I spread some corn and then slipped into the blind an hour before first light and settled in with the compound bow. As I sat in silence enjoying the quiet, I heard the familiar sound of hooves on the hard dirt nearby. Eyesight was of no use at that point, so I picked up the 10x50s and searched. Eventually I found the shape of a deer, and it appeared to have a nice thick neck. All I hoped for was a chunky deer to take home. Horns would be a bonus, but the primary goal was to stock the freezer with stew meat and steaks. As the minutes passed, it got light enough for me to get glimpses of antlers as the deer ate, and he indeed had a chunky body and heavy neck. It was 20 more minutes before I had a prayer of a good shot because there just wasn't enough light- and I wasn't about to rush things and take a risky shot. I wanted a deer, but losing one due to a bad shot is not an acceptable outcome if it can be avoided. As light got better I had the bow perched on my lap and ready, and the deer finally stepped to a spot where his dark body was perfectly silhouetted by a patch of white sand behind. I began to draw the bow and had to glance toward the corner of the blind to ensure I didn't brush the wall with the arrow. As I looked back out the window the deer was gone... the other deer were standing around and looking left, so I looked that way too. The buck was bounding off into the brush chasing a doe. Ouch. I figured it was still early and he might come back in later, or another buck might come by. If nothing else a spike was bound to show up at some point. So I waited and watched the ladies feed. About a half hour later the girls began to get jumpy and would stare this direction and then that direction. Finally they all looked to the left again, and when I peered around the corner there was my buck pawing the ground and making a scrape. He was outside my shooting lane, but was back. He circled the area and then came back in for a bite of corn, and that cost him. I was ready and drew as he stopped at 17 yards. I settled the top pin right over his ticker and let it fly. There was a very hard sounding "thunk" as it arrived on target, and the deer did a little donkey kick and then bounded off down a sendero. At 50 yards he cut into the brush, and things got quiet again. The does came back in and resumed feeding, which helped me wait.
Within 30 minutes they had all wandered off so I climbed down to check for blood. At the point of impact there was a nice spray out both sides, and another big patch 15 feet away where the arrow had fallen out the far side, minus the nock and feather fletches.
The broadhead was broken and twisted, and I began to worry about "worst case scenario". The heart is partially protected my the leg bones. What if the had moved enough so that the arrow hit the leg bone as it entered the deer, and then deflected through the brisket? I dreaded the thought of wounding a deer like that. After the arrow came out, fat blocked the hole(s) and there was very little blood to trail. Several times I had to back up and get back on the trail.
The grasses in the sendero were mowed short and the dirt was hard and not allowing for tracking by footprints.
I finally got to the point where the deer had turned into the brush, and things began to get easier. The taller grass showed blood drops better, and I began finding bright red drops with some bubbles on them. I began to realize the deer would be dead somewhere out here and it was just a matter of finding him. As I covered the last 70 yards of blood it got easier and easier as the holes opened back up. I tracked the deer through the dry end of a water tank, and as I climbed the other side and entered brush again I could see a familiar brown shape laying in the grass.
The buck was down, and he was a good one. He had a pretty nine point rack, but more importantly he had a big body that was in great shape. I checked him over and felt better that my shot had been true but very tight to the shoulder. No doubt the buck had begun to react to the noise of the shot and moved a bit before the arrow arrived. I went back to the truck for my camera and discovered that the tripod adapter plate was not on the camera... it was still attached to the long lens that I had used to shoot the eclipse weeks ago. So I grabbed a bag target from the back of the truck and propped the camera on that for photos.
Dragging the deer to the truck got me wondering how I was going to get it loaded by myself. This was a heavy deer, and after the neck injury a few years ago I was not as strong as I used to be. It took a piece of rope and some creative lifting, but I got him loaded and drove him to the front of the property and the hanging tree. It's a big oak with a chain hoist permanently attached where we have cleaned countless hogs and deer over the years. As I quartered the deer I found a neat hole through the top of the deer's heart, right where the pin had been hovering as the release trigger was pressed.
I was glad to have meat for the coming year and knew the family could look forward to plenty of delicious stew and steaks. Yeah, the antlers were nice and his head will end up on the garage wall with many of his predecessors, but meat in the freezer had me feeling warm inside. On the drive home there was one hunter-gatherer who was feeling pretty good about life.
