Hunter: Newton Jennings
Points: 10 (5L, 5R)
County: Crawford
Season: 2024-2025
Hunt Story
I, along with my three boys Will, Hutch, and Camp, are avid outdoorsmen and bowhunters. Our family was blessed to be able to obtain a farm in Crawford County back in 2021 that we have worked hard to transform into a respectable wildlife preserve. This particular deer first showed himself in 2022 and we have had a challenging chess match with ever since. Between my boys and I, we have had multiple sighting from the tree, but most just out of bow range. However, on the afternoon of 12/14 our luck changed. I was hunting a small green field with plantation pines to the north and swamp to my south and west. A northeast wind was taking my scent perfectly across the swamp. Around 5 o’clock I had several young bucks come out and graze for about 45 minutes. Two of them spared for a solid 15 minutes which was fun to watch. This was showing promise of being a pretty darn good hunt and was hoping my target buck (Pony Boy) would decide to show. A mainframe 10 point, we had him pegged to be about 7.5 years old and this was our year to take him, as he was likely at his peak. Well, he showed. Just before dark the three bucks in the field perked up and directed their attention to the north east end of the field. From an old firebreak emerged Pony Boy at about 40 yards. My initial shot opportunity was blocked by a limb so I had to be patient. With shooting light fading I did not have much time. Fortunately after a few minutes he walked my direction and presented a broadside shot at 24 yards. I drew and had a brief moment of panic as I could barely see my pin. I took a deep breath, reconfirmed my anchor point that I have drilled into muscle memory for decades, and put an arrow in the air. Solid impact and felt great about my shot. However, he seemed to calmly walk about 20 yards and stand for several minutes. I was having a hard time believing that I had missed. As I scrambled to knock another arrow he walked another 20 yards into the pines out of bow range. My heart sunk and disappointment slowly creeped in as I could not figure out how I just missed a 24 yard chip shot. Then from the direction he had walked a thrashing sound erupted that sounded like a pachyderm was trying to g to escape from a briar patch. With little light left at this point I glassed the pines to try to identify what I was hearing. I caught a glimpse of of Pony Boy wrestling to stay upright in a patch of dead sweetgums. Then the woods went silent as I saw his head come to rest on the forest floor. He was down! The three year chess match had come to and end. I waited about another 30 minutes before getting down and slipping out to go meet up with my son Will. After sharing the story we waited another hour or so to give him plenty of time to pass. Will had been fortunate to take a wonderful deer back in October that we bumped making him a challenge to find. After returning to the woods we were able to make a successful recovery. Absolutely wonderful hunt that I was blessed to experience. Many thanks to the folks at Top Tier Archery for keeping my equipment in tune.
