Hunter: Daniel Salmons
Points: 14 (7L, 7R)
County: Henry
Season: 2017-2018
Hunt Story
Due to the hot temps I waited to get in the stand around 5 pm. Immediately I mounted and turned on my ozonics unit to help with scent control. After cooling off and wiping sweat off for 30 minutes, I got comfortable in my Summit ladder stand and prepared to wait till last light for deer movement. Surprisingly at 6:30 and with someone cutting grass on an adjoining property a doe with a fawn came out and fed in the food plot. After about 10 minutes of watching these deer, the wind switched and they got nervous and walked off. The only activity for the next 45 minutes was the neighbor mowing his grass and what I believe was chipping up trees as loud as he was. With all the noise and the wind being iffy, I was contemplating on climbing down early when movement coming out of the woods caught my attention. It was a 7-pointer that I've had on camera, and I was thinking that he would make a cool European mount but then thought better of it because I knew there were bigger bucks in the area. Then from the spot the 7-pointer came out I caught movement again and instantly recognized this deer as the buck I had been waiting on. He was way more cautious than the younger 7-pointer and only came out on the edge of the food plot. After what seemed like an eternity, he walked on into the food plot and began browsing while constantly checking the wind. I was very nervous that he would smell me and walk out of my life. To my disbelief he continued in my direction and got to to 50 yards, which is where I was wanting him to get before considering a shot. The longer he stayed in the plot the more nervous I was getting due to him constantly checking the wind. This made me decide that I would attempt a shot at 50 yards. I steadied my crossbow and placed the 50-yard crosshair low on his heart and started squeezing the trigger. When the bolt tipped with a 100 grain Magnus Black Hornet broadhead and a nocturnal predator lighted nock fired from the bow, I watched the green nocturnal streak through the air and disappear in the buck's chest. At that moment I was relieved and nervous at the same time. I immediately called my nephew to tell him the good news. We decided that I would wait for him and his brother to arrive before I started the tracking job. Luckily it only took about 30 minutes for them to arrive, and we went to find the spot of impact. We were all excited about what we hoped to find at the end of the blood trail. My nephew located a deep track that looked like a deer had spun out in a hurry and about 4 yards past that was the glowing nocturnal nock under some grass. Once we found that I was relieved at the sign on the bolt. We started following blood, all three of us saying "here's blood, here's some too". We grew more excited as the blood trail started getting better and better with more bubbles in each puddle of blood. We continued on for the last place I saw the deer, and the sign kept getting better, we pushed through a small patch of small pines and there he was! He only ran about 60 yards. At that point we were all smiles and the congratulations began. A three-year mission of watching this deer had come to an end. The rack was even bigger in person than we thought it would be from the trail-cam pics. I owe my nephews a big thanks for helping me track this deer and keeping me calm enough to not go rushing after him immediately after the shot, even though it was a good shot taking out both lungs and the liver. I also owe the property owner who is practically family a huge thanks for allowing me to hunt on his property.
