Today’s guest blog from Indiana hunter Nathan Spalding:
Mike: I’ve only been hunting for 5 years now, but I hunt hard. I’ve spent the last 5 years making plenty of mistakes and learning from them. I don’t hunt with guns; I love the challenge that bow hunting offers.
I feel very blessed to have taken this buck with a bow. The ground he was killed on is in Gibson County, in the river bottoms. I’ve had good luck in the past at this spot. I had made some mock scrapes (check out this Big Deer Tactics video on buck scrapes) on a Thursday night and hunted them Friday. I had 7 bucks hit them. I almost drew on one of the bucks, but I waited.
On Sunday morning 10-27-13 @ 7:15 am my patience paid off. I first saw him at 35 yards. It was still a little hazy in the woods, but definitely ok to shoot. It all happened so fast, all of about 10 to 15 seconds, that I never got a chance to get nervous.
The buck came directly to a scrape that I had doctored with some hot doe and dominant buck urine. He scraped there and then kept coming, to 20 yards! It was so quiet in the woods that morning that the buck heard my arrow slide on the Whisker Biscuit. He stopped broadside and looked at me, and I released.
I heard it and knew I hit him, but I questioned the shot. I started looking for my arrow, but after 45 I couldn’t find it, or any blood. I was getting nervous. Finally I found the broken remains of my arrow with blood and hair all over it, and I felt a little better because the Rage 2-blade was inside the buck. But there was no exit wound so the blood trail was erratic.
Two and a half hours later I found him about 150 yards away, and I was awestruck. He was huge! Over 300 pounds before we field-dressed him and 265 after. His rough score is 188 1\4. He carried 50 1\4 of mass…a 20” spread… 24 1\2” main beams…G2s are 13” and 11 3\4”. The rack is missing a G-4 on one side; I’m guessing he tore that up in velvet because he grew a big knot there. Thanks again, Nathan Spalding
Congratulations Nathan. That is a monster in anybody’s book. Using the mock scrapes was a great idea. With 17 bucks coming in, it sounds like you have a great place to get after ’em. Keep your standards high and your patience…..he won’t be your last. Great buck!
Wow, Great mass on that critter. Congrats Nathan.
Love the look of him. Way to take care of business!!! Congrats.