Though Gun Hunters Dominated This Years Buck Kills...Paco Was Able To Score On This Nice 8 Pointer With His Bow.
The Season
The 2005 bowhunting season provided the boys of Mudbrook with what seemed to be one heartbreak after another...unless your name is Paco, who had a season any hunter would be proud of. But for the Highbanks Hunting Club as a whole, the theme for 2005 was the same as every other season over the past 5 years...MISSED OPPORTUNITIES! Poison, Barnacle, Odie, and Lefty all had close encounters with dandy bucks that ended without a filled tag. From wounding a buck and not recovering it, to making an errant shot that missed completely, to having the buck of your dreams within 10 yards and not having a clear shot, these guys experienced the gut wrenching dread that a bowhunter feels when an opportunity is lost. Then there is Pedro, who spent more time than anyone in the woods both scouting and hunting...and didn't have one big buck encounter all season. How frustrating!
The upside to 2005 was that the gun hunters had great success. Pedro's Uncle Jerry killed a fine 8 pointer on the first Sunday and his Uncle Pablo downed another nice 8 pointer on Wednesday. Another one of Pedro's relatives had killed a good 8 pointer on Tuesday but no pictures of that buck have been available. On Friday of gun season both Pedro and Odie killed six point bucks. Pedro had thought his was an 8 pointer and Odie's was his first buck ever with a gun. What a great day that turned out to be! Following are some pictures of these bucks followed by a short season summary for each club member.
For The Third Straight Year Uncle Jer Killed A Dandy Buck
Uncle Pablo Shows Off His "Solid" 8 Pointer...Very Nice!
Paco
It's only right to start off the 2005 season summary talking about Paco because he had an awesome year. After drawing a bear tag, and baiting all summer, he was able to shoot his first bear ever on Wednesday, September 14th (see picture on 2005 Season Opener page). Then, on Thursday, November 10th he connected on a 15" wide 8 pointer with his bow. This buck turned out to be the only one taken by an HHC member in 2005...which means Paco get's his name on the annual big buck award this year. As if both of those accomplishments weren't enough for one season Paco then went out and killed himself a trophy 10 point buck on the opening morning of gun season. What a year!! After so many disappointments in recent years it was great to see Paco rise up and take advantage of the opportunities presented to him...three fine animals all killed at a distance of 15 yards or less. That just doesn't happen very often. Way to go Paco!!
Paco With His Massive 10 Pointer Killed On The First Day Of Gun Season.
Poison
The sting of missing two bucks with his bow in 2004 had gone away and Poison was more prepared than ever to score his first bow deer ever in 2005...and almost did so on opening weekend! On the evening of Sunday, September 18th Poison launched an arrow at a shooter buck and hit it. It occurred very quickly and under lowlight conditions so he wasn't certain where his arrow hit but drops of blood were found a short distance away. After tracking that night and the next morning it became evident that the hit was not lethal and the buck would survive...a bittersweet pill to swallow for any hunter. Poison rebounded quickly though and was hunting from the Airstrip stand on a November morning when a nice six point buck came within range. Poison measured the distance and flung an arrow at the unsuspecting critter only to miss it completely. What happened next is hilarious. Poison said the buck jumped back in shock then walked over and started sniffing the arrow as it was stuck in the ground. Talk about salt in the wound! While Poison scrambled to knock another arrow the buck moved slowly out of range. Poison and his wife had a baby in late November so his hunting from then on was limited and he had no more opportunities.
Barnacle
Once again Barnacle had a hard luck season when it came to "closing the deal". Things started off great for him as he was seeing bucks just about everytime out but they were of the small variety and not what he was looking for. He would have loved to shoot a doe but didn't have any opportunities. Then, on an evening hunt at the Slingshot stand in November, Barnacle finally had a shot opportunity at a big buck. It was getting dark when the shooter buck walked down a trail and stopped just 12 yards from Barnacle's stand. The deer was quartering towards him as Barnacle took aim and released. The buck spun around and took off on the run like it was fatally injured. The bad news was that Barnacle's arrow didn't go through the deer. Pedro and Barnacle came back the next morning to track the buck. There was a good blood trail for the first 50 yards but then turned into a speck on a blade of swamp grass every 30 yards. The buck was not recovered and Barnacle went "deerless" for the second season in a row.
After starting his bowhunting career in 2004 by killing everything he shot at Odie's sophomore season was certainly one that would shake the confidence of almost any hunter. This young 13 year old lad was presented with not just one or two buck opportunities...but FIVE!! With sky high expectations Odie thought he struck gold early in the season when he hit a big buck from the Loop Road stand. Unfortunately for him the blood trail disappeared after a 200 yard track job through a jungle of tag alder swamp. It wasn't a good start to the season but Odie was still pretty confident. A few days later he was once again at the Loop Road and shot at another buck...well, he wasn't sure if it was a big buck or a doe. (Maybe his confidence was shaken a bit. Ha Ha). Regardless of size or sex, the deer did not bleed a drop of blood. The poor boy was 0 for 2. Odie's next buck encounter is one for the ages. Back at the Loop Road for yet another evening hunt he watched a 6 point buck walk out of the woods from his left, cross the open food plot in front of him, and disappear down the road to his right...without attempting a shot!! After this mishap Odie was truly a 13 year old basket case. Later in the season he moved over to the Pasture Point stand and missed two more bucks with his bow before finally killing a six pointer with his rifle. He was so excited, and rightfully so...it was his first buck ever with a gun. Good job Odie!!
Lefty
After finally shooting an arrow (and killing a doe) last year, Lefty was back to his old ways in 2005 and never shot an arrow. It's not that his season was uneventful or that he didn't see deer, it was more a case of the right shot not presenting itself to him. He put himself in position to see bucks a number of times and even had a close encounter (10 yards) with a "buck of a lifetime" ...but the monster was in some very thick brush and just didn't provide a good shot. That experience stayed with Lefty the whole season and kept him going back to the same area in hopes of another opportunity. While he did see other bucks moving through he never did see the "big boy" again.
Poison, Paco, Barnacle, & Lefty Just Before Embarking On The First Annual Highbanks Hunting Club Realtree Roadtrip...Which Was Also Barnacle's 50th Birthday.
Pedro
The 2005 bow season for Pedro was, in a word, "surprising". After killing a dandy 8 pointer and two does the previous season, he fully expected to have another big year in 2005. Unfortunately for him that did not happen. He was able to down a doe in mid-October but that was it for the season. He hunted many new locations and did see some smaller bucks but the big buck encounter he was hoping for just didn't happen...leaving him more anxious than ever for the 2006 season to arrive. Pedro did, however, manage to shoot a pretty nice six point buck during gun season on a day that started out disastrously when he broke through ice while crossing the Mudbrook and got wet up to his thighs. After drying his clothes he wiggled his way across the frozen creek in a canoe to get to his treestand on the other side.
Once there it took less than a minute for the buck to come trotting through a strip of cedar trees 75 yards away. The buck stopped in some thick brush and Pedro took the opportunity to shoot. Much to Pedro's surprise, the buck dropped right in his tracks...unbelievable!! It's amazing how quickly a bad day can turn into a great day when you're deer hunting. That's why we love it!!
Pedro Was All Smiles After Shooting His Six Point Buck During Gun Season...After Being In His Stand For Just One Minute.
