Hunter: Aaron Fuller
Points: 12 (7L, 5R)
County: Morgan
Season: 2020-2021
Hunt Story
Opening morning I decided to hunt a stand I had put up a month earlier on a hardwood ridge. It’s a good travel corridor surrounded by heavy cover and I hoped there would be some early acorns falling that would have deer cruising this hillside. At 8:00 I saw a smaller 8-point. At 9:20, I saw deer coming from in front of me and my eyes immediately focused on antlers. He was about 60 yards when I saw him and moving slowly toward me. As I watched him, I saw another good deer in full velvet behind him and another smaller buck behind that one. My initial thought was, “This isn’t good. Somebody is going to see me.” The deer weren’t feeding, but were just moving slowly toward me. I stood and prepared myself and as he got closer, he got bigger. I anticipated he would follow the main trail in front of me and present a 20-yard broadside shot, but instead he continued straight at me. I’m watching him, I’m watching the two deer behind him and trying to scan the woods quickly to be sure there isn’t another deer I haven’t seen. At about 15 yards, he turned and looked back at the other deer and I got a full picture of just how big he was. I drew as he started moving again and at 10 yards I released. I saw the arrow hit well and he bolted. I watched him go out of sight and then heard him fall. My attention turned back to the velvet buck who was still standing 20 yards from me. I watched him for a minute or so and he ran off. I had to sit down at that point. After calling my wife and another club member to come help me, I climbed down and started looking. The deer went about 70 yards. Club members had pics of this deer all summer but never in the area I found him in.
