# Archery Opener Monster Buck



## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

Had a fantastic weekend on the opener of the archery hunt, thought I'd share our experience. Opening morning, Aug 15th, 2015, we hunted hard in the morning, hiking several miles. I had an elk tag, my 12 year old son had his first deer tag, and this was opening day of his first big game hunt. In the morning, we got into a large heard of about 80-100 elk, but couldn't connect with one. There is nothing like being within 20-30 yards of a large herd of elk, smelling them, talking with them, etc. That is something I love about bow hunting, the challenge of getting up close and intimate with the animals. We did see one nice 4x4 buck that morning, but he was too far away for a shot and busted us shortly after finding him.

After a long morning hunt, we drove into town to get lunch and ice. We were on our way back to camp to get ready for the evening hunt, when we spotted a couple of bucks feeding in a thick aspen grove on the right side of the road. My son excitedly jumped out of the vehicle, (wearing shorts, flip flops and Utah Jazz hat) and we kept driving 20-30 yards to keep the deer preoccupied with the vehicle, not with him. I looked back through the back window and he was at full draw, then he shot, right as a motorcyclist passed by going the opposite direction. He ducked down a little bit, then looked back at us and gave a fist pump and a huge smile. I got out of the vehicle, walked over to him and he said he hit him in the vitals. Just then the guy on the motorcycle drove back up to us and asked if we had just shot a deer, he said it was laying in the middle of the road. The deer bolted after being shot, ran about 100 yards, outrunning the motorcycle. The buck cut him off, "did a somersault" and collapsed right on the gravel road in front of him. The guy on the motorcycle and his friends were really excited for him, congratulating him on a great shot.

The spike was shot at 15 yards through the lungs. The arrow went completely through, threading the needle between a couple of ribs. I was really proud of him for connecting with the vitals his first time ever shooting at a big game animal. Special thanks to swbuckmaster and the J.O.A.D coaches at DATUS for helping him get started in the right direction.

His setup:


Mathews Ignition
40lb draw weight
75gr. Muzzy broadheads
Buck stats:


Full Velvet
Right Antler: 6 1/2" length
Left Antler: 5 1/2" length (probably loose some symmetry points here)
Spread: 5 1/2"
Anyone tell me what the score is on that monster? LOL

Through all this I learned a couple of things:


I'm a lot happier seeing him succeed at getting a small buck off the side of the road than if I would have tagged an elk that day. We made some fantastic memories. It'll be a hunt we'll never forget.
It's a lot easier to find/recover an animal if a guy on a motorcycle finds it for you less than a minute after taking the shot. Blood tracking is overrated anyway. 















Here is the Aspen Grove the buck was feeding in:









The aspen grove and road he died on:


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

success! looks like the size of the whitetail we have back in the south.


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## bigbuck81 (Oct 10, 2007)

Awesome story man. That's what it's all about.


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## bugchuker (Dec 3, 2007)

outstanding


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

That scores a perfect 10 (and not in inches). Great story! Camo is sooooo overrated.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

That was a GREAT story! Congratulation to your boy!


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## mjensen1313 (Jul 29, 2015)

Great story on his first buck! what great memories! can't wait to get out there with my son for the rifle; we both drew out this year and this is his first.


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## nocturnalenemy (Jun 26, 2011)

Pretty sure this is going to be my favorite story of the year. Congrats to you and your boy! Can't wait til my kids are old enough to go out with me.


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## Buckfinder (May 23, 2009)

Congrats to you and your son!!


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

Pretty cool.


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## kdinkel (Oct 29, 2014)

That is perfect!


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## utjer (Jun 30, 2010)

This wins the coolest post of the year award. I love seen kids having success.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

That's awesome!

I'm with ya. I'd rather see my kids shoot dinks then chase big bucks for myself.


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## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

Nicely done! Congrats to the young man!


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

Excellent story! Congrats to your son!


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## gmanhunter (Dec 27, 2007)

Nice little corn dogger. Love too see the youth fill a tag. That is what its all about, the memories. Congrats on the hunt.


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## kstorrs (Oct 29, 2012)

That is an awesome story! Way to go little man!

We are going to need some antler circumferences to see if it qualifies for P&Y :grin:


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

Congrats!



swbuckmaster said:


> That's awesome!
> 
> I'm with ya. I'd rather see my kids shoot dinks then chase big bucks for myself.


A couple more years and I'll be in the same boat.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

That awesome. congrats to him and you.


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