# My 2010 General Archery Buck



## UtahMountainMan (Jul 20, 2010)

I just got this guy 24 hours ago. 

I hunted all day Saturday and Sunday, mostly out of my stand. After my morning hunt on monday, at around noon, I decided to do a hike and see if I could find a spike or buck.

I started at the top of the mountain I was hunting on and dropped into the really thick, dark timber, made up of Engelman Spruce, some Alpine Fir, and lots of wild raspberry bushes and dead stuff. Needless to say, visibility was extremely limited and it was hard to be quiet. 

I checked the wind and repositioned myself so that I could walk down through the timber directly into the wind. I was walking through a bunch of really thick, thorny brush, and was thinking to myself "why would a buck bed down in here..." when I jumped a nice buck out of his bed. I had walked within 15 feet of him before he either had winded me or heard me or just decided I was close enough. He jumped up and took two huge bounds away from me and stopped frozen in his tracks. While he bounded away, I had dropped down to my knees, and had a perfect spot where I could see him through the brush but he could not see me at all. 

For about 2 minutes, he stood motionless and stared in my general direction, looking for whatever he had heard or smelled. As I mentioned, the wind was totally in my favor. As I sat waiting for my chance, I slowly nocked an arrow and set my release. Finally, he turned his head to look away from me. I eased up and pulled back to a quiet full draw, and took a few seconds to settle my pin and determine his distance. I figured he was about 17 yards away. I let the arrow fly, I knew it nailed him, and he went crashing down hill. I waited for about 15 minutes and retrieved my arrow. It was covered in blood. I went back and got my brother and we tracked his blood trail. He only made it about 40 yards before he piled up. When I gutted him one lung had a 1.5inch hole clean through the middle and the other lung was sliced in half, like if you grabbed a piece of paper and ripped it halfway down. 

Anyway, it was awesome to get that close to a decent buck not knowing it, and thanks to the wind and fighting off my buck fever nerves, I stayed patient and waited for my shot.


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

nicely played sir!


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

Congratulations!! That's a nice buck and a great story too.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Sweet!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Now THAT'S woodsmanship!

Nice buck, cool story. Congrats.


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## highcountryfever (Aug 24, 2009)

Very pretty buck. Great job on the shot too!


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Beauty... thats a great story and an awesome buck.


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## katorade (Sep 23, 2007)

Congrats, glad to see general hunters finding some luck, Hope I will have some this time I"m heading out.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

It's amazing what you find when you get off the road! Nice job, very nice buck!


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## UtahMountainMan (Jul 20, 2010)

Thanks for the kind words guys, I hope the rest of you that post on here get a chance to harvest animals. We still have several weeks left.

To be honest, it kind of bites that I have tagged out for my buck already, but I cant complain. Its just going to be harder to convince my wife that I need to fill my Hunters Choice elk tag.

Yeah, it was awesome. I have shot 3 other bucks with my bow prior to this one but they were all 2 year old deer, and had small bodies. It was nice to get a mature one. I think what helped is that I was cow calling as I was hiking through and he may have heard me but thought I was an elk. Who knows. 

I do find it interesting that big bucks will stay bedded until you almost step on them. 

I had the same thing happen 2 seasons ago. I was hiking through the thick timber and jumped up a big 4x4 and he was bedded down until I was like 10 feet away.


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## JERRY (Sep 30, 2007)

Good Buck! Congrats!


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Nice buck! Looks like great shot selection too.


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## Troutsman (Aug 13, 2010)

Congrats on your buck. I will have to use your cow call technique while stalking through timber...


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## UtahMountainMan (Jul 20, 2010)

middlefork said:


> Nice buck! Looks like great shot selection too.


I was reading a thread on this forum last week about shot selection and about shooting a little more forward than what has always been taught.

After pouring through that thread I decided to shoot about 3 or 4 inches more forward and maybe an inch lower.

It was playing with my head whether I should try it , but I did and it worked great.


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## Leftysbowman (Aug 12, 2010)

Great job and nice buck, way to keep the wind in your favor! Makes you wonder how many bucks have been walked on by while they hold tight, I know I have passed a few!

Good luck with the elk tag!


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

That is a great buck thanks for the photos and story. 8)


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Good Job keeping your cool when you jumped that buck. That's a cool story.


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## fickejo (Oct 21, 2007)

Congrats on a well earned buck! That buck reminds me of the first buck I ever shot. A nice tall 3 point but mine was no longer in the velvet and I had a rifle as my weapon. Great story too!


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## jeff788 (Aug 7, 2009)

great buck and great story. Congrats!


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

awesome, awesome, awesome!!!! thanks for sharing!


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## fivexfive (Aug 21, 2010)

Nice buck mountain man, congrat's. cant waite to finally get out this weekend and do a little hunting myself.


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## droptine801 (Sep 26, 2007)

Nice buck and great story


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

Very Nice and good story too!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Hee Haw!! that's a goodun'


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## Lefty (Sep 20, 2008)

Nice job. Learned some things from reading your story.


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