This year has been tough for some of us. We've had some success, and we've had some mishaps, but all in all, we've had a blast trying to bring you just a little piece of what we love to do. This time of year, of course, it's chasing whitetails.
The first time I was able to hunt Illinois this year, it started just like any November. Full of hope that a big, IL whitetail will mess up when he's out looking for a girlfriend and walk right down that trail in front of us....at bow range. Well, I can tell you, this year that's exactly what happened.
It was 7a.m., Monday morning, Nov. 7th and I was in my stand, not 100 yards from where I killed this hammer with my bow (exactly 1 year ago, to the day).
Here's the before and after of that buck from last year.
A 25 yd. shot and a short tracking job to this buck was a welcomed sight.
However, that's not how this '22 season has gone for me so far...
This year, at 7 a.m., just like clockwork, I have a 150"+ 10 pt. buck not more than 80 yards from me. He comes in by himself and hangs up at 80 yds. The buck starts to make a show as a little 4 pt. begins to "think" about challenging him but decides against it and walks away before he gets his butt kicked.
As an eternity goes by, the buck begins to walk the other direction just as a little yearling doe comes running into my right, not paying any attention to me or the buck. This was enough to make the big boy walk down the trail to investigate. The rest.....is history.
Once I gave him plenty of time, I climbed down from my stand and walked over to where the buck was standing when I took the shot. Complete pass-through. The arrow was right there, in the trail, stuck in the ground. The only problem was, there was VERY little blood on the arrow, even though it was a complete pass-through.
The only thing I can figure out, after hours and days of looking, is that the arrow either entered very high and the buck dipped the arrow, or it was a glancing shot. We found NO blood, just clumps of hair at the impact site.
Either way, we spent the majority of the next two days wandering around and looking the property over for this buck. So far, no one has seen him. Now, the property is very thick with brush and is perfect doe bedding. That's why the place is always so great to hunt. The surrounding ag fields provide the food, and this property is their bedroom. It's possible he went into one of the bedding areas but with the thick brush and no blood trail, you would just about have to step on him. Chalk it up to a bad shot, not allowing for the deer to drop and not following through.
Lessons learned, but that's bowhunting.
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