The year was 1998 and it was my second fall living in Kansas. I had harvested deer in Wisconsin during the gun season since 1988 but I had still never bow hunted. I purchased a new
PSE split limb compound bow in June and practiced shooting all summer. Practice was extremely important back then because rangefinders were just starting to appear. I couldn't afford one so I had to guess at all my yardages by stepping them off. I became pretty good at this in the backyard but I never thought about practicing from an elevated position.
In August, my father and I obtained permission to hunt a 240 acre farm outside of Waverly Kansas. We immediately headed for the farm to scout the property lines and look for deer sign. I remember walking the edge of a soybean field. A wooded creek bottom bordered 3/4 of the soybean field. As we were walking, my Dad thought he heard something down by the creek. He told my younger brother (Dustin) and I to stay in the field while he walked down to the creek. Dad didn't make it 10 yards off of the field edge when out popped a 160"
mainframe 10 point. The deer abandoned his creek bottom bed and headed across the soybean field as fast as he could go. The whole experience lasted only seconds but watching a buck that big made it seem like things were moving in slow motion. Little did I know that I would soon have a shot at that trophy animal.
It was the second week of October. Dad and I were hunting down at that farm on a hot windy afternoon. I was hunting in a tree that was on a fence line leading to a soybean field. The fence line was also the south border to a cedar thicket that I knew was a good bedding area. I sat in that tree stand all afternoon fighting the Kansas 30 mph winds and
abnormally warm temperatures. I was certain that I would not see a single deer. About 45 minutes before dark, I elected to climb down out of the tree and walk over to the edge of the soybean field. The field was positioned on the opposite side of the farm from where we had jumped the giant buck back in August. I positioned myself next to a small cedar tree that was right on the edge of the field. I was confident that I would not be seen as I watched the field to see where the deer were entering it for my next evening hunt.
As I sat there I noticed the temperatures were really starting to drop with the setting sun. The winds died down almost as if they were on a light switch. I sat next to that small cedar for approximately 20 minutes when I could hear something walking behind me. I slowly turned my head to see 2 does coming out in the soybean field. They came from the cedar thicket behind me and weren't 30 yards away. They slowly studied the soybean field and then proceeded out to feed in the middle of it. They never knew I was there.
Suddenly, I heard a grunt come from the cedar thicket behind me. Then I could hear a deer blowing from the same area. I remember thinking to myself, why is the deer blowing? I knew there was no way that the deer could know where I was. I also knew I had a perfect wind so it could not smell me. The deer just continued following the same trail that the does were on and kept blowing like it was clearing its nose. It was a weird and unique experience.
The brush was super thick from the edge of the field to the cedar thicket. I could not see the deer that was coming, just as I could not see the previous 2 does until they were at the edge of the field. However, minutes later, I soon could see the deers antlers high above the brush as he proceeded to the field edge, I still could not see his body though. I readied my bow and positioned my body. I started to look for a place that I could shoot the buck. I found a hole that I could shoot through just as he reached the edge of the field. So, I patiently waited for him to walk 20 yards to my shooting hole. As he cautiously worked his way to the field edge, I could see nothing but his rack held high as if he knew to be proud of it. I was in awe and that is when the buck fever started to set in.
Right before the deer was going to enter my shooting lane, he would be behind a cedar tree. That was the opportunity that I would use to draw my bow. I attempted to attach my release on my
nock loop. It took me a minute because my hands were shaking like crazy (it looked like I was having a seizure). I was gasping for air as I began to hyperventilate. I remember thinking to myself, "get control of yourself. This is the moment that you have always dreamed about!" Finally, the deer stepped behind the last cedar before the field edge. I quickly drew my bow back with no problems because my adrenaline was flowing like a class 5 raging river.
As I waited for the deer to step into the shooting lane I realized that I had missed something. In my excitement, I forgot to judge the distance that the deer would be at for the shot. I began to panic as I tried to make the best estimate that I could while still at full draw. Suddenly it was the moment of truth, the monster deer was standing on the edge of the field looking back at me (he could probably hear me breathing). I put my second pin on his vitals and let the arrow fly. I never guessed that the first deer that I would shoot at with a bow would be on the ground and a monster buck. I also never guessed that I would miss!
