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First let me say this is not a Trophy hunt story. this is a venison harvest story.
My son-in-law Mike got his first archery deer yesterday, a fork-horn California mule deer up in the San Bernardino mountains somewhere above 7,000 ft. He was quite excited and had put a lot of effort into it, scouting, trail cams, and lots of practice. I watched him put 3 arrows into 6" at 65 yds in the back part of our lot. He had a great story to tell too! Seems he was sitting on the ground, back to an oak, in full camo and this young buck deer came to withing 3 feet, that's right 3 feet of him, deer snout to masked camo face. He now SWEARS by the scent-free theory of washing clothes, etc. Mike didn't more a muscle, other than his heart beating rather rapidly. The deer finally wandered 20 yards off to a stream and then when it started up a hill to the left it stopped and stared at him again. He thought OK, this is too much to pass up and began slowly raising his bow and drawing, all the while the deer continued staring but not moving. Mike says he was sure the deer would bolt at the movement, but it didn't. The shot was through and through, going through both lungs and cut the heart on the way. I'm not sure what brand, but he used a 2 blade tip that opens 2 wider blades on impact. He said the deer bolted off but only lived 5 seconds before it dropped and it left a big blood trail. When he saw part of the heart cut off and all the blood insided he knew why. Not a trophy as in a wall hanger, but there is a bunch of meat now cooling down and seasoning in our refrig. It was a great hunt, IMHO.
He used Matthews Reezen 6.5 70lb draw. Rage broadheads.
AND he didn't kill the big 4x4 he has on trail cam and I'll get to go there in rifle season in about 3 weeks! Whoo hoo.
My son-in-law Mike got his first archery deer yesterday, a fork-horn California mule deer up in the San Bernardino mountains somewhere above 7,000 ft. He was quite excited and had put a lot of effort into it, scouting, trail cams, and lots of practice. I watched him put 3 arrows into 6" at 65 yds in the back part of our lot. He had a great story to tell too! Seems he was sitting on the ground, back to an oak, in full camo and this young buck deer came to withing 3 feet, that's right 3 feet of him, deer snout to masked camo face. He now SWEARS by the scent-free theory of washing clothes, etc. Mike didn't more a muscle, other than his heart beating rather rapidly. The deer finally wandered 20 yards off to a stream and then when it started up a hill to the left it stopped and stared at him again. He thought OK, this is too much to pass up and began slowly raising his bow and drawing, all the while the deer continued staring but not moving. Mike says he was sure the deer would bolt at the movement, but it didn't. The shot was through and through, going through both lungs and cut the heart on the way. I'm not sure what brand, but he used a 2 blade tip that opens 2 wider blades on impact. He said the deer bolted off but only lived 5 seconds before it dropped and it left a big blood trail. When he saw part of the heart cut off and all the blood insided he knew why. Not a trophy as in a wall hanger, but there is a bunch of meat now cooling down and seasoning in our refrig. It was a great hunt, IMHO.
He used Matthews Reezen 6.5 70lb draw. Rage broadheads.
AND he didn't kill the big 4x4 he has on trail cam and I'll get to go there in rifle season in about 3 weeks! Whoo hoo.