Dad killed this one with his crossbow today. Shaft went through both lungs and stuck in a small tree. Deer went no less than 200 yards; not much blood for the first 150 until it filled up. Amazing how tough they are. I think I was about as excited as he was when we got to it. Eight points and about 18-19" inside. Big deer with a big neck. At 83 years old I thought it was worth mentioning. He is in some serious trouble with congestive heart failure, Parkinson’s disease and a torn rotator cuff, but is still at it.
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This is 70 years deer hunting for him and there aren’t so many guys left around who have been at it that long. He did miss at least a year during the Korean War. For rifles he has used all kinds of Winchesters, but for about the last 50 years his mainstays were a Model 99 Savage and his Winchester Model 100. I would guess this is around 25 years with a bow of some kind for him and it’s his biggest buck with a bow.
The picture below was taken in 1942 with his first buck. He’s in the dark hat and coat, age 12. The deer today went down about 300 yards into those trees directly behind him in the far background of the picture.
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Brad
Very cool story Brad. My father is also not doing as well as he used to. He also hunts with a crossbow. He missed last year because of health issues but is better and my brother and I plan on getting him out when we visit at Thanksgiving. We were both with him 2 years ago when he got his deer then. It is our plan that both of us hunt with dad any time he goes out so we can share the "last buck" memories and a photo with him.
On a lightly different note. I hunted with my brother just a week or so ago and we were doing some population control hunts around the city of Lansing, Michigan where there are tons of deer in the city and outlying edges. The local parks have doe only hunts later in the year. I was using a crossbow and we shoot to drop the deer so they don’t run into somebodies yard and die. To give some idea of the population problems, 2 does came in with 6 fawns! The link below is of the shot I made at 25 yards. As the title says, "No Tracking Necessary"
Tell your dad congrats on a great hunt. Nice buck!
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
Thanks for the kind words Michael. I guess for that urban management you need to drop them in their tracks pretty much. Wouldn’t be too great to gut shoot one and have it die under someone’s deck.
Good luck on hunting with your father. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.
Brad
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