
