2003 Archery Mule Deer

by Chontae Thompson

After attending a 3-D archery shoot with my husband during the summer of 2001, he bought me my Hoyt MTSport. We shot a lot that summer at the archery shoots and at home. I obtained my hunter safety card in the spring of 2002 and bought my very first deer tag that year. We hunted a lot that fall but I never could arrow that elusive muley!

I practiced all summer long and got more comfortable with my shooting abilities. I felt real comfortable out to 40-45 yards, and before I knew it the 2003 season was here.

I had done some scouting and found the buck I wanted. He was only a two point but was about 18 inches wide. We set up on the buck everyday for a week but he was never in the same place as we were. On August 28th we set up on the trail again and waited. My husband said if we didn't see him in 15 minutes we'd leave and look for another buck to set up on tomorrow. Well the buck didn't show up. At this point I was frustrated and upset. I was ready to call it a year.

We had only driven about a mile down the road and I spotted a deer moving up a fence line. My husband looked at it and said he thought it was a "nice little buck". He asked if I wanted to try my luck and I replied" I'll try but my luck isn't very good". He dropped me off and drove up the road to sit and watch. I sat in the weeds for about 15 minutes and then decided to peek out and see if he was even still there. And to my amazement he was, and still moving straight towards me. I could see he was better than a "nice little buck", like my husband had thought.

I quickly nocked an arrow and waited. The buck then started to angle to the north so I had to sneek up the fence line and try to cut him off. I lost sight of him why I was crawling up though the weeds, but he suddenly appeared in front of me and at only 35 yards. I waited until he put his head down to eat and I drew back. I knew I had the yardage down, now if I could just control the shaking and let it fly. I released the arrow, the flight looked good but then I heard a twang and the buck jumped and ran about 15 yards further away. I could not believe it; I had hit the top wire on the on the barbwire fence! But to my amazement, the buck had stopped and was looking back at the fence. He had no idea I was there! I drew back again, centered my 50 yard pin on him and let it fly. This time my arrow found its mark and I watched the buck attempt to make it back to the cover he had came from. He ran about 60 yards and fell in his tracks. My husband was up the road about 600 yards and watched the whole thing. I think he could hear me screaming and yelling with excitement from there. He is a gorgeous buck and I still have a hard time controlling my excitement. He is a 3x4 in full velvet. Not a mark on the velvet(perfect). He is 20 inches wide and 20 inches high. He scores 128 gross P&Y. He's not the biggest buck in the world but he is in my eyes.

I love this sport and hope to only get better at it. If only more woman where involved, I just know they would love it as much as I do!