I wanted to share a quick story of my son’s archery harvest from here in Missouri. Wyatt is 15 years old and is an avid hunter. He has taken numerous nice deer throughout his young hunting history but really stepped up this year when he decided he wanted to pass his crossbow onto his little brother. He took over my old PSE last year when I upgraded to a newer one. He shot all through the summer while continuing to grow and become stronger. Once he got to the point where he was pulling back a weight that I was comfortable with him attempting to harvest a deer in an ethical manner, he set his sights on this season.
With limited days to hunt due to football practice, he took advantage of some evening hunts. On October 26th, he was able to take a mature doe with a well-placed 20-yard shot. The recovery was less than 50 yards from point of impact, and shot placement was perfect on his part.
Knowing he had the confidence in his skills, I made the decision to put him into one of my hot stands that had just been placed a couple of weeks prior after early season sits revealed a pattern of mature buck movement. We made the decision to sneak out after school, and he jumped in the stand by 4:15. Not long after getting in the stand, he texted me he had just let a 6-pointer walk by at less than 20 yards. I reminded him that his goal was to harvest an antlered deer and that those chances don’t come often. He felt good with his decision, and boy did it work out for him.
Approximately an hour later, he texted me and said he had just shot a monster. When I asked for clarification, he said he had just drilled a big, mature deer at less than 20 yards. The shot was good and saw the deer run off with the arrow still in him but could see blood on both sides of the buck as he disappeared into the thick timber. I calmed him down and told him to sit back and enjoy the moment as we were going to let the deer have some time due to the arrow still in him.
I met Wyatt at my truck about 30 minutes after the shot where he revealed that he observed good blood on the ground as he snuck out. He had stuck an arrow in the ground indicating where he last saw the buck before it went into the taller brush.
After 30 minutes of waiting, I couldn’t stand the suspense and we set out on the trail. Decent blood on the ground and the discovery of his arrow 40 yards from point of impact had our hopes high. After a few more minutes of trailing, I turned the corner and saw his deer laying on its side less than 75 yards from his stand. What we walked up on is hard to describe to a 15-year-old. As an avid bowhunter with nearly 30 years of experience, I couldn’t hardly believe what he had just accomplished.
A quick tape score on the tailgate of the truck revealed a very rough score of 206". The pictures tell the story, but the fire lit in a young man’s heart is what this father is really proud of.
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