Pennsylvania Game News - March 2024 - 63

only let this monster wall-hanger go on
his way, yang on his side.
A little later, recovering the first
buck - what some old timers might describe
as a " dandy " - 60 yards away
after a brief track, I tagged it, proud,
but simultaneously haunted by the other
trophy.
Things played out in that case over
a period of time. But yin and yang can
meet much quicker.
One morning a number of years
back, hunting a small woodlot as the
rut hit high gear, I noticed shortly after
sunrise another archer positioned in a
tree stand on a neighboring parcel of
land. Thirty minutes later an 8-point
buck appeared. A few notes on my
grunt call brought him within easy bow
range. My shot caught both lungs and
after a brief sprint he collapsed about
70 yards away.
Just after tagging him, something
came barreling through the woodlot.
I looked up from my field dressing
chores just in time to see a hefty buck
racing directly toward me. At the last
possible second, he changed course
and dropped dead barely 10 yards
away.
It didn't take long to figure out what
happened. The bowhunter spotted earlier
took an 8-point of his own.
I continued field dressing my buck,
waiting for him to come claim it. But a
half hour brought neither him nor even
sounds of him looking for his buck.
He didn't seem to be following up his
shot.
Finally, I walked about 20 yards toward
his stand location.
" Hey buddy, " I shouted. " Your buck
is down right here. "
" What? " he said, his disbelieving
voice floating through the thick fall foMARCH
2024
liage. " You mean I got him? I was sure
I missed. "
" Nope, " I told him. " You got him.
He's right here. Just follow the sound
of my voice. "
A few minutes later the unknown
bowman arrived with a broad smile
and introduced himself.
" I was sure I missed him low and
the arrow went underneath him, " he
said, shaking his head.
I pointed out that sometimes a clean
pass-through shot can result in a kind
of optical illusion, where the arrow
strikes the ground just beyond the deer,
making it appear that the arrow passed
harmlessly beneath the target rather
than through it.
" Congratulations, " I said, waving
my bow toward his deer. " That's a
nice buck. Could almost be the twin of
mine. "
He hadn't noticed it on the ground.
" Wow! You got one too? " he marveled.
" Yes, "
I nodded, " and it's a good
thing I did. Otherwise, I wouldn't have
been here to see your buck go down
and give you a head's up. "
" That was lucky for sure, " he
agreed.
There's no way to know for sure if
my new friend would have followed
up on his shot, or just assumed, yinlike,
that something went wrong. But
it was my good fortune, to arrow a
deer and be in the right place to notice
his fall, that provided the yang to our
shared story.
That was an incredible set of circumstances,
for sure. But maybe there
is always a good for every bad.
Here's hoping the yang will always
be there to steer your bowhunting fortunes.
63
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