Fall 2019

2019 Archery Season - "Bucky"

There's a first time for everything. This was one of those times.

After years of pondering the thought of getting a decoy to use during bow season, we finally pulled the trigger. I watched videos on Youtube with setups and see these incredible scenes with bucks coming in, hair raised, ready to destroy their opponent. Is this really how it works? I wasn't sure what to expect.

The Setup-

We had some pictures of a really nice buck on the farm and decided to pull a hang and hunt. Meaning we hung the stand that day and hunted that night. I don't think it all the years we have been going at we have done this. If we have, I assure you we did not have success or I would have remembered the event.

There were limited places to hang a stand based on the location we had been seeing this particular deer. There were mature trees but most of them were too far off of the travel path this deer or others would typically use. We find a tree that while not ideal, may work. The stand goes up, we trim some branches and climb the stand to look at the view. Hmmm, this seems like it might be a decent place to use our new decoy. The decision has been made, Bucky and I will return in a few hours to try our luck.

The Hunt-

I arrive to the set with my new friend Bucky in tow. I decided to put Bucky on the edge of the food plot where the deer typically funnel out. I faced him to the south as if he were looking at new deer approaching. Once in the stand, I sat for a bit and gathered myself to prepare for the hunt.

I had been sitting for about an hour and I decided to hit my rattling horns together for a bit. It couldn't have been more than 10 seconds into the sequence and I hear something coming through the brush next to our old pond. I look over and here comes a buck charging out from under the cedars to investigate. Just as the buck clears the cedar trees, he sees the decoy and throws the brakes on. He locked onto the decoy and froze. I am sitting in the stand with my rattling horns in my hands, my bow on the hanger, and not sure exactly what to do. I slowly lower the horns to my lap and squeeze them between my knees. The buck is still locked on the decoy and hasn't made me out quite yet. I slowly reach up for my bow and just as I'm about to clip on my release, the buck sees my movement. The buck is now staring at me and not the decoy, I freeze. The buck doesn't lock on me for long before taking his attention back to the decoy. As his interest goes back to Bucky, I seize the moment.

Keep in mind that I'm pinching my rattling horns between my knees, trying to draw my bow, all the while in a standoff with the buck, bucky, and myself. The buck finally takes a few steps toward me and then turns back to return in the direction he came. I settle my pin just in front of his rear quarter as he is quartering very hard away at this time. I squeeze my release, hear the arrow hit and see it disappear into the buck. The buck runs off out of sight toward the old pond. I sit there for a minute and listen. I didn't hear any crashes or see the deer go down, so I waited for an hr and climbed down to return to the house.

The Recovery-

I walked through the scenario with my dad and we decided to let him sit for a few hours and then go down to see if we could find any blood on the trails the deer would have had to cross. We looked for about 30 minutes in the dark for any blood or the arrow and had no luck. We elected to back out and continue the search in the morning.

The next morning we did the same loop we had done just hours before, looked for where the deer had run after the shot, and still no blood and no arrow. Knowing the path the buck had taken, we decided to split up and starting searching. There is a dike for the old pond and I knew I would have a good vantage point to survey the area. As I reached the crest of the dike, I looked down into the old pond and saw an antler sticking out of the grass. The buck was dead in the middle of the old pond, likely where he was bedded before I started rattling the evening before.

Take Care and Be Well,

Dave D. & Bucky @ OutdoorsOne