Minny-MO Buck #1 Down In MN

I arrived at the Annandale property around 3 PM on 10/24/08. Had cloudy skies, cool temps in the low 50’s to upper 40’s and a south wind at 5-10 MPH. The wind was suppose to be out of the N/NW all evening but never switched until after dark. Thanks again weather.com! Because of the forecast I climbed into my center woods stand. The south wind was a bit iffy, but I should have been O.K..

After a slow first hour and a half I noticed movement to my left. I spotted what I thought was a descent 8 point buck about 60 yards south of me working the bottom of the hillside. I think the deer caught a brief whiff of my scent, but not enough to put him on alert, instead it seemed to peak his curiosity. It looks like my Scent Lock clothing was paying off! The deer started up a path that led directly to my set, the whole time it was walking dead down wind of me. At 30 yards the buck gave me a brief broadside shot but quickly turned and continued walking directly to my set. Finally at 5 feet from my set the buck turned broadside and gave me an almost straight down shot. My arrow flew straight down and never touched the deer. Everything happened so fast that the deer never new what happened. He took a quick step back and started to look around.

I think the deer caught me move for a brief second as I reached for a 2nd arrow, but after a minute or two of staring each other down the deer started working his way straight east from my stand. At 15 yards the deer stepped behind a tree and gave my a 2nd opportunity to come to full draw. When the buck stepped out from behind the tree at 17 yards my Hoyt was waiting for him. This time there was no messing around. I hit him about 6 ribs back as he was quartering away and my arrow came out perfectly on the opposite crease. "We have a broken heart!" The deer did a mule kick on impact and took off running to the east. It feels nice to be lucky once in a while!

After settling down, making a couple phone calls and waiting about 45 minutes I started my track job. The deer made it nearly 200 yards with no lungs and a hole in his heart. I guess he wanted to try and hold it. Luckily for me the spitfire opened him up proper and the track job was fairly easy once I got my big spot light. After a 30 minute track job I found my 1st buck of 2008! The deer ended up being a big bodied 7 point. Not the biggest rack in the world, but he can ride in my truck…I mean mini van any day of the week. After pulling the deer to a field edge I left him for the night and returned the following morning with Logan and Jake to take some pictures and finish the drag. With temps in the upper 30's Friday night the deer would be fine. Below is a picture with me and the two future deer killers on Saturday morning. Another highlight to my 2008 hunting season. My week trip to Missouri is next week!