A while before gun season I hung a stand specifically for the rut.
Not really a pinch point but a crossroads of travel.
Hunted it once in gun (with bow)But the northwest wind didn't work well. No snorts just nervousness in all deer that came in , saw six bucks but not what I wanted close enough.

So a few days later we had a south southwest wind and I thought what the heck , we will try her again. So I sneaked in up the bottom of a ditch and carefully picked my way to the stand, which by the way is only 10' off the ground on a good sized pin oak. Also when I hung it I cut some leafy branches and tied on to help break my outline.

Now I've sat an hour or more and seen a few deer including two little bucks when I hear a grunt.

It wasn't a squeaky little buck grunt and I'm standing . Here comes a doe on course to pass me at 30 yards with a good buck following and grunting.

I'm thinking "crap I'm in the wrong spot again!!" Then she turns hard right and they come. And keep coming , she is moving pretty fast and I'll be shooting to my right, damn those branches I put up are gonna block shooting that way .

She comes on and at ten yards she suddenly looks right at me for a second and takes two hops .

I'm thinkin this just blew up, but the buck stops in the same spot, now twenty feet behind his gal. He is quartering to me a little but at ten I can do this. I'm almost at full draw when he looks up at me and the arrow is gone.

It's unbelievable the reflexes whitetails have, he spins to his left and the arrow hits him about 8" back of where I wanted .

I wanted  to throw up right then . He blasts thru 50 yards of timber, jumps the ditch and goes thru some trees, I can hear the arrow clatter on the trees.

Dammit , maybe I should have let down but when I get to full draw on a deer that doesn't seem to be an option. I watch him cross 200 yards of clover at full speed and into the next timber.

I mark the place he crashed thru the trees into the clover field and where he went into the timber.

 

Popcorn at ready.

Now I just feel sick , I drop my bow flat on the leaves below and just stand there ,this sucks .

I gather my stuff and quietly get down and sneak out and go home, text bro " think I just gut shot a buck"

We went back in morning, no hair at shot site, no blood, no arrow .

Finally we find a spec of blood in middle of clover field, and after much looking , another at edge of timber.

Three hours later we find a few more. Then nothing at all, still no arrow and no blood to go on .

We start looking toward the heaviest cover, you can see a ways in this timber so we start gridding it. After a quarter mile circle John says hey come here. The buck is laying on the edge of a small weed field , he went til he dropped, about 550 yards . Thank You Lord

As it turned out the arrow never made it thru the bottom , hence no blood on ground, he was full of blood and the liver was hit.  I guess him spinning away when the arrow struck robbed enough energy to hinder penetration .

I used a bow I built last spring from hard maple and glass with defects I cut out  and camo painted .

64" takedown , 47@28 , Beman Centershots with a 200 grain VPA three blade up front .

Well, that's the story and here is the buck ...[attachment=1]

Awesome write up Kenny.
And great deer.
Congrats.

Nice work  Kenny!   Way to stick with it.
Congratulations

He's a nice one Kenny.  Glad you found him.

It happens, good follow up man
Tim B

Real nice buck. I am glad you found him.

i hate when it happens like that, believe me. i know.
  congrats! on stickin with it and finding him. thats a good one.

Congratulations Kenny, way to follow up.

You Done Good....Really Good!

I could feel the pain and anguish ....and releif !
Great looking Buck , and story  ken .  Truly Happy you made the recovery .   

Congratulations with a fine animal ...enjoy the many gifts given my friend , and Thank you for taking us along.

Great story. Congrats.
Homemade bows work good to.

Great stuff Kenny congrats!

 

Congratulations Kenny, way to stick with it to the end.

Way to go Kenny!!!!

Congrats!

Bisch