I'd like to share with all of our readers the story behind my first and only bow buck...so far! I had just turned 16 years old and was in my second season of hunting with the bow in New York state. In New York my hunting is a bit different than what Cory and I do here in North Carolina, hunting mostly private land in NY. My family and I have been hunting a large parcel of land that a family friend has owned for over a decade now. We have taken some great deer off of this land but this is still one of my most memorable moments of hunting to this day!
It all started on a morning hunt in late October back in 2000. I headed to my favorite stand and my step father Doug headed to another stand. Our plan was to hunt the morning and leave the woods around 11 a.m. as we had to head to Owasco Lake to help my grandfather take the dock and boat hoists out of the water for the quick approaching winter season!
I got into my stand while it was still dark and got situated, my new PSE Nova bow in hand. I had practiced for the last two summers and was confident I could take a deer this year if one gave me the opportunity to do so. The weather was fair, a cool morning but the skies were clear.
Around 8 a.m. I had two deer come right past my stand, a doe followed by a 4-pt buck. I came to my feet as the deer passed about 20 yards to my right, however I never drew my bow as they were walking at a quick pace. I tried to grunt a few times to get one of them to stop for a moment so I could draw and take the shot but that buck had one thing on his mind...and the doe another (get away!). As the deer went by, I came to the conclusion that I had made the right choice to let them pass. However my "deer fever" took about an hour to come to a rest and for me to stop shaking!
About two hours later, around 10 a.m., right in front of me all I saw was the largest whitetail rack I had ever seen! His nose was to the ground and he was right on the trail of the previous two deer that had passed me a couple of hours earlier. I came to my feet once again and the deer passed within about 15 yards to me. He was walking very slowly and came to the opposite side of my stand that the deer had come to. I drew my bow and placed my pin just behind his shoulder, settled my breathing and squeezed the trigger on my release...the arrow took flight and I saw it connect! A good shot! Right where I wanted it, with any luck the arrow pierced both lungs. I watched with great intensity as the deer ran off with my arrow still in its side. I looked on and noted the path the deer took so that I could track it.
I think this was the most excited I have ever been in my life! I was just standing in my tree in shock, I could not believe what had just happened. About a minute later I heard Doug shout "Hey did you just shoot that buck?!?" I turned around and there was Doug standing only about 75 yards behind my stand! He had watched the whole thing, he was coming to get me so that we could head to the lake and saw that I was standing with my bow drawn so he stopped in his tracks and waited to see what was going on - good thing he did! He said that he saw my shot placement and that it looked promising.
We decided to let the deer sit for about a half hour and then we started tracking. The buck was leaving a very small blood trail as the arrow had not passed all the way through. We came to a rough conclusion for me. "Lets go to the lake, take the dock out and let this deer sit for the afternoon. We'll come back and finish tracking later." We found the half of the arrow that broke off while the deer was running and marked the last blood with some orange trail tape. We headed to the lake and informed everyone that we needed to make the dock a quick job so that we could go find my buck!
We returned to the woods around 3 p.m. and started tracking where we left off. We found ourselves in the swamp that borders the North end of the property and the blood was very scarce. I stood at the last spot while Doug and my grandfather started making circles around me getting on spots of higher ground and scanning the forest floor looking for the deer. All of a sudden I hear Doug say "THERE HE IS!" I'm not sure if my feet ever hit the ground! I ran to the spot and saw my buck; he was larger than I thought he was! A beautiful 9-pt! I did my first field dressing and drag of a deer! Hey if you shoot it you have to be ready to do all of the work that follows! Of course, given my small stature I needed some help to get that deer out as he had run a couple hundred yards from where I had shot him.
After multiple stops to show off my first buck we were back at the house and I was still pumped up! We gave our friend a call to see if we could get the cape right in to get mounted! About three months later the mount was ready and currently resides above the fireplace at my parents' house. I've attached a couple of photos of the mount as well as one from the field. Please forgive the quality of the picture from the field, I think this was still taken on a 35mm camera, digital cameras were still a thing of the future, at least one that was affordable ;).
