When the sun rose on September 25th, Josh Woods had a familiar feeling in his gut.
It was warm, as expected this time of year. But it was also the first day of the Red Moon.
He had not been bowhunting yet, but he was too busy today. So, he began going about the day’s business.
As owner of Callawegian Stitchery, he was busy finishing up some customer orders for wool Anoraks before rifle season opens.
The longer he worked, the worse that gut feeling that he should hunt today got. He finally decided to give in, so he checked the wind direction to help him choose the location for his first bow-hunt of the season.
The wind ruled out every stand but one, a box blind over a clover field. Nearby there was a good stand of timber and tall CRP, as well.
This decision also caused this Army veteran some concern. You see, Josh Woods builds his own traditional bows, out of Osage Orange.
The confined space in a box blind prevents use of a long bow, so he would have to revert to his crossbow for this hunt.
This change in plans came with its own set of obstacles causing some further delays in getting to the field.
But finally, at about 4:15, Woods was in the blind and set. Trail camera pics from around the food plot had been showing pretty good evening activity.
Woods’ blind is on the edge of a clover food plot. He has cut “bicycle spoke” Sendero shooting lanes to the timber and through the CRP behind the blind to give him 360-degree shot opportunities.
This is a great set-up and is designed to be used with bow and gun. He settled in and began his first hunt of the year.
A couple of young bucks and a couple of young does came out first. Nothing to get too excited about. They fed a while and filtered back into the timber.
At about 5:30 Josh caught movement all the way across the clover field. Through his binoculars he saw a nice buck… a very nice, non-typical buck eating persimmons at the field’s edge.
He knew almost immediately that it was a shooter. He took a deep breath and began planning his moves inside the blind to prepare for a hopeful shot.
Window blinds had to be moved, windows opened and his chair needed to be adjusted to be prepared for a potential shot. Silence was the key to these moves.
The buck was at about 70 yards, looking into the clover plot. Josh’s movements were slow and deliberate. He got ready and checked on the buck.
He was very excited when he saw the buck turn and begin moving toward the blind. He was, however, moving very slowly, feeding on the clover.
This slow movement on the buck’s part just added further anxiety and anticipation to the hunter’s already pounding heart.
At 40 yards from the blind the buck would hit a fork in his path. It would have to make a decision. One path would lead him further away and the other would bring him closer to the blind.
He made the choice that caused our hunter’s heart to almost jump out of his chest.
The deer would, at about 25 yards, provide Josh with a quartering away shot. That is the perfect shot.
When the buck stepped into the kill zone, Woods bleated. The buck stopped instantly and then the shot.
The lighted nock disappeared into the buck’s chest. The deer turned and hit the woods at a sprint.
Josh heard the massive animal crash. The blood trail was good, and the big buck was found 30 yards into the timber.
There was no exit wound. The arrow passed through both lungs and lodged in the opposite side shoulder joint. A very clean kill.
Josh Woods had just killed a Boone and Crockett buck, and he knew it. You see, this is the third Booner-quality buck this amazing hunter has harvested.
He immediately texted his wife and called his son, not only to share in the celebration, but to help his dad get this huge buck out of the timber.
This buck had not appeared on any trail camera pics. This was the first time Woods knew of his existence.
That is one of the most exciting parts of deer hunting. No matter how much scouting you do or how many cameras you have deployed, you never know what might show up.
This buck green-scored 191 2/8 inches. When your gut tells you to hunt, don’t fight the feeling.
(Mike Roux can be reached at roux@adams.net.)
