On the morning of September 22 Barnacle and Pedro were in the Mudbrook Valley for an early season doe hunt. They both had a couple of bonus tags to fill so the order of business for this hunt was to bag at least one "baldy". Under the cover of darkness Barnacle headed off to the Turkey Ridge Stand while Pedro sloshed his way across the wet swamp to the Twin Oaks Stand. At 7:00 Pedro had a fawn walk under his stand and a couple of minutes later a nice big doe followed. Pedro's arrow hit it's mark at 10 yards and the doe bolted off towards Salt Log Hill where it crashed to a halt. Pedro went over to verify it was down then started walking out towards the truck to meet Barnacle at 8:30. As soon as Pedro reached the meeting place, however, Barnacle was already walking out as well. The two exchanged "what are you doing here already" glances then shared there stories. Barnacle had seen a good number of deer that morning including a couple of smaller bucks. One of the does that came through happened to stop under his tree only 7 yards away. Barnacle hit the doe directly in the shoulder and as it ran off, the arrow was left behind totally unscathed...except for a missing broadhead. When the boys started tracking, there was not a speck of blood to be found so they started circling the area and walking down the surrounding trails. Finally, after about 45 minutes, Pedro came upon the nice doe lying dead against a tree...only 30 yards from where Barnacle had shot it. Unbelievably, the broadhead from his arrow had gone completely through the shoulder blade and was stuck right in the middle of the deer's heart.
After dragging Barnacle's deer to the truck the boys then went to retrieve Pedro's. This became quite an event because of the wet swamp and Barnacle's less than excited attitude to cross it...twice! Well, the old boy made it across just fine the first time but when it came time to drag Pedro's doe across, well, things didn't go as smoothly. Pedro said he'd drag the doe out past the really big water hole and directed Barnacle to just worry about getting himself past it. After just two steps Barnacle was up to his knee's in water and hurling expletives at Pedro that would curl a priest's toes. Pedro started dragging the deer and then Barnacle grabbed hold as well. They managed to make it the rest of the way across the swamp with Barnacle only falling down a few more times. It was quite hilarious! Both does were loaded in the truck and the "double" was a done deal. How cool!
Barnacle Shows Off His Early Season Doe
Pedro Poses With His Doe Before The Hilarious "Swamp Drag"
October 2...The Buck That "Washed" Away
On Wedenesday, October 2, Pedro, Paco, Lefty, Barnacle and his son Kyle (Barnacle Jr.) went to Mudbrook for an evening hunt. This day was like every other day had been recently...with rain falling and everything wet. Paco was going to sit in the Birch Tree Stand, Pedro went near Lucky's Pine, Lefty went to the Gulley Stand, and the two Barnacles went to the Taint Stand. When everyone hooked up after the hunt it was quite interesting to hear the stories. Pedro had "bumped" into a nice buck while walking to his stand, Lefty had seen 8 does and actually spit on one, Paco saw 6 deer and shot a doe, and the Barnacle's shot a doe and a buck! What do we go after first? Well, the rain was falling harder and the night was pitch black dark so it was decided that we would track Barnacle's buck & doe first. The doe was found dead only 30 yards away but the buck left no blood trail. After walking in the direction Barnacle had last seen it, Lefty came upon the nice 8 pointer lying down...alive! The buck made no effort to get up but simply watched and stared away from the light. Finally, the boys decided to close in on the buck and when they did, he got up and walked away into the darkness. Everyone quickly moved to where he was bedded but no blood was found. It was raining so hard and it was so dark that tracking him was impossible. The buck had just "washed" away. What a dissapointment! Sadly, the boys then moved on to track down Paco's doe. He had shot it in a corn field and didn't really remember where it was standing or where it ran to...just into the corn. Well, by now it was pouring and there was no blood to be found. After about 30 minutes of walking blindly down the corn rows, Lefty came across the dead doe. How lucky and unlucky can you get in the same night. Not finding Barnacle's buck was very unlucky and finding Paco's doe was very lucky. It was the best and worst that bowhunting has to offer all in the same night. If not for the pouring rain Barnacle's buck probably would have been "trackable". It was an experience that will hopefully make us all better hunters. There are no pictures available of the two doe's killed on this night.
