Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 15

a large opening that I knew would present my best opportunity for a shot. As he passed behind a tree, I drew my bow, found my anchor and moved my pins to the opening. Just as the sights settled, the tips of the buck’s antlers and his nose came into view. I knew the range was 20 yards, and as I got my pins on the deer, I mouthed a soft bleat. He took two more slow steps, paused broadside, and looked in my direction. I settled my top pin behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger on my release. The arrow buried itself to the fletching a bit high and farther back than I liked. I grimaced, as the deer tore off up the hill out of sight. I listened as the deer covered ground for a few seconds, and then I heard him stop running. I held my breath, expecting him to take flight once again, but the next sound I heard was the deer crashing to the forest floor. At this point I started thinking, I got him! I got him. Frantically I began putting away my gear so I could climb down. I hurriedly lowered my bow and pack and descended the tree. Normally, I would’ve waited at least 30 minutes, but given the sheer size of the buck and the fact that I’d heard him go down, I couldn’t control myself. I grabbed my bow, nocked an arrow just in case, and followed the blood trail up the hill. When I came upon him in the underbrush, merely 50 yards from where he’d stood when I shot, my heart nearly stopped. I couldn’t believe the size of the deer and his rack. He had a wide, nearly symmetrical rack with four long points on each side and thick, dark bases. I let out the loudest woo-who I could, threw down my bow, and raced up the hill to my brother’s stand. By the time I reached Brett, I was out of breath and collapsed in the trail saying “Brett, I got him! Big buck! Huge buck! I got him!” Laughing, Brett said he had heard me yell and knew it must be big, with the way I was carrying on. He said he had already SEPTEMBER 2009 lowered his bow and would be down in a minute. We ran up to the house to retrieve his video camera, call my father and get my landlord to come down with his tractor to haul out the deer. When we approached the deer, my brother’s eyes got really big. He looked at me, shook my hand and said, “My goodness, Adam, that deer is huge.” After the picture taking and fielddressing, we dragged the deer over to the tractor and loaded it in the front bucket for the trip back to the house. After my father arrived and we had the celebratory handshakes and hugs, we loaded the deer onto the hitch rack of my truck and headed for a local feed mill to use their scales. I pulled in and asked if I could weigh a deer and was told where the scale was located outside. 180 Pounds, Son Customers came out of the store and a few people driving past pulled over and gathered around when we placed it on the scale. The man working the desk stuck his head out the door and said, “180 pounds, son. Congratulations.” I almost had a heart attack. Not only was it the biggest racked buck I’d ever seen, it was the heaviest I had ever shot. I’m extremely proud to have taken this animal and thankful that I had the opportunity to harvest him. The deer is a symmetrical 8-point and after the 60-day drying period it scored 1297/8, qualifying it for the Pope & Young Club records. The mount now adorns the wall in my home, where I admire it every day. Although I’ve accomplished a goal that other hunters only dream of, I’m still kept awake at night each fall, dreaming about the next trophy buck. You just never know when, but sometimes dreams do come true. 15

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009

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