Hunter: Drew Ellis
Points: 13 (7L, 6R)
County: Laurens
Season: 2020-2021
Hunt Story
The story on this deer started back in 2017 when he was just a 3 1/2 year old. We could easily recognize this deer throughout the years by his gnarly right main beam. We started getting pictures of this deer we call "Dagger" back in August/September of this year but no daylight pictures. On Oct. 8, I was able to slip into a my stand around 6:00 that evening. I had a favorable wind to hunt one of the scrape lines I had been anxiously waiting to hunt. Around 6:30, I had several does, fawns, and young bucks feeding on acorns out in front of me. Around 7:00, I heard deer crunching acorns to my right and when I looked, I could see what I could tell was a shooter but unaware at the moment that it was Dagger. He fed for a few minutes and then made a left turn and was headed straight towards me. Dagger ended up right under my stand feeding and never knew I was there. He fed under me for about 5 minutes and eventually turned and started walking to my left. I was able to slowly draw my bow back without him noticing me. Dagger turned to the left just as had gotten fully drawn back and presented me with a 10-yard quartering away shot. After the shot, I waited anxiously in the stand for about 30 minutes before climbing down. I got a full pass through with an arrow covered in blood so I was pretty confident in the shot. I backed out and waited for about an hour and a half and then me and my two buddies started the track job. We had good blood and we found him about 150 yards from where I shot him. Walking up to this deer was an amazing feeling that every hunter dreams of. Got to thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity to harvest this deer and the blessing of being able to get out and enjoy the great outdoors.