And that my friends is the story of my first and only bbow uck...so far!
-Paul Nicolucci
It all started on a morning hunt in late October back in 2000. I headed to my favorite stand and my step father Doug headed to another stand. Our plan was to hunt the morning and leave the woods around 11 a.m. as we had to head to Owasco Lake to help my grandfather take the dock and boat hoists out of the water for the quick approaching winter season!
I got into my stand while it was still dark and got situated, my new PSE Nova bow in hand. I had practiced for the last two summers and was confident I could take a deer this year if one gave me the opportunity to do so. The weather was fair, a cool morning but the skies were clear.
Around 8 a.m. I had two deer come right past my stand, a doe followed by a 4-pt buck. I came to my feet as the deer passed about 20 yards to my right, however I never drew my bow as they were walking at a quick pace. I tried to grunt a few times to get one of them to stop for a moment so I could draw and take the shot but that buck had one thing on his mind...and the doe another (get away!). As the deer went by, I came to the conclusion that I had made the right choice to let them pass. However my "deer fever" took about an hour to come to a rest and for me to stop shaking!
About two hours later, around 10 a.m., right in front of me all I saw was the largest whitetail rack I had ever seen! His nose was to the ground and he was right on the trail of the previous two deer that had passed me a couple of hours earlier. I came to my feet once again and the deer passed within about 15 yards to me. He was walking very slowly and came to the opposite side of my stand that the deer had come to. I drew my bow and placed my pin just behind his shoulder, settled my breathing and squeezed the trigger on my release...the arrow took flight and I saw it connect! A good shot! Right where I wanted it, with any luck the arrow pierced both lungs. I watched with great intensity as the deer ran off with my arrow still in its side. I looked on and noted the path the deer took so that I could track it.
I think this was the most excited I have ever been in my life! I was just standing in my tree in shock, I could not believe what had just happened. About a minute later I heard Doug shout "Hey did you just shoot that buck?!?" I turned around and there was Doug standing only about 75 yards behind my stand! He had watched the whole thing, he was coming to get me so that we could head to the lake and saw that I was standing with my bow drawn so he stopped in his tracks and waited to see what was going on - good thing he did! He said that he saw my shot placement and that it looked promising.
We decided to let the deer sit for about a half hour and then we started tracking. The buck was leaving a very small blood trail as the arrow had not passed all the way through. We came to a rough conclusion for me. "Lets go to the lake, take the dock out and let this deer sit for the afternoon. We'll come back and finish tracking later." We found the half of the arrow that broke off while the deer was running and marked the last blood with some orange trail tape. We headed to the lake and informed everyone that we needed to make the dock a quick job so that we could go find my buck!
We returned to the woods around 3 p.m. and started tracking where we left off. We found ourselves in the swamp that borders the North end of the property and the blood was very scarce. I stood at the last spot while Doug and my grandfather started making circles around me getting on spots of higher ground and scanning the forest floor looking for the deer. All of a sudden I hear Doug say "THERE HE IS!" I'm not sure if my feet ever hit the ground! I ran to the spot and saw my buck; he was larger than I thought he was! A beautiful 9-pt! I did my first field dressing and drag of a deer! Hey if you shoot it you have to be ready to do all of the work that follows! Of course, given my small stature I needed some help to get that deer out as he had run a couple hundred yards from where I had shot him.
After multiple stops to show off my first buck we were back at the house and I was still pumped up! We gave our friend a call to see if we could get the cape right in to get mounted! About three months later the mount was ready and currently resides above the fireplace at my parents' house. I've attached a couple of photos of the mount as well as one from the field. Please forgive the quality of the picture from the field, I think this was still taken on a 35mm camera, digital cameras were still a thing of the future, at least one that was affordable ;).
And that my friends is the story of my first and only bbow uck...so far!
-Paul Nicolucci
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