WE DID IT FELLAS!!! We ALL did it. Everyone on NDA can share in the awesomeness of this experience. Why you may ask?? Because if it wasn't for this website and all who post on here, HappyCamper would never have mentioned to Logan to take a shot in the dark to ask for help. We all love hunting and this my friends is how we keep hunting going. By taking the time and effort to pass on what we greybeards have learned over the years to these young men and women. Now, enough preaching. Here's the story from my side....
Logan and his Dad arrived at Fort KDM at around 5:30am. I of course, had been up for over 2 hours by then as I was so excited and nervous for this hunt I couldn't hardly stand myself. We discussed the hunt and how the blind was set up. What to expect and a few pointers on hunting in general. We headed to the stand at around 6:35am and I got them situated and ready. I was hoping for a call right at daybreak, but all was quiet. I was so hoping there would be deer there right a way. About an hour after sunrise and a few more cups of coffee while I paced around the house waiting for a phone call, I figured I might as well start my day so I went to take my shower. I had no sooner stepped under the water and was getting my hair wet, when my wife came in, opened the shower door, and handed me my phone. Hair dripping and a few strands in one eye, I shut off the shower and took the phone in a wet hand. From the other end I heard those MAGIC word I had been longing to hear. "I Took A Shot!" My heart jumped. I told Logan to stay put, quiet, and enjoy the moment. I would be up there in 30 minutes or so. I finished my shower, got ready, and headed up to the stand. I found Logan and his Dad still in the stand and proceeded to ask a bunch of questions about the shot. Things like "Did the deer jump and the shot?" "Which way did he run?" "How did he run?" "What did you hear after the shot?" "Was the arrow still in the deer?" Logan was having difficulty remembering all these details and we talked about how important these details are to figuring out what happened. He got the picture and said "I was so excited that I didn't pay attention to those things." I smiled and totally understood. It was during these questions that Logan mentioned the word "HE". I realized he had shot a BUCK!!! I was ecstatic! I was hoping he would be able to get a shot at horns. I told Logan and his Dad that I would look for blood and that they should be looking ahead of me for the deer. We discussed the why's and what for's about the importance of looking ahead and being quiet during a tracking job. We started at the impact point where I looked for the arrow more so than blood. I didn't find the arrow, which I took for a good sign. Logan described pretty well where the deer had run, which was great for a young hunter. I didn't find any blood for about 20 yards at which point I found the arrow. Here's where things went south a bit. I looked at the arrow and there was NO BLOOD on the broad head or the first 6-8 inches of the shaft. HMMMMM.... There was however, good blood on the last half of the shaft and all over the fletching. Here is where I found WHITE HAIRS on the fletching. NOT GOOD. White hairs means belly or low brisket. Logan, his Dad, and I discussed what the arrow was telling me and why. Logans face kind of dropped when I started quizzing him on his shot a bit more. NOW we went into "Stalking Mode". Very quiet and very slow. I was finding drops of blood the size of marbles and I found where the buck had stood for a time. There was a puddle of blood the size of a softball, but I didn't like the fact that the buck had stopped and stood, before heading off into the trees again. The blood trail really got sparce after that and I could only find one BB sized drop after that. It was a this point we decided to back out. I was thinking low brisket hit with a slight chance he cut into the chest cavity. We decided we would give this deer ALL DAY to lay up. We discussed why that was a good idea and what a deer will do when it's hit, but not hit really good. We marked the last blood with Logans arrow, let the deer lay for 7 hours, and headed back in at 4pm. We picked up the blood trail and it was DISMAL, DISMAL, DISMAL!!! I was on my hands and knees following flecks of blood on grass and disturbed leaves. It took us an hour or so to go 15 yards further on the blood trail and I LOST BLOOD. I was SICK to my stomach. I thought NO, WE CAN'T LOSE THIS DEER, NOT ON HIS FIRST BUCK!! I said a small prayer to my Heavenly Father and stood up. We quietly talked about how to continue. I told them that deer tend to keep going in the same direction when they are hit, so I laid out a plan for us to fan out and QUIETLY proceed down the trees, looking for a deer bed or a body. I was hoping we would run across his bed and at least give me a chance to evaluate the hit. I sent Logans Dad on the inside, Logan was to be in the middle, and I took the outside path along the tall grass, hoping I could find some smears on the grass. Logan and his Dad started out and I headed to the outside. I hadn't gone 10 steps when I saw a lump in the grass off to my left. It was shiny on top in the sun. I crept over a couple of steps and realized it was Logans buck. RIGHT THERE at 10 yards. I just stood there watching for a second or two as with the blood trail I thought we might need another arrow. BOY was I glad I did that. I was just about to take another step and I saw his ear move. OH CRAP!!! Now started the fastest, slow silent creep through the brush I've ever done trying to get Logans attention without making much noise and He and his Dad were walking away from me. That was fun...... I quietly whistled a couple times while hotfooting it towards them. Logan noticed or heard me and turned around. I then started a series of hand signals that I'm sure looked like I was having and epileptic episode, but I got the point across that I wanted Logans Dad to stand fast and be quiet and for Logan to sneak over to me as silently as possible. We met up about 40 yards from the buck and I showed Logan where he was. We crept back in to about 10 yards and it was here I could tell the buck was laying belly down, with his chin on the ground. We had some thick pines and junipers between us and the buck with no hope of getting closer or around the buck without making a bunch of noise and possibly spooking the buck. I found a SMALL SMALL opening in the pines about 8 inches tall and a foot wide without any branches and asked Logan if he thought he could slip an arrow through that opening and into the bucks chest. He looked at me and said "I can try." He drew back, squatted down an bit and leaned over. It looked like a new yoga stance to me, took aim, and let fly. THWACK!!!! I heard the hit and the buck literally launched out of his bed and took off. It was a TREMENDOUS shot for an experienced hunter, let alone a young hunter with his first buck. I could see the arrow fletching on one side of him and the broad head on the other. The blood was pouring out of him. Logan looked at me and I said "He's Yours!!" We watched the buck pile up in some cattails about 40 yards away and the celebration began. I was fist pumping and called Logans Dad over who had been patiently watching us and had heard the shot. Turns out Logan had not realized the buck wasn't perfectly broadside and had taken a quartering towards shot. He hit about 3 inches from where he was aiming, but with the angle of the deer he had hit one lung and a bunch of yucky. The arrow came out in the belly just in front of the offside leg. That's where the white hairs came from. I was EXTREMELY happy we had let this deer lay up all day. If we had not, I suspect he would have gotten up at our approach and we would have never found him. WHAT A HUNT!! CONGRATULATIONS LOGAN ON YOUR FIRST BUCK!!!!!!!! Hope the pics show up soon. They turned out great as well.
