Archery Opener Brings yet More Anxious Feelings

by Dan Buckley

Well folks, opening day for archery has come and gone now. Your practicing and preparing that has had you excited for weeks or months is now ready for the test. It was a hot one this weekend, and for one group of Mid-Michigan hunters it was anti-climactic. Sadly, I was able to get yet another "The One That Got Away" story.

Rousing at 5am Saturday morning, and still with sleep in my eyes, I pulled into my brother's house for a quick cup of coffee before we got dressed. Soon my other brother arrived and we were anxiously tip toeing around so as not to wake the rest of the family. After two cups of joe and some wise cracks it was time to think about getting into the field. We dressed in layers based on the chilly morning, knowing full well that the forcast said it would be sunny and warm. Soon we were off to our respective stands and remembering how spooky it can be to walk into the woods in the pitch black night.

The morning came and went for me and I got down from my tree at 10:30 after removing a couple limbs which I'd missed when putting the stand up. I hadn't seen a thing. We met up back at the house and one brother had seen a doe over a hundred yards away. While the other had only seen a couple yearlings nearby. Dissapointingly, it was just a bit too warm for the deer to be moving. We talked about strategies for the afternoon, watched the Michigan vs Michigan State game and napped.

Now there isn't a lot of corn in around us this year, but I knew of one field that bordered woods on our hunting land. I decided that I had missed out on a good placement for a stand right on a big oak tree at the corner of those two, so I took out an old quick stick my brother had and climbed the big oak for the afternoon hunt. Well I barely was able to make it into the tree but I found a good limb to stand on only 12 feet in the air. On the way up I had damaged my release, making it hard to click into the locked position.

Well I waited there as usual, glancing my eyes at every squirrel gathering nuts and scanning for movement. Hours later, caught in a daydream and approaching sunset, I heard a crash of leaves coming from the corn to the west. I looked over through the branches and just saw antlers. I'm not exagerating when I say I've never seen antlers this big in the field. I quickly flicked my release on my string, but it wouldn't budge. After maybe ten seconds that felt like an hour I got it on, but the deer was running again right out in front of me. I began to draw, and clicked my tongue to stop him. He stopped alright, right in the middle of my draw he stared straight at me. I froze, holding the full weight with all my strength, half drawn. Seconds went by without a budge. Finally I couldn't hold like that any longer and I tipped the bow upwards to try to finish the draw. I had been zapped of my strength. He either saw me at that moment or had waited long enough, but he darted into the woods, leaving me with a nautious feeling in my stomach. I would see no more deer all weekend.

After my brother helped me down I told him the story. We shined a flashlight on the concrete like dirt in the field for tracks. We by the way, were leaving no tracks due to the hard soil. When we looked where I had stopped the monster, there were huge imprints in the ground, dew claws and everything. It didn't help the feeling which was still in the pit of my stomach.

The next day I scouted with my dad and saw plenty of the big guy's tracks. He'd been all over chasing doe around for several hundred acres. I decided I would let the action rest until later in the week when the forecast calls for cooler weather. I'll keep looking for him, knowing that I'm not the only one who's probably sick about him getting away. If I can only keep my brothers at bay until I see him next.