Washington County Bow-Buck

By Rex Wallace

First off, I didn’t even think I would be deer hunting opening weekend because my dad, uncle, cousin and I were on our annual bear hunt in north Georgia. However, after walking and scouting for several miles and several long hours around the mountain without seeing any sign, or bears, we went back to our hotel doubting our chances of killing a bear this year.

The next morning, we woke up and turned the news on to check out what Hurricane Irma was doing. We saw that it had just hit Florida and was headed even more west and straight for our homes. We decided since there was no bear activity, and we should be with our families when the hurricane hit, we would head back home to Washington County.

On the way home, my dad and I decided if we got back in time, we’d climb up a tree and try to get us a buck. After making a few stops to check out some stores and eat lunch, we realized we were gonna be cutting it close. We rolled into town around 5 o’clock, and since we already had all our camo and bows with us from the bear trip, we headed straight to our stands.

I finally got settled into my stand around 5:45. I was hunting a spot were I had a nice 9-point on camera that I had let walk several times the previous year. I figured my chances of killing him were pretty good because I was getting several daytime pics of him. Plus, it just seemed like the perfect afternoon. It was the coolest afternoon we’d had, being in the low 60s, overcast and a nice 5 to 10 mph wind. The deer must have thought so, too, because around 7 o’clock, they started piling in.

The first two does came in and started feeding, and a little 5-point, still in velvet, was right behind them. Then another doe came in. They were all feeding, and then all four deer suddenly looked back into the woods. I saw a smaller 8-point coming out that I also had on camera. I got excited when I saw him because whenever he showed up on camera, he was with the big 9 I was after.

So he walked out, and sure enough the 9 was right behind him. They both walked about 25 yards in front of my stand and joined the other deer feeding. I finally got stood up after having to wait forever because of the six sets of eyes on me. He was quartering away from me perfectly, so I drew back my new Mathews Halon 32 that I won in last year’s Truck-Buck contest and took the shot.

As soon as my arrow hit him, I knew I smoked him! After I settled down a bit, I climbed down to check my arrow. Everything looked good, so I called my cousin to help me track him and load him up.

We didn’t waste any time because Irma was rolling in fast, as it started to rain a little, and the winds were picking up. We got on the blood trail, and 50 yards later there he was.

You know it’s funny how the Lord works. I was pretty ill and upset about how the bear hunting trip turned out and worried the whole way home that I wasn’t going to be able to hunt that afternoon or the next few days because of the hurricane, but look what He had in store for me after all. If I learned anything from this experience, it was to trust in the Lord because His timing and plans are always perfect. I’ll never forget the Irma buck story.

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Washington County All-Time Bow-Buck Rankings