Opening Day Buck

Opening day in MD has never been something that I looked forward to but this year it fell on Sept 15th and I had just returned from a Wyoming Back Country trip with Cam Hanes, with my tail between my legs. I hunted six days at 10,000 ft chasing bugling bulls. I lost 10 pounds in the process and was stumped on every stalk but one. I had a 3 hr stalk with Brian Boring at my side filming that ended up with a huge 7X6 running down a hill to me. Three seconds was all I had to make a decision about where to shoot when to draw and the distance to him. I missed judged my angle and hit him in the shoulder and lost his trail 4 hrs later.The bull was fine as we saw him another day not even limping. No Bull!

We hiked our tails off. In the end, Cam and I came up short. It was epic to put it mildly. My father who is 63 years old was there to witness the pain of defeat! He also made me realize how I want to look when I am that old. So, we hiked out empty handed catching a plane that had to make an emergency landing in Denver from Salt Lake. We arrived home at 130am on the 15th.

I got up went to Under Armour and worked until 430pm exhausted and hungry …really hungry. At work, I decided I needed to shake the funk and rushed home to a treestand that I put up the day before I went to Wyoming (which gave me posion oak and 17 yellow jackets stings, which makes sleeping in a bag soo much better). I had a big 10 that was on my hit list and watched and watched but he never appeared. But this buck spent an hour under me and I just had to take him. Before leaving for WY I could shoot 50 times in a row with my Bowtech at 80lbs. But now, I was so weak I tried three times to pull it back before I got the draw on him. 18 yards a lay up after practicing out to 80. In the walk in cooler by 9. That is my opening day story! First ever opening day buck. The hunt goes on…

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