My wife bought me the Tethrd Phantom starter kit (I believe this is what it's called) for Christmas in 2020. I watched countless Youtube videos, read a ton on here, and have hunted solely from a saddle ever since. Although I didn't shoot anything out of the the saddle, I found a new love for slowly working my way into different spots and setting up where I never could during the season. I grew up hunting a 400 acre farm is SW PA and would hunt the same stands that have been in the same spots for decades. After full season and a half, I killed a doe (Oct 28) and then shot a buck (Nov. 4) that we've had on camera for the last couple years. We knew he put on quite a bit, but I was shocked seeing him in person.
I was hunting in a crick bottom at the base of an east to west running ridge in which I always thought the deer was bedded. The farm I hunt was strip mined back in the day (like everywhere else in the area) and our woods are fairly young with nasty vines/multiflora rose and the occasional pocket of oaks and other hardwoods throughout the property. A lot of the habitat here would be considered bedding by anyone's standards and becomes hard to exactly pinpoint where a deer is bedding at a given time. Using the times he showed up on trail cams, large rubs and scrapes, I concluded he was bedded on a ridge top that is hard to hunt with our predominant winds and thermals that result from the rolling hills surrounding the area.
The wind was forecasted to blow directly out of the south, but after slowly making my way through the absurdly crunchy leaves, I got into my set and realized the wind was swirling straight up behind me to where I thought my "target" buck was bedded. I almost got down but decided to sit it out because my dad was only 150 yards away from me on the opposite side of the field. I convinced myself that the predominant wind would cancel out the thermals when my scent reached a certain height. Turns out he wasn't bedded up there.
About an hour and a half into my "hang" I noticed a larger bodied deer up in the brassica food plot that we planted in the summer. I pulled out my binos and couldn't believe the buck I had been trying to kill for the past 2 seasons was 50 yards from my dad in the food plot- It was ~5:15pm and 70 degrees out. Turns out there was a doe that I couldn't quite see through the trees and she was surely in heat. He would let her go about 50 yards and then cut her off, much like a cattle dog would. We watched him do this for about 45 minutes, until the doe noticed my dad in the leafless tree where his ladder stand was hung. She didn't spook, but knew something wasn't right and walked straight toward the crick bottom in which I was located. She entered the woods on a heavily used trail about 70 yards to my 2 o clock, and paralleled the crick bottom until cutting back up toward the field directly above me. The buck stopped at 37 yards to my weak side and was slightly quartered to, so I decided I wasn't going to risk a quartered to shot on the biggest deer we have ever had on the property.
The doe joined up with 3-4 other deer in the field about 80 yards above me and fed for about 5 minutes. A forky started chasing them around and she got irritated, turned around, and came back down the same exact spot she passed earlier. Once she passed at 35 yards, I drew and the buck stopped slightly quartered away at my 1 o clock and I let go. My lighted nock didn't work so I couldn't see exactly where I hit him. I don't know if it was adrenaline or what, but I have never shot a deer and had no clue where I hit it. He hauled out of there and 10 seconds later I could hear him crashing and eventually heard what can best be described as a choking sound a few seconds later. After about 5 minutes it was dead quiet and I received a text from my dad saying, "did you just shoot!?" He could hear the deer crash and the subsequent "gurgling."
Having some experience with tracking deer too soon after the shot, I decided to give this one a couple hours. I took a picture of the tree he was standing at where I shot because we all know how different things look when you get on the ground. 2 hours later, I slowly worked in and found my arrow snapped in half and blood where the arrow broke off (I would say around +/-14" of penetration). I took a few steps and found a blood trail that one can only dream of, bubbly, bright lung blood. Stevie Wonder could have tracked this deer and sure enough he was exactly where I last heard him. The shot hit right behind the shoulder and buried in the opposite, breaking the arrow as soon as he started running.
For anyone that cares about scoring, a friend of mine who I hunt/work with, is an official Pope and Young scorer. He grossed it at 164 7/8. If you are from PA, with the exception of a select few counties, this is almost unheard of. I can count on 1 hand how many "shooters" I have seen in range with a bow the last few seasons. All too often does the neighbor come out during rifle season and shoot whatever you couldn't capitalize on during archery (not hating, this is just how it is when hunting with a bow.) I am in no way a picky hunter, as this is my second bow buck kill and probably the biggest I'll ever see. I was almost more satisfied that I picked spots all season and felt like I "hunted" more than sitting around and hoping a deer walked by. Turns out I didn't pick the "right" spot, but it was the right time...