I had misjudged the distance of the shot. I shot right under the deer's heart. He ran across the field and stopped to look back at me as if to say "you
dumb rookie". I tried to grunt him back over to me but he just blew at me and disappeared into the woods. I was heart broke. I blew the opportunity of a lifetime. I paced the distance off between me and where the deer was standing. It was a 35 yard shot. I had used my 25 yard pin on him. Bows were not fast back in the 90's and pin selection was much more important. I wanted to vomit.
Meanwhile, the buck ran through the woods and headed down a trail that lead to my Dad's stand. My younger brother Dustin, was also hunting in a stand approximately 100 yards from my Dad. It was starting to get dark, so my Dad began to climb down out of his tree so he could pick up my brother before dark. My Dad was half way down the tree when he saw the big buck approach him. They saw each other at the same time so there was nothing my Dad could do but freeze. The big buck spooked and headed towards my brothers tree stand.
Now what would you do in this situation? A mature buck had just been shot at then he ran into another hunter that was climbing down a tree. There was only one thing my Dad could think of. In an effort to warn my brother, he yelled "Dustin, here comes a monster buck". There was only one problem with this
desperate strategy. Dustin could barely hear my Dad so he hesitated for a minute then yelled back, "What?" Obviously my brother never saw the giant whitetail. Actually, after that day, none of us ever saw him again.
There are two lessons to learn in this story. The first lesson is about judging distance. If you are estimating the shooting distance in an open area, the actual yards are going to be greater than you think. Your eyes will play the opposite trick on you in the reverse scenario. If you are shooting in a heavily wooded area, the distance will be closer than you think. Practice this with your rangefinder and you will see what I am talking about.
The second lesson to remember is this, if you miss a giant buck, make sure he doesn't run directly towards your hunting buddy's stand. You will never hear the end of it if he shoots the buck you missed. If my Dad would have stayed another 3 minutes in his tree, he would have the biggest deer we have ever shot. That would have made my miss hurt that much more. I am just kidding, it would have been worth it to see my Dad put that big buck down. I know I missed my chance!
My brother-in-law, Aaron, shot an old dominant mainframe 8 point with 11 scoreable points. This buck looks like a bull with a neck that measured over 29" without his hide. Wow! I am guessing the deer is at least 7 1/2 years old. We had a picture of him last year but he has gone down hill a little since then. What a true trophy. He gross scored in the upper 130's and was a great kill with Aaron running out of time to hunt. Congrats Red Fox!
On November 2nd, the Crab Claw 10 buck was harvested. So you can imagine my surprise when my trail camera pictures saw this buck. He looks almost identical to the Crab Claw 10 that Gary (our land owner) shot. See the posting on November 2nd for a picture. The new Crab Claw 10 is pictured on the same food plot that the previous buck used to visit. I never noticed that we had two bucks that were almost identical. Cool.
Monty's friend shot this 188" Minnesota buck (bow kill).
Monty's friend shot this 159" Manitoba buck (muzzleloader kill).
This 270" monster non-typical was killed near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Huge mule deer kill by my taxidermist's wife in Colorado.
Elk kill by my taxidermist's wife in Colorado.
This is my favorite picture. It is my 6 year old son having fun shooting his bow. The way his arrows were configured, he thought it would look funny to stand in between them. What an imagination.
The weeds have been so bad in our fields this year, we had to plow and disc the fields. Usually we only have to disc them a couple of times. We are planting a one acre field in Whitetail Clover and three other fields in Pure Attraction (mix of winter peas, oats, and brassicas). All of the products that we use are made by the Whitetail Institute (except when planting winter wheat, corn, milo, and soybeans). We are also going to plant an acre of winter wheat, which is seed that a local farmer gave us. The land owner made arrangements for us to get the seed for free (bonus)! After two days of work, all 4 fields are now ready for planting. It is just a timing game as we wait for some rain in the forecast and try to get the seed down prior to its arrival.
