Well,
No luck on holding the antlers, but I was able to connect on another slick head. This is my second bow kill and my second Illinois doe. The deer came in around 5 til 6 pm on my third day of hunting. The weather was not the best for hunting while we were there and the deer were staying holed up for the most part.
On this evening the stars and planets aligned and everything came together to make for a great hunt. A button buck entered my line of sight first followed by his twin sister. I thought about taking the doe until the big one followed these two from left to right in front of me. The wind was perfect and I made a 38 yard double lung shot. I got down from the stand to mark where I shot her and head back to camp to get a flashlight and some buddies. I left my bow hanging on the pull rope and when I get back to the stand after marking the blood trail there are three more deer standing under the stand and one of them is actually sniffing my bow. I have never seen anything like it in my life!! She lets me get to eight yards before turning and running away. It was like she knew she had my bow and there was nothing I could do.
The doe I harvested weighed 125lbs field dressed and I was able to butcher about 55 pounds of corn-fed Illinois venison. We had a blast and look forward to next year and trying again.
