We'll use this as a MA meatpole thread.
Pheasant season has been good, so I decided to do more bowhunting in MA this year. seen a few does thru Oct and Nov, but not many (no permit, nor do I shoot them in my area, deer are scarce). Took this week off and have been hitting some old spots that were good before I started hunting CT years ago. Put cams in these spots, and 15 years ago, by now typically Id have a target buck I'd be trying to hunt or maybe 2. Now most of my cams have little or no deer on them and a lot of coyotes.....anyway.
So today was probably my last day of rutcation...tomorrow is going to rain....so I hit my best looking spot in a swamp with a ridge full of acorns and some scrapes, but not many. I had trimmed a hemlock and dropped a haul line late October, so I could just pop up the XOP Vanish quickly and quietly, or sit in my saddle, which I now use full time as a safety harness anyway. Got in a 545, popped up the stand, and settled in. Not much going on til 9am, I heard some noise behind me, couldnt see anything, so I grunted and bleated a bit.
Spike comes right down the trail I walked in on........I usually don't shoot small bucks but in MA, I'm beginning to embrace the suck of not seeing much, and with Biden pushing up the price of beef, me not hunting CT anymore, my freezer is empty. I had to quickly decide as it was thick as shit in there and only 2 openings. I verified he was legal in the first opening, and then drew, and stopped him in the second opening at 4 yards. Put the pin a little too high kinda rushed the shot more than I needed to..., Muzzy MX-3 hit him on the lower side of the spine and he went down where he stood, I then had a nice shot at his lungs so I grabbed a second arrow and put one thru both lungs and he was done in 20 seconds. No tracking was kinda nice. I thanked GOD for the meat, and the animal for the sacrifice. As an old bowhunter, I still am amazed at how a plan can come together with so much that can go wrong, even with spike.
The muzzy survived pretty well and the first arrow blew thru the part of the vertebra and penetrated a good 6" into the top of the lung.
Anyway....I was all by myself so no great pics, got him home on the scale and 117# dressed. First deer I've shot in MA with a bow in like 4 years.
