12/16/2022
Round two,
We had Matt up from McKinney, TX to join us on an archery hunt. Matt rolled in to camp and was excited to be here! Just shortly after unloading his car and putting his gear in the bunkhouse, we had him shoot his compound bow to make sure everything was good. He sent a few arrows down range and he was on target. His hunt didn’t technically start until the following morning but I told him “heck let’s go ahead and get you in the stand that way you can get a feel for the property and if any porkers show he could send them packing”. Matt was all on board for this, he didn’t let any grass grow under his feet. Matt grabbed his gear and we hit the trail on the side by side. Once I got him set up it was back to camp for me to get dinner ready. That evening when I picked him up he couldn’t believe his eyes on all the deer traffic. He was definitely PUMPED for the morning to come so he could get his hunt truly started. That next morning couldn’t come fast enough for him! The following morning Matt was raring to go! With a short ride to the stand, I got him settled in before sun up and told him I’d be back later to pick him up. We corresponded with each other throughout the morning. He’d text me ask about deer that he’d been seeing. He was like a kid in a candy store. I told him to just hold out it’s only your first real sit. When I went to pick him up that morning you’d have thought he got a big buck as excited as he was! Definitely fun to hear his story and see his excitement. I told him as we drove back to camp “ just think, this was your first sit. I’m glad the deer are showing up for you!” So day 2 wasn’t much different, but during that time Matt had told me he seen some BIG bucks off in the distance. Unfortunately, they weren’t within bow range, but it made it promising and more exciting for him. The suspense was eating at him! Day three we were up got a little coffee in us before loading up the side by side then off to the blind. After dropping him off in the bow stand I headed back to camp. About 9:30 that morning Matt had texted ready to be picked up. Once I picked him up and in route back to camp Matt said it was a little slow on movement that morning, but wasn’t disappointed on his sit. After lunch he wanted to get a earlier start on his hunt for that evening. This time I changed location for him to get a new area that been holding good deer as well. It was in a very think creek bottom not far from a bedding area. Like before, it wasn’t long before the deer made their way through. Once more he held out that evening but did get a closer opportunity on a mature buck. Unfortunately didn’t give him a clean shot because the buck was in a thicket of trees. Later that evening I prepared our meal. At camp I generally cook every day for our clients along with guiding the hunts, but while we were eating and talking about hunting I said to Matt “go ahead a shoot a doe or two. That way it will knock some of that suspense edge off ya. Then you can really focus on the buck your after.” So he took my advice, that next morning he harvested a nice doe. Man was he excited when I arrived. He made a perfect shot which made for easy recovery. That night we hung around the fire and ate well. The next day we hunted a different area. This area Matt fell in love with. That evening after just a short time in the blind. A big doe slowly made her way up the trail. Into his shooting lane. Matt drew back then released the arrow. She didn’t go far before pilling up. Not long after that, a big buck made a appearance. Matt waited to take the shot, then let the arrow fly. Connecting with the buck and watched it exit the area through the trees. He felt like he made a good shot. Quick thinking on his part he pulled out his phone and started videoing the deer. Matt called me at this point in such disbelief of what just happened. Everything happened so fast but was he was on cloud 9. I told him just hang tight Let’s give the deer some time and I’d be there soon. After we gave the deer about an hour, I showed up to help out! We recovered the doe really easy. She didn’t go far at all. Now that we recovered her. It was time to look for his buck. So we went back over to his arrow at the hit site. The arrow had broke off about 10” above the broadhead. With minimal blood on the shaft of the arrow. Matt was definitely going through a emotional roller coaster at this time. Cause he knew I was concerned at this point. So we started to track the blood trail. With decent blood, it lead us to the fence. Matt at this point said hey let me show you this video I got of the buck. Maybe this will help in our decision making. So we watched it several times and in slow motion. I definitely could tell he was hit good. Then in the video he slowly walked away into the woods. Then loosing site of the deer! But this was definitely helpful. After watching I felt good enough to press on. We crossed the fence and began to find LOTS of blood. I begin feeling confident we’d find his first archery buck. Then as we kept tracking and we were loosing light fast. Then the dreadful unthinkable happened. We completely lost the blood trail. At the point I hated to do this for Matt but it was to stop and back out. I knew it was a tough decision and hard for me to tell him. I think we are bumping this deer. So we backed out that evening and I called Kimberley to bring Roscoe our bloodhound. She agreed to bring him out that following morning. So me and Matt headed back to camp. We talked about it all the way back. Going over everything that took place during the time he shot. He was sick and so worried. But we knew it was gonna be cold that night and that was a positive on our side. I personally completely understand the emotions that was going on in his mind. I knew it was gonna be a long night of anticipation. That following mornings we waited on Kim’s arrival with Roscoe. They arrived about mid morning. So we left camp to go take Roscoe to the hit site. Once we got back to where the deer was hit at. Roscoe began to work. He trailed this buck exactly to the fence where the deer crossed over. So we crossed over our fence to the other side of our property. After crossing Roscoe continued on his track. About an hour or more of tracking Kim came back and told use she believes the buck was still alive. Unfortunately Roscoe didn’t get a recovery on this track. Matt and the rest of us did everything we could do in trying to recover this deer. Unfortunately this has happened to us as archery hunter at some point in our hunt career. Matt was really bummed and disappointed on the lack of recovery. We wish there was a better outcome for him. But the positive side to this story. Matt had an absolute great experience with us and didn’t go home empty handed. Heck he loved it some much he rebooked for the following season! Matt thanks again for allowing us to be a part of your adventure. We are looking forward to having you back again next year.
