A Deerhunt In Progress - 2005

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Double Kicker Buck Hunt

Last Hunt - It all comes down to this ...

By the time I saw Double Kicker's familiar silhouette against the far trees several deer were around and his Buddy was already checking them out. As per usual Double Kicker waited a while and started toward the deer.

The Buddy was in a does face when Double Kicker cleared the weeds and tall grass.

Suddenly his head shot up and his nose moved as he drew in the scent of something.

He immediately took off after a doe and he chased her all around the place. 

Before long they both stopped and stood apart. I range findered him at 27.5 yards. I've had other range finders but this Nikon 800 beats them by far. It is small and light weight enough to hold and work in one hand, and click the cross hairs on and then get the yardage. There were several deer closer to my Double Bull blind and he walked over to them -- I pushed the yardage button ... 18 yards.

My camera was on the tripod so I could take pictures if I wanted so I filled my left hand with the handle of my BowTech Justice. He stopped --  there were deer between us. I couldn't risk a shot ... not yet. I clicked a picture.

Oh no! 

He stepped away from the group. He was leaving! 

And already to far for a comfortable shot.  I could not believe how lucky this buck was. I'd been in two different trees and the Double Bull and had not managed a shot. 

Double Kicker stopped just inside the weeds. Two does were drinking from my water tube. Either he smelt the water or was interested in the does and he changed directions. He walked to the does and drank some of the tube's overflow water off the ground. I clicked the rangefinder button, 18.5 yards. I shut the jaws of my FletchHunter release around the bow's string loop.

My heart beat was noticeably faster than normal. For some reason I remembered my friend Zano's email last year, "shoot with confidence," he had told me. The BowTech came back to full draw without any sound. I put the top fiber optic green pin behind the shoulder and held it rock still. "Shoot with confidence," I thought.

And released.

The arrow stopped at the feathers. He stood in his tracks, motionless for a few moments, a red streak ran down his ribs behind the shoulder. Then he ran into the weeds and out of view.

The shot had been so quiet that the other deer were still here and I took a pic of the Buddy buck -- while what had just happened raced through my mind again and again.

Thirty minutes later it was getting dark. I asked my friend Perry Wicker if he wanted to help me track the buck. (I knew he would.) We found blood right away but it ran out in 30 yards. While Perry looked for more I continued in the direction the trail was going. I didn't see anything.

Perry called out that he was back on the trail -- the buck had turned left. I shoved through some bristly brush to get in line with him. Something in the flashlight beam caught my attention.

Antlers.

Perry was only 15 yards from discovering the buck himself. He took a few impromptu pictures.

We pulled the Double Kicker buck back to the food plot with the very handy EZY Buck-Haul Tow Rope (Cranford). The weather forecast was for low 30's in the morning and it was already in the mid 40's. Tomorrow morning we'll take pictures and catch up on a few details of this very cool hunt.