Opening day of Archery Deer

[GM-GUY]

So my FiL came up this AM for a crack at the deer in my yard. He’s 83, and can’t walk long distances, and if he falls can’t get up unassisted- so yeah, no more woods (for now, hopefully he gets better). Anyway, I told him my deck works fine, deer walk through and he has a crossbow as he can’t bend his arm past 90 degrees anymore due to Arthritis.

He missed but did have an opportunity before his MRI this afternoon and surgery tomorrow that will put him down for a couple weeks at least.

It was probably 65 yds and he held for 50 yds, yes a pair of doe and yes he has a tag for one this year.

 

[bdb]

Bummer he missed! Maybe he should have gone with the Weber BBQ cover camo Hopefully he gets another crack!

 

[Mark from MA]

Love seeing this.......

Love the full camo....reminds me of my dad when he hunted CT, I put him on a few of the landowners decks in the day when he had trouble at the end of his hunting career climbing treestands. Killed his fair share of big bucks in places you'd never imagine there being a deer like that around.

We used to get the info from cameras or landowners......, then set him up on a big buck we knew was coming in rather regularly at a certain time.........it was all hilarious when I got the inevitable call and could tell he's shaking and could barely talk....... H....H....Holy S...Shit.....I....just s....s....shot a big one! G...G....get....over h..h.....here!

Fing old man NEVER missed with that Xbow, I can tell you that! He was freaking deadly with that thing. He shot a spike once right under the stand that was sniffing the ladder on the stand..... right between both scapula into the spine and thru the brisket. The top of the bolt was sticking out of the back and broadhead thru the brisket.....deer dropped like it was hit with a sledgehammer with its head resting on the ladder.

I get over there and I'm like you should have let it get out a little farther for lung shot next time.........he's like why....we arent tracking this one are we? .....I guess not!

 

[RIFLEMAN1000]

Get him a rangefinder , Crossbows caan take a shot that far no probem . Especially in the open. I got a 7 pointer at 55 yds with a passthough in cover , so it's doable .

 

[GM-GUY]

I have one - we were going to check it yesterday but the battery was dead (CR2) and I didn’t have a spare. I’m going to take out my driveway stakes and mark from 30 yds out to 70 yds every 10 yds.

 

[DW357]

Nice. My dad uses a crossbow and hit one last week but after tracking the blood trail for 4+ hours through a swamp he finally gave up. He’s been upset about it but I told him what else are you supposed to do?

 

[The Anchor]

So my FiL came up this AM for a crack at the deer in my yard. He’s 83, and can’t walk long distances, and if he falls can’t get up unassisted- so yeah, no more woods (for now, hopefully he gets better). Anyway, I told him my deck works fine, deer walk through and he has a crossbow as he can’t bend his arm past 90 degrees anymore due to Arthritis.

He missed but did have an opportunity before his MRI this afternoon and surgery tomorrow that will put him down for a couple weeks at least.

It was probably 65 yds and he held for 50 yds, yes a pair of doe and yes he has a tag for one this year.

Good stuff and hopefully he is successful next time!

 

[GM-GUY]

Not a good update,

My Father-in-Law passed away today. He made it out opening day and had a shot at a deer (as shown above). That surgery that was supposed to be 3-4 days turned into over a month of procedures, lung function dropping, kidneys shutting down and mental status failing. The call was made yesterday no more flogging the guy, no intubation, keep him comfortable but it’s up to him at this point; he made his choice just after sundown today.

So, not a bad way of closing out 71 years of hunting (started when he was 12) getting a shot on your last opening day.

He was also a navy veteran, served on three aircraft carriers as a flight deck troubleshooter - one off Vietnam, one during the Cuban missile crisis blockade and one on a training carrier in the Atlantic.

He came home and was a machinist for years from Starrett to a shop in Fitchburg (forget the name). Tough bastard, took a running chainsaw across the face in his 40’s and drove himself out of the woods (couple miles) ended up with missing teeth, chip out of his jaw and over 100 stitches.

Had two daughters, I married the eldest. His first wife passed one month after I married their daughter, was married to his second wife for 25 years until she passed then had an S/O for over 5 years before she passed away.

Why did I post this here - because he was a hunter; Deer & Turkey were his go to - I took him hog hunting in PA (scored) and SC (no luck) and took him moose hunting twice in Maine - he was showing his age then, but was with me when I scored and he got all the moose meat he wanted.

I’ll miss the guy.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Damn, GM. So sorry. Glad he got that hunt in.

 

[chuckster]

So sorry for your loss!

 

[kerryman71]

Sorry for your loss. Sounds like you had some good times with him.

 

[Bigfudge16]

Sorry for your loss, sounds like you were a good son to him

 

[fshalor]

I hear you. A leader like this in your family is always a hard pass.

 

[Buck F]

It’s hard to do anything but celebrate the guy… RIP

 

[dezignguy]

Sorry to hear that, my condolences.

 

[GM-GUY]

Thanks for the well wishes - today was spent prepping for Thanksgiving, yup still need to do that and contacting my SiL about what she needs help with.

This moose pic is from 2016, Maine Zone 7 moose and the hog pic is from 2017 in PA, I took the pics and he and my son shot the hogs - at 77 years old he got to go on a hunt with his 14yo grandson. During the hog hunt I got a video and made a DVD of him hammering his hog in a frontal spine shot, that hog stopped on a dime and even when backwards, I even put close ups with the video slowed down to 50% and 25%, he loved that video.

Like I said in 2016 he had (at the time) an undiagnosed eye problem (macular degeneration) so on opening day we say moose on the hill across from us, less than 100 yards - but he couldn't pick out head or tail so he couldn't shoot. They were only 400lb or so - legal and the guide wanted us to pass on them, but he would have been happy with it and i would have let him take it. The moose I ended up with weighed out at 925lb live iirc, lots more meat for his freezer.

Before our SC trip his arm had gotten bad enough as did his eyes that he needed an upgrade. He kept his beloved Gamemaster 760 in 308, but I put a thumbhole stock on it so he could grip it (the wrist on the original was too high with his arthritis) and he would lose the reticle on dark objects so I put an illuminated 3x9 with bigger objective reticle Leupold Scope on it (he had an old Tasco rectangular version). No more problems with seeing the crosshairs or not being able grip the rifle.