Congratulations Sean Kirk Russell
Here’s the story of the deer I’m now calling “Front End Loader”
For those of you who know me, I put a lot of time into public land sika hunting, especially with the bow. It ain’t for the weak. Miles of hiking into some nasty marshland with mosquitoes that are ready to carry you away…not to mention the blood sweat and tears put into it all and let me emphasize the SWEAT during the early season. Going into Tuesday's hunt it was a hot one pushing around 85. I was debating where to hunt with one of my great buddies and he told me how about you go try my spot where he knew some very good stags were frequenting. He sent me a few pins and told me how to get in there little did I know what I was getting myself into. Started my hike around 2:30 pm and it took me about an hour to get to the spot sweating my ass off! By the time I got to the tree, I had already drunk the only water I brought with me and immediately regretted that. I was finally settled in around 4 pm and luckily for the first hour or so things were slow giving me time to relax a bit. Started out hearing a couple of bugles off in the distance around 5:30 and had high hopes that some deer would start moving soon. Not long after I started doing some calling hoping to sweet talk one into the opening I was hunting. Around 6 I could hear some phrag breaking off behind me not far and let out a growl thinking it could be a stag. A few minutes went by and he stepped out at 25 yards and immediately I knew it was a shooter. The first thing I saw was the big hooks. When he came out to the edge of the opening he was feeding on the phrag tops and working my way but it was going to be tough getting a shot from where he came out. He ended up taking his sweet time eating on phrag and only taking one or two steps every 5 minutes or so. This made for a very nerve-racking half hour as I had to sit there and watch him feed while well inside of bow range with no shot opportunity. After about a half hour some more deer started to show up. Out came a spike from in front followed by a big tall 4 point. which I would have shot any day of the week if it weren’t for this big 6 already standing behind me. After the 4 came another smaller 6. The big 4 points and smaller 6 put on a great show for me growling and mewing while doing some sparing as well. Mind you all 4 of these stags were now all inside of 25 yards. Luckily I had the wind to my favor and none of these deer ever knew I was there. It’s hard enough to keep your composure with one stag in close let alone 4 of them with 2 of them being deer I would have been super excited to put my hands on. I had made up my mind I wanted the big 6 and was going to wait for him to hopefully give me a shot and come out into my opening which happened to be at 15 yards. Having the other deer around the big 6 was perfectly content and continued to feed on phrag and work his way up to the opening. Finally, after about 45 minutes he stepped into that opening and when he put his head down for a drink of water I was able to get drawn back and take my shot. Years ago I lost a big stag due to a shoulder hit and I was scared to have that happen all over again. Because of that and me shaking like a leaf, I ended up hitting further back than I would have liked to. He jumped and ran 10 yards back into the phrag where I could not get a second shot at him. A few minutes went by and he was still standing there just being able to see his rack and then he vanished. Knowing I made a marginal shot but a lethal shot I elected to back out and not even look for first blood. I knew as long as the deer wasn’t pushed he should bed up close by and be laying there for me in the morning. This ended with a sleepless night and second-guessing everything I did just praying he didn’t go too far and that he would bed up and expire. Went back in at 7 am and went to where I saw him go in. With only a couple of specks of blood, I was able to find the trail he went in on but it wasn’t looking great which I was kind of expecting. Slowly working my way up the trail just a couple drops here and there I was getting a little worried but only 25 yards up the trail there he lay dead as could be right in his bed. And I got to put my hands on my biggest bow stag to date. If it weren’t for me backing out that night I truly do believe I would have jumped him up and potentially would have never found this deer. When in doubt it’s always best to back out. It might be hard to do so but with a back of liver and front of a gut shot a deer can take many hours to expire typically they won’t go far if they aren’t spooked and that’s exactly what he did. This hunt sits at the top of the list for one of the best seats I have ever had in the marsh. Seeing multiple stags in close and not being busted which having the right wind played a big part in that. It was also the most nerve-racking hunt I’ve ever had having to watch this stag for so long before getting a shot and then not making a great shot my stress was out the roof. Just beyond blessed and relieved that I was able to find this deer and he did not spoil it.
It’s been 6 years since I shot and recovered a stag with my bow. I’ve had many close encounters. A couple of misses and a couple of hits ended with a lost deer. So it was the best feeling ever to finally wrap my hands around my biggest bow stag to date. My biggest thanks go to my great buddy Robert for sending me into this spot and making this opportunity possible. If it weren’t for him this hunt would have never been able to happen.
~Sean~
