Thought some of you might want to see the buck I killed yesterday afternoon with my crossbow........

The story:

I arrowed this one yesterday afternoon at 3:50.......I got in my stand at 3:30, at 3:45 two does ran by at 30 yards followed by a small buck....the big doe stopped where I couldn't get a shot and I decided to pass on the small doe and small buck.......they ran back the way they came in so I grunted a few times to see if they would come back.....nothing happened, so I decided to rattle....less than 2 minutes after I put the rattle bag down, this buck came in behind me.......I couldn't shoot, I had to wait for him to clear the tree the stand was in.......he stopped about 20 yards behind me in some brush and he looked like he wasn't going to stay long because he didn't see the fight he came looking for........I found a hole to shoot through and turned it loose.....I saw the arrow go beyond the deer but I couldn't tell for sure if I had hit him or if the arrow had been deflected by a branch......he ran down the side of the ridge and I thought I heard him crash........I waited about 5 minutes and then.....I just had to know! I climbed down from the stand and went to the arrow......it was lightly covered with blood and I hoped I hadn't made a poor shot......I followed the few drops of blood and his tracks for 25-30 yards then found where he began spraying out both sides....with that much lung blood, I knew he couldn't be far, so I went ahead and followed the blood.....after about 10 more yards, I looked down the hill and could see him piled up........he had only gone 75-80 yards........I knew he was a decent buck when I shot him......but it happened so fast that I didn't get a good look at the rack.........when I walked up to him, he was bigger than I thought....he weighed 144 field dressed.....not the biggest deer in the woods but an exceptional buck for this area....good thing I was excited or I would have never got him out by myself!!!

My digital camera wasn't working right last night, and the buck is too stiff to pose for pictures this morning, so you will have to forgive the poor photos......click the link if you want to see them.

photos

[ 11-06-2002, 20:15: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

Congratulations!
Nice Buck!!!

Well Done GonHuntin, Congratulations!

Very nice buck.Very good job.Congrats!

OH!! no you used one of those nasty cross bows
Thats a nice deer GonHunting,have been a cross bow fan sense the 60's,just wished more states would go to a season for them.

Mark,

Nice deer! Good hunting!

Dave

Oklahoma only allows crossbows to be used by people like me that can't shoot a regular bow. I injured my right shoulder many years ago and finally had to give up hunting with conventional bowhunting equipment about 5 years back.

GonHuntin
Congrats !!That is an excellent Deer ! Seeing people scoring like that is Great.
Rich Jake

Great buck! Congrats! What state are you hunting?
Greg

Greg

I'm hunting NE Oklahoma.

I hunted elk in Wyoming in '87 with a crossbow. Don't know if it is still permitted, but worth looking into if anyone is interested. And you don't have to be a crip either.

Congrats on the buck.

Mike

Great buck , Congrats!!!!!

Mark,
Congratulations a great buck.

We are getting settled in and enjoying the new work. Have a good place to hunt, less than a ten minute drive from the house.
xphunter

Hey Gonhuntin, where in Oklahoma are you from, I live in Bartlesville.

Handloader

I live west of Tulsa......do you ever shoot at Red Castle???

Great buck!!! Makes you get all warm & fuzzy Ga. now allows crossbow hunting. I have heard that those things are very effective, guess I heard right!! mvm