August 31st, one more day and opening day of archery season was here. We setup several treestands throughout the ranch in hopes of laying a tag on one of the big Whitetail deer that had been caught on camera during the summer.

September 1st came and we all lit out on the fourwheelers to our treestands, we had a slight accident that left Jay limping the rest of the hunt, but that’s a whole different story in itself. The first day presented plenty of activity, but the deer passed just out of range.

As we all returned from our evening hunt, we all discussed what we saw, but with no luck. We waited for the two other guys to return (Frank Amos and Clint Goodman), they finally returned and Clint had tagged a really nice 13 point still in velvet, what a deer.

The morning of the second day, the deer were moving as normal and a decent ten point came into range. Wouldn’t you know it, you shot all year round, but when it comes time to pull the trigger on an animal the nerves always get the best of me. I put that arrow right underneath him and all I saw was him running away saying “see-ya” with his white tail flashing back and forth.

That afternoon I relocated my stand to a position that I thought would provide a better shot on the deer passing by. That evening I had plenty of deer pass by, but not the one I was looking for. The third and final day of my hunt, we reached our treestands in plenty of time before daylight. As the sun started to rise the deer came with it. They were passing by at a decent shooting distance, but I was waiting for one just a little bigger. As I was watching down the drainage out popped what I thought was a ten point at the time. He made his way through the trees and finally stepped out, stopped and looked my direction. There was no question at this point, turned out he was a really wide nine point. As he turned back and started walking I drew back, grunted at him to stop him and took a shot. The arrow hit the deer and he ran off, I didn’t get to see exactly where he ran off too, because I was trying not to fall out of the treestand from all of the excitement.

After waiting what seemed like an eternity, I recovered my buck which was a nine point that measured just over 19-inches wide.

This is truly a great experience, the camaraderie, the good friends, and not to mention the excellent hunt. Thanks Mike, Frank, and Jay for an excellent hunt and really enjoyable time! I hope to be lucky enough return.

Ray Alexander