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DAY 7

Morning Hunt

I had several does come by my stand to feed. No bucks this morning were seen. I almost got a shot at a coyote and watched a bobcat creep through the woods. Other than that, it was a slow morning hunt.

Afternoon Hunt

Kent Jarnagin was racking his brain trying to choose a stand for my last evening hunt. He gave me several options, but the one we liked best was a stand that had not been hunted yet. It was very close to a stand called the “Kill Tree” which is where I filmed the deer spectacle last year.

I gave Ken and “thumbs up” as I settled into my stand and he drove away. An hour later I spotted two smallish bucks getting read to fight over some does. But just before it came to blows, the lessor buck backed down. Several deer came by my stand this evening, an 8pt that will be a good one in a year or two, a 4-point, a button buck, and 4 does. A nice buck was heading in as the sun went down but a doe got his attention and he chased her for hundreds of yards. As the sun set, I noticed a nice buck moving in. Would I get a last chance buck?

He was a tall, heavy racked buck with lots of points on his right beam. He was not wide, but he was massive. I got ready to shoot, but he fed to the wrong side of the tree. There was a cedar branch hanging there to break up the shooters’ outline, and that was preventing me from shooting. I tried to move the stand’s seat back but it creaked and the buck riveted on my position. I froze, but he moved into a Tamarack grove and worked over a scrape and some rubs. The light was fading fast but I still had a good 10 minutes before it started to get questionable. Amazingly, the buck headed back to my stand and began feeding again. I had to do something about those branches that were blocking my top bow limb (I “cant” a recurve bow) from making a clean shot. I had no choice than to quietly snap off the branches and bend them out of the way. Luck was on my side, I was able to pull it off without him spooking.

The buck continued to feed but the angle was quartering-to. I had to have a quartering away angle or nothing at all. I held off from shooting for 3 full minutes until the buck finally presented a good angle. I shot, and hit the buck well (Note: we will not be giving you any clues about the shot, or the bloodtrail, until our upcoming “Bloodtrail Competition 9” in December). He crashed off into the Tamaracks and I gathered my gear. I told Kent what happened when he picked me up and we decided to go back and get some lanterns.

Watch the video of the shot

Kent Woolfolk was the first to spot the deer, he had not gone very far. He was a beautiful buck, 6 points on his right beam and 3 on this left (he had a broken brow tine from fighting). We were pumped! We took some pictures and headed back to the main house. Tonight we celebrate! Once again, luck smiled down upon me as I arrowed a great buck on the last afternoon of the last day. This outfit that Kent and Kent have is unbelievable - and I can't wait to hunt here again next year.