I’m lucky to have a job that allows me to spend a lot of time in the woods during hunting season. I’m equally lucky to have a woman in my life that tolerates said time spent in the woods. While I do rifle hunt every year, and love the tradition of deer drives here in Northcentral Pennsylvania, my real passion is archery. From October to mid-November, if I’m not working at the hospital, you can find me 15 or more feet up a tree with a Hoyt hanging close by.
2020 was an unseasonably warm year for archery, particularly the month of October. I was lucky to harvest a doe on October 9th, and while I don’t vividly remember the shot, I do remember the 82-degree temperature and furious scramble to get the deer out of the woods and into a refrigerator. Having put some meat in the freezer, I knew it was time to focus on tagging a buck.
By early November, temperatures returned to normal. I was focusing on an area called Round Top Mountain in the 4D WMU of Pennsylvania. This particular mountain has a north facing slope with a series of fairly wide benches. These benches are full of old growth Oaks that were producing bountiful acorns this particular year as well as mountain laurel broken up by runs of ferns. This was the same place I had harvested the doe just weeks before. There were well-worn trails with many scrapes and many trees were shredded by rubs. I knew if I could put in the time, I would get a shot at a decent buck on this mountain.
On November 2nd, I headed out at around 1 pm to sit for the evening. When I got to the mountain, I saw a truck parked at the pull off….and I recognized the truck. Apparently, my Dad was listening when I told him about the good sign I had been seeing. Lesson learned. Don’t trust anybody. After calling a quick audible, I decided to cross a stream on the opposite side of the road and head up a small drainage on the opposing mountain. Luckily, as I headed up the drainage, I saw just as much fresh sign as was across the road. About ¾ of the way up the small drainage, I found a tree about 20 yards downwind of the rub line. I would have liked to go further up the drainage, but I was using a climbing stand at the time and it was starting to get heavy.
It was about 2 pm that I finally settled in. I ranged a few trees to reference and planned my shooting lanes, assuming the deer would come in downhill, from East to West. The first 3.5 hours of the evening were your typical whitetail sit. Scan the woods. Check behind. Eat Snacks. Drink Coffee. As light was starting to fade and the air cooled, I heard the subtle crunch of leaves uphill and to the East. Exactly as expected. I was assuming this was a doe moving down the drainage, but as the deer came in to focus, it became obvious that this was a shooter buck. Unfortunately, it veered from the path I expected it to take and moved outside of my planned shooting lanes. As it approached 30 or so yards from my stand, I found a small opening between two trees. The buck stuck its neck into this opening and looked uphill and away from me. In my mind, the buck was going to head up the mountain, straight away from me. It was time to make a decision. Take a neck shot, or simply hope and pray that the buck would turn back around.
I was comfortable with my arrow setup and the range of the shot, so I opted to take it. Draw back. Kisser button to my lips. String to my nose. Anchor thumb on jaw. Center peep. Pull though the shot. Time seems to freeze when you let the arrow go. I prepared to watch the buck run off after the shot so I could get an idea of how good the hit was and which direction I would have to truck. To my utter amazement, he dropped. Dead. Not a single step.
I’m usually patient to get down from my stand, but this time I couldn’t get out of the tree quick enough. After walking running up to the buck, it was clear why he had fallen so quickly. My arrow went through his neck and lodged squarely in his upper spine. He was a beautiful Pennsylvania mountain buck. A fairly wide, symmetric 10 point, though he didn’t have much height on his tines. A quick call to my old man, who I knew was just a half mile away, quickly got me the help to make it a quick drag. Under headlamps, we drug the buck back to my truck and headed home to start processing.
You learn something on every hunt. What did I take away from this one? First, don’t be afraid to change your plans. If I tried to hunt the same area that my dad was already in, neither one of us were likely to have success. When a plan gets busted, don’t be afraid to explore. Use the terrain and weather to your advantage, and follow sign. Second, if you are comfortable with a shot, don’t be afraid to take it. There are some obviously wrong shots to take, but a well-placed neck shot on a deer can be very effective. Trust your instinct!