My buddy and I were in our treestands last evening overlooking the alfalfa field we've hunted with permission for several years. All was quiet when out of the trees comes a 9 point buck - nothing huge but for the area it's a good deer to see.
The buck walks about 15 yards from my buddy's stand but he get's no opportunity for the shot. It then makes a bee-line almost straight for my stand and comes through the trees emerging into my shooting lane at about 20 yards from my stand. Within a couple of seconds I release an arrow and "thwuunnnk" - the sweet sound of an arrow hitting the boiler room.
The buck kicked and took off like I've never seen before. He ran 70 yards down and back up a small stream bottom, cleared a fence with a slight brush on the top wire, and ran another 100 yards to the north end of a stand of trees in the middle of the field. Just as it looked like he was going to leave the property and head into a protected piece of land, he took a sharp right turn and ran another 200 or so yards before diving like a teen on a slip-and-slide. He slid at least 10 yards and was done in the middle of the field not more than 150 yards from my truck.
Having just switched from NAP Spitfire broadheads to Rage Hypodermics, I am slightly concerned that the deer travelled so far but I'll take the kill just the same. Upon field dressing we determined that the shot took out both lungs and the heart. It seems to me that deer drop must faster if the heart is not hit and it keeps pumping blood out of the lungs. Maybe just a tough deer.
Anyways - after only one morning and a couple of hours in the stand last evening, this is a great start to the season and I have some fine meat for the freezer.
Next - moose hunt in 2.5 weeks.
Good luck this season everyone.
cutthroat
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