Hunter: Sam Smith
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Franklin
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
Well it all started on a cold Monday morning the week of Thanksgiving, and we just happened to be out of school. We had gotten pics of this deer off and on during the season but between schools and work, it just made it hard to actually hunt the way we wanted. This break finally gave us the break we were needing. We got in the stand Monday morning and this deer came feeding up on the top of the ridge about 75-100 yards away. We grunted at him and everything else to try to get him to come down the side of the hill, but he just wouldn't commit. We came back to the same spot that afternoon but moved up on top of the ridge where we had been seeing him feed at, hoping to be able to get him in bow range. We ended up seeing two small bucks that afternoon but not the one we was after. I decided to get up and give it a go the very next morning but didn't see anything at all. It was kind of discouraging, but I didn't let it get me down. I gave it a break Wednesday morning and decided to just wait to go Thursday morning. I got up Thursday morning not really wanting to go but had a gut feeling telling me I should. I'm glad I listened to that gut feeling because it turned out it was right. I hadn't been sitting in the stand maybe an hour. I just had checked my phone to see what time it was and as soon as I stuck it back in my pocket I heard something ruffling up the leaves. After only having a hundred squirrels run around me it seemed like, I thought it was probably just another squirrel. Man was I wrong! I turned to look at where I heard the noise coming from and there he stood. Head down slowly walking up the ridge toward me feeding on acorns. When I saw him, I knew immediately he was the deer I was after and had encountered Monday morning. I grabbed my bow as slow as I could so he wouldn't see me as he was facing toward me. He looked up the ridge at another small buck he had been running with and started walking toward him up the hill to me. I ranged him at 42 yards and drew my bow back. He started trotting to catch up to the other buck and I backed but it didn't faze him. I yelled a lot louder at him but he stopped right behind a huge pine tree. I had to let it down and as he started out from behind the tree I drew back again. I yelled at him again and he didn't stop so I yelled at him. Well he just happened to stop behind another pine tree. He stood there waiting for him to ease out and he finally did. He took a few steps walking into my last shooting lane I had and I yelled at the top of my lungs to make him stop. He stopped perfect broadside, clear clean lane looking toward me. I put my 40-yard pin right on him, started pulling off the shot and bam it went off. I watched the arrow punch right in his side blowing clean through him. He tore off running as hard as he could with his tail tucked and I knew I had hit him good. I was shacking so bad I couldn't even hardly text my dad to tell him I had shot the big 8. I climbed down the tree and walked over to where I had shot the deer. The ground was tore up where he had kicked and I immediately saw may arrow. It was covered in that rick dark blood every hunter loves to see. Hair was laying everywhere and I knew for sure then it was the shot I wanted. I backed out to go get my dad and sister so we could go back to the truck to drop off everything. Well our golf cart dies on us right as we get to the truck, so we had to run home to get the trailer so we could bring home to charge it up. The whole time we was at home waiting anxiously all I could do was think about the deer. It finally got charged up so we headed out to go find him. We get to where I shot the deer at and it was a little disturbing to see we wasn't finding the blood we had hopped to be finding. As we start up the hill, I watched him run up we could see where he had run but still no blood. We rolled up over the top of the hill searching for any sign of where he was headed and all of a sudden I hear my mom yell, "I see em!!" "There he is!" I thought she was messing with me, but I turned around to looking see laying dead the biggest deer I had ever shot. It was by far one of the most incredible moments of my life. I had hunted many years only carrying a bow the whole season trying to kill a deer like this and I had finally done it. All I can say is thank you Lord! He blessed me beyond measures with this gorgeous animal and I want thank my dad. I can't thank him enough for doing the most when it comes to deer hunting. He worked years trying to be able to get me on deer like this and it finally all came together so thanks dad!
