Hunter: Carlin Hodges
Points: 13 (7L, 6R)
County: Crawford
Season: 2017-2018
Hunt Story
My wife Amanda had shot a nice 9-point at 8:05. We were in the same tower stand. Her buck was at 100 yards, and she thought that was at the limit of her capabilities. Her buck ran, we didn't know how far. We decided to give him an hour before checking. Just before we got down I noticed a buck in the clearcut at 250 yards. Looking through the binoculars I could tell he was old and had mass. I think I missed with the first shot because he just kept walking. At the second shot he jumped up and ran forward about 40 yards and stopped again. The third shot we both thought we saw him drop. After retrieving Amanda's buck { she will tell her story with her buck } we went to where my buck should have been, but there wasn't there any blood, nothing. After over an hour searching, we thought it best to get Amanda's buck to the cooler and check my rifle. Upon checking my rifle and putting one shot in the center at 200 and two close to center at 250, we returned as I was convinced I had not missed. There at the edge of the clearcut about 50 yards from the last spot I found my buck. I'm am very fortunate to have a spouse that shares my passion. I don't know how I missed that first shot, Amanda says I was too excited. Special thanks to my son Troy and my grandsons Trace and Ely for their help with the search and recovery.
