I was hunting in Hutchinson, Kansas. On Thanksgiving Day I harvested a 180 lb. doe at 9:00 AM with a 15 yard shot with my bow. Deer went a mere 40 yards after a solid double lung hit. The next morning, after a steady downpour at dawn, the rain stopped and the deer activity increased. Right at dawn, I saw a 130-140 class 10 point standing in a field about 200 yard away. It was neat to watch as he shook the water from his hide. I grunted...no response. I grunted again, louder...no response. I got out my Lohmans rattle box and started a series. He looked and started stepping towards me. I thought he was coming until I saw the doe pop out of the thicket he was standing next to. No dice. I had to be somewhere at noon, so I left the buck at about 11:40 AM still chasing his doe. I decided to come back to that stand that evening. I arrived at my stand at around 3:00 PM and was settled in by 3:15 PM. I realized immediately that I had underdressed. A very strong cold front was moving through. Temperatures were dropping rapidly. It was overcast and blustery. A steady 20 mph northeasterly wind was blowing right in my face. I cowboyed up and decided to hang tough. At 4:15 PM I saw two does appoaching from my right making their way towards me. Since we were in peak rut I was scanning the scenery behind them looking for a following buck. There was none. The does moved in and begin to feed heavily. They moved all around and under my stand. With the strong northeast wind blowing in my face, there was no chance of them smelling me. And since I had filled my doe tag the day before, they were safe. Forty five minutes later, at 5:00 PM, I looked to my right and I saw him. He was 150 yards away and all I could see was his neck and rack standing aboving the plum thicket. He was intently watching the does. At first, I thought it was the deer from the morning hunt. I later learned othewise. After watching them for a few minutes, he made his move. He steadily begin to move towards them. "Oh man" I thought, "here we go." I reached for my 71 lb. PSE Lighting Flite that was hanging on a limb. By the time I got my bow down and attached my release, he had closed the gap to 75 yards and was steadily coming. I hate it when you are bow hunting and you see them coming from a long way off. You have too much time to think about it. I like it better when they just show up. Anyway, I did something I learned in a magazine a few years ago that has helped me calm down. I kept telling myself, "Danny, you're probabably not going to get a shot. He is going to turn and walk away, smell you, or something." I even turned and just watched the does for a few minutes so I could get my mind off of him.

The next time I looked at him, he was 25 yards away. This was not the same 10 point I had saw that morning. This was a deer no one hunting our lease had seen. It was a 12 point with 6 on one side, and 4 on the other with a double brow tine. He moved behind a small cedar tree 20 yards in front of me and began to feed. I had a quartering towards me shot but talked myself out of it. "Danny....he can't smell you...he doesn't know you are here...relax...he'll give you the shot." For 15 minutes I watched him feed. I studied his rack frontwards and backwards. Finally my break came. One of the does squatted and urinated. He saw it. I knew what was coming. Sure enough he started to trot over to where the doe had peed. I drew my bow. He didn't see me.....good. I whistled to try to get him to stop. No dice. He wanted to smell that doe pee. Now I have another problem. He had stopped over the doe pee and was smelling it and lip curling. The problem is there are branches of the tree in the kill area. To make matters worse I was at full draw. I wanted to let down so bad. "Danny, you can't. You will have to re nock your arrow...and it might fall off of the rest...HOLD IT!!!" I put my arm in the fork of the tree and that helped me hold it. After about 2 minutes, he turned to look back at the doe which was now feeding back at the cedar tree. I knew what was coming. He turned to move towards her and started to trot towards her. I whistled to get him to stop. No dice. Alright then....I held on his heart and let it go. I knew it was a terrible shot because my follow through was lousy. I jerked my head. It is just plain hard to shoot at a deer that you are trying to keep your eye on at the same time. However, God was with me.....the arrow struck the deer right in the spine and he went down immediately. I got out of the tree and finished him off with a lung shot. The deer weighed well over 200 lbs. and was in perfect health. He has a 17 inch spread to his 12 point rack and has bases of 4 inches. He also has 4 inch mass at the mid point of his main beams. I am going to get him rough scored tomorrow. I am guessing that it will be close to the 125 P & Y minimum. I am further guessing that he will gross P & Y, but may deduct out. Anyway, that is just icing on the cake. He is a fine deer. By the way, I want to put a plug in for Muzzy. When they say they are "Bad to the Bone" they are right. The 115 grain four blade imbedded itself fully into the spine. Of the four blades, only 1 broke. I thank God for blessing me with this hunt. Today (Jan 31, 1998) was the big day as the horns were officially scored by a Pope & Young measurer.

The final score.......130 3/8 He made book with room to spare. This was my first and a big relief since I missed by 5 inches last year.
Keep at it guys and gals.....it could be your turn next.