I wanted to thank everyone for constantly posting on here and having such a great community. Without sites like this, it would have been a much steeper learning curve in terms of getting a "system" down for getting into a tree. Turns out, my dad had this deer in shooting range, but was on his right side in his ladder stand (right hander). He couldn't stand up without the doe/buck seeing him to get positioned for the shot. If he was in a saddle, there is no doubt in my mind he would have killed this deer.
I attached a picture of the map for reference.
I was hunting in a crick bottom at the base of an east to west running ridge in which I always thought the deer was bedded. The farm I hunt was strip mined back in the day (like everywhere else in the area) and our woods are fairly young with nasty vines/multiflora rose and the occasional pocket of oaks and other hardwoods throughout the property. A lot of the habitat here would be considered bedding by anyone's standards and becomes hard to exactly pinpoint where a deer is bedding at a given time. Using the times he showed up on trail cams, large rubs and scrapes, I concluded he was bedded on a ridge top that is hard to hunt with our predominant winds and thermals that result from the rolling hills surrounding the area.
The wind was forecasted to blow directly out of the south, but after slowly making my way through the absurdly crunchy leaves, I got into my set and realized the wind was swirling straight up behind me to where I thought my "target" buck was bedded. I almost got down but decided to sit it out because my dad was only 150 yards away from me on the opposite side of the field. I convinced myself that the predominant wind would cancel out the thermals when my scent reached a certain height. Turns out he wasn't bedded up there.
About an hour and a half into my "hang" I noticed a larger bodied deer up in the brassica food plot that we planted in the summer. I pulled out my binos and couldn't believe the buck I had been trying to kill for the past 2 seasons was 50 yards from my dad in the food plot- It was ~5:15pm and 70 degrees out. Turns out there was a doe that I couldn't quite see through the trees and she was surely in heat. He would let her go about 50 yards and then cut her off, much like a cattle dog would. We watched him do this for about 45 minutes, until the doe noticed my dad in the leafless tree where his ladder stand was hung. She didn't spook, but knew something wasn't right and walked straight toward the crick bottom in which I was located. She entered the woods on a heavily used trail about 70 yards to my 2 o clock, and paralleled the crick bottom until cutting back up toward the field directly above me. The buck stopped at 37 yards to my weak side and was slightly quartered to, so I decided I wasn't going to risk a quartered to shot on the biggest deer we have ever had on the property.
The doe joined up with 3-4 other deer in the field about 80 yards above me and fed for about 5 minutes. A forky started chasing them around and she got irritated, turned around, and came back down the same exact spot she passed earlier. Once she passed at 35 yards, I drew and the buck stopped slightly quartered away at my 1 o clock and I let go. My lighted nock didn't work so I couldn't see exactly where I hit him. I don't know if it was adrenaline or what, but I have never shot a deer and had no clue where I hit it. He hauled out of there and 10 seconds later I could hear him crashing and eventually heard what can best be described as a choking sound a few seconds later. After about 5 minutes it was dead quiet and I received a text from my dad saying, "did you just shoot!?" He could hear the deer crash and the subsequent "gurgling."
Having some experience with tracking deer too soon after the shot, I decided to give this one a couple hours. I took a picture of the tree he was standing at where I shot because we all know how different things look when you get on the ground. 2 hours later, I slowly worked in and found my arrow snapped in half and blood where the arrow broke off (I would say around +/-14" of penetration). I took a few steps and found a blood trail that one can only dream of, bubbly, bright lung blood. Stevie Wonder could have tracked this deer and sure enough he was exactly where I last heard him. The shot hit right behind the shoulder and buried in the opposite, breaking the arrow as soon as he started running.
For anyone that cares about scoring, a friend of mine who I hunt/work with, is an official Pope and Young scorer. He grossed it at 164 7/8. If you are from PA, with the exception of a select few counties, this is almost unheard of. I can count on 1 hand how many "shooters" I have seen in range with a bow the last few seasons. All too often does the neighbor come out during rifle season and shoot whatever you couldn't capitalize on during archery (not hating, this is just how it is when hunting with a bow.) I am in no way a picky hunter, as this is my second bow buck kill and probably the biggest I'll ever see. I was almost more satisfied that I picked spots all season and felt like I "hunted" more than sitting around and hoping a deer walked by. Turns out I didn't pick the "right" spot, but it was the right time...
I wanted to thank everyone for constantly posting on here and having such a great community. Without sites like this, it would have been a much steeper learning curve in terms of getting a "system" down for getting into a tree. Turns out, my dad had this deer in shooting range, but was on his right side in his ladder stand (right hander). He couldn't stand up without the doe/buck seeing him to get positioned for the shot. If he was in a saddle, there is no doubt in my mind he would have killed this deer.
I attached a picture of the map for reference.
