Pennsylvania Game News - July 2019 - 41

JULY 2019

ened, dying where it stopped, maybe
75 yards away.
It wasn't a big buck, rack-wise -
only a four-pointer. But taking a buck,
right under the stand, in the middle of
nowhere on the deep-woods hunt made
it memorable.

BE READY

Being ready for that sneak-up buck
makes taking him more likely.
When you don't see him coming,
a lot more must go right for you. And
you can never count on deer to be
cooperative.
I still remember an encounter on a
mountaintop bowhunt back in 1992. I
was using a borrowed tree stand with
a climbing aid that was a better bow
hanger than a seat. After about two
hours of hunting, I was wondering
where the deer were.
And that's when it happened: a
buck walked right by my tree stand
and headed toward the scrape I was
watching.
As he passed behind a tree, I rose
and got away with it, maybe 12 feet
off the ground.
But when I drew, the buck, a mere 15
yards away, sensed trouble. He paused
to look around another tree, and when
he did, that tree covered his vitals.
All I could see were his head and
rump.
So, there we were, me at full draw
with an early Browning compound bow,
the buck - a solid 8 - looking directly
at me.
I remained as still as my quarry for
the first minute.
After the second, I starting to shake
in the below-freezing air. Even a
65-percent let-off becomes unmanageable when your hold exceeds the
41

Jacob Dingel

leaves are falling. The wind blows. And
as you begin to take for granted that you
know what's happening around you, a
deer pops up, often closer than you'd
ever expect one.
That closeness of the sound you
hear is what fools you, because you're
convinced a deer can't do it to you.
You're too tuned in, too alert for that
to happen. And until it does, you get
away with thinking that. Sooner or later,
though, that deer will pop up. Pray it's
not a wall-hanger.
Sometimes you can catch a deer
sneaking in from behind.
Before antler restrictions, I took a
small buck that was with another of
similar size, and they entered through
the backdoor.
But I knew they were coming.
I'd just climbed the mountain and
got my portable stand up the tree when
I noticed the bucks about 100 yards
behind me, cutting into the run I was
positioned along.
I slid my release onto my hand and
tightened it, nocked an arrow on the
bowstring, then waited.
At the first sound of deer movement,
with my back turned to the approaching
bucks, I came to full draw and anchored
my kisser button.
Within a minute, they were under
my stand.
I'd like to tell you I sized up both.
But the shot came so quickly, I simply
took the one on the left. It was the easier
shot for me.
The buck lurched forward at the
shot and went into a gallop. The other
followed suit. Their tremendous commotion soon subsided.
After about 30 minutes of quiet, I
lowered the stand to follow up. The
buck went far enough to feel unthreat-
Pennsylvania Game News - July 2019

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