Photo by Tim Reed

The Ohio archery season had been open for a month when my hunting buddy, John Hawk, and I headed south to Muskingum County on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2004.

With a week's vacation and a little luck, we hoped to take a couple of nice bucks and put a doe or two in the freezer. We'd be hunting on land owned by the American Electric and Power Co. Camping is not allowed on AE&P land, so we planned to stay with some very special friends, Randy and Trudye Bonar, who live nearby.

We pulled in with our camper, and after setting up our tree stands on Saturday afternoon, we hunted all day Sunday and Monday. All we saw were some does and small bucks.

On Monday evening, while we were sitting around the table after eating a delicious supper (one of many that Trudye graciously fixed for us that week), Randy told us that he had been seeing a definite increase in buck movement during the past few days. Randy operates and services about a dozen oil wells in the area, and he does a lot of driving during the day. With this information in mind, I decided to hunt what I believed to be my most productive stand site for the next few days.

On Tuesday morning, I slipped into the woods before daylight. While setting up this stand several days earlier, I had noticed a couple of sets of big deer tracks nearby. Maybe if I'm real lucky I'll get to see one of those guys that made those tracks, I thought as I waited for daylight to arrive.

CHANGE ON THE WAY
Tuesday passed with several more sightings of does and small bucks being made. When I woke up on Wednesday morning, Nov. 10, it dawned on me that our weeklong hunt was half over. As I arrived at my stand, before daylight as usual, little did I know that the events about to unfold on this special day would be unlike any others I had ever experienced in 25 years of bowhunting. (Cont'd)

Before I got in my tree, I decided to put out several scent pads dipped in doe-in-heat lure. I put one out about 15 yards in front of my stand and another 10 yards behind my tree. Then I climbed up to my stand, took off my bow quiver and hung it on a hook. I nocked an arrow, hung my bow on its hook and settled in to wait.

As the woods around me started to brighten up, it wasn't long before I had my first visitor, a young doe moving past my stand at 20 yards. Right behind her was a young 4-pointer. As soon as they were out of sight, another young 4-pointer came strolling by.

Thirty minutes later I saw a set of legs walking toward me through thick brush. I just knew it was a buck! He was 30 yards out and headed directly to me. Bow in hand, I watched as he got within 15 yards and took in a noseful of my doe-in-heat lure. Unexpectedly, he nervously bolted back about 5 yards. Maybe I should have left that stuff in the bottle, I said silently to myself as he turned and walked right under my stand.

The big deer passed directly under me. I could see that he was a 9-pointer with crab claws at the ends of both beams. In another year, you'll be a very good buck, I thought as he walked out of sight.

It was still early. At this time of year in Muskingum County, you never know what's apt to walk by your stand at any time of day. At 8:15 a.m. I spotted another deer on a trail 30 yards out. I could see that it was a young 6-pointer.

NO QUITTING!
By 10:50 a.m., I hadn't seen any more deer, so I decided to go back to the camper to get a bite to eat and to check in with John. I pulled the arrow from my bowstring and placed it back in the quiver, popped the quiver back onto my bow, and hung the bow back on its hook.