November 1...Barnacle's Long Day
On November 1st all four members of the Highbanks Hunting Club headed north for a long weekend of hunting whitetails in the rut. It was a clear windy day with temps. only in the high 20's. Everyone got to their stands around mid-morning and were planning to sit until dark. Paco went to Buck Hollow, Lefty to the Backfield, Pedro to the Loop Road and Barnacle sat in the Birch Tree. It was a cold day. Paco saw 10 deer including 7 smaller bucks. Pedro saw 8 deer including 2 very large bucks and a forkhorn, Lefty saw nothing and Barnacle sat all day without seeing a deer...that is, until around 4:15. After blowing in the wind all day on his stand and not seeing any deer, Barnacle was a little disappointed and more than a little impatient. He wanted to see a deer and he wanted to shoot a buck pretty bad. Well, as fate would have it, at 4:15, out walks a deer and it happens to be a buck. Barnacle decides right away that he's going to shoot and then when he see's it he thinks it's at least a 6 pointer and maybe a small 8. Barnacle put an excellent shot on the buck and it only ran 25 yards before expiring. What he found out, upon examining his dead buck, was that it only had 4 points...there were no brow tines on him. When Pedro came out at dark and met Barnacle at his stand, Barnacle told the story of how he sat there all day in that cold wind and didn't see a single deer and how he made up his mind that whatever he saw was going to get an arrow flung at it...that's our Barnacle! It all turned out well, though, because it was a fine forkhorn buck with a 13" inside spread and a rather large body. Barnacle the buck killer strikes again!
Here Is Barnacle With The Buck He Waited All Day For. Notice The Rope On His Antler...Nice Work!
November 2...Pedro's Redemption!
If you look back to the page on this website titled "2000 Season Results" you will see a story from November 2, 2000 about Pedro shooting a big buck but not recovering it. Fast forward to November 2, 2002 and picture Pedro in his stand. It is 3:45 p.m. and a doe has just walked out of the swamp and through a shooting lane only 15 yards away. Continuous splashing and grunting from the swamp tells Pedro that a buck is following the doe and headed in his direction. The noise does not, however, provide any indication of whether or not it is a large buck. All at once the buck is out of the swamp and making a scrape just 20 yards away...but still not in view of the hunter. After what seems like an eternity the buck steps out from under the pine trees and shows himself for the first time. He is a thick necked rutting bruiser and he's walking towards the same opening the doe had just passed through. Pedro quickly tries to ready himself for a shot by moving his video camera out of the way and setting his fallen arrow back onto the rest. Oh, how cool it would have been to capture this moment on film but there was no time to adjust the camera and bareley enough time to move it out of the way.
As the big boy stops in the opening Pedro pulls back on his bowstring and takes careful aim. He zeroes in on the exact spot he wants the arrow to penetrate then trips the trigger on his release. Just as the arrow leaves the bow there is an unfamiliar "click" and then the horror of seeing the misguided missile make contact with the buck just in front of it's back leg. The arrow had clipped a twig in the tree Pedro was standing in and missed it's mark. The buck jumps, then sprints for 15 yards, causing the arrow to flop out onto the ground. After 30 more yards the buck stops and just stands there, like he's not even hurt. He even let's out a soft grunt. The next 15 minutes are an eternity as Pedro watches the buck, who is obviously injured, drag himself very slowly into the thick brush. Another few minutes pass before Pedro climbs down the tree to retrieve his arrow and look for blood. The arrow is still in perfect shape except for the missing broadhead, which is still in the deer. There is a large amount of blood found where the buck walked into the brush...things look promising but thoughts of November 2, 2000 are haunting Pedro in the worst way right about now. He makes his way out of the woods and back to camp to wait for the other club members.
They agree to wait 4 hours then begin tracking. When the time comes, tracking is very easy because of the good blood trail. After 2 hours of tracking through swamps, thickets, and clear cuts, the boys can hear brush crashing just ahead of them. The buck is hurting and has lost a lot of blood so they let him bed down for the night. Early the next morning Barnacle, Lefty, and Pedro track the buck down and find him dead only 30 yards from where they left him the night before. Barnacle hollers out "REDEMPTION" and gives Pedro a hug and high five. It is a very gratifying moment for Pedro and he feels like the Mudbrook "gave one back" to him. Pedro reaches down for the 9 point buck, which is lying in a hole behind a downed tree. As he grabs the antlers to look at his prize, he notices that a good part of the hind quarters have been eaten. Tracks in the dirt reveal that a bear has made a nice meal out of Pedro's trophy. It is not a pretty site but there is nothing that can be done about it now. That's how it sometimes goes in the wild outdoors. The buck is gutted, dragged out, registered, and taken to the taxidermist all within a few hours. It is a whirlwind of excitement and an experience Pedro will never forget...his first buck for the wall!
Pedro Poses Proudly With His "Bear Eaten" 9 Point Buck
