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John's Journal... Entry 204, Day 5

MY WORST BOWHUNTING MISTAKES WITH ROD WHITE

The I'm Going to Kill You Buck - Part 2

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many outdoorsmen have called Rod White of Sparta, Wisconsin, a bow-hunting phenom. At age 13, White took his first buck with a bow and began to shoot competitively. In 1993, he won a silver medal in the Junior World Championships. He took an international title in the National Outdoor Championships, placed second in the Intermediate Division of the Junior National Championship and became a member of the U.S. Olympic Festival team, placing fifth in the intermediate division -- all before his 17th birthday. Since then, White won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 and an Olympic bronze medal in 2000 as a member of the U.S. Men's Team, and numerous national championships and world titles as well as participating in ESPN's Great Outdoor Games. White, who doesn't just shoot paper, has taken 17 Pope & Young animals with his bow. Ranked third in the world for his archery prowess, White, will tell you that, "I make mistakes, too."

Finally, I heard something splashing in the creek. I looked over my shoulder and I saw the biggest buck I had ever seen. This buck was huge - over 200 points Pope & Young. The buck crossed the creek, came up a steep bank about 70 yards from us and then stood out in a clearing. The deer never knew we were there. "There is a big deer just across the river," I whispered to Rob. "How big?" Rob fired back. "He is a huge buck", I whispered. "You need to shoot him."

The buck was coming toward us from the opposite side of the creek and then turned to his left. He started walking away from us. Then he checked a scrape line and he stopped about 90 yards from our tree stand. "Shoot him," I told Rob. I knew Rob could make that shot, and I also knew the buck wasn't coming any closer. But Rob said, "I don't feel comfortable with that shot; the deer is too far." The buck was making a scrape, so we had plenty of time to talk. Rob said, "Whatever you do, don't rattle or you'll spook him." And I explained that, "Every time I have rattled, deer have come in."

Rob kept insisting that I not rattle the antlers. We both dug into our packs, and between the two of us we each had three grunt tubes. We decided that we would try grunting. We tried with all three grunt tubes, and although, the buck would swivel his ears back when we grunted, he never would turn and look towards us. We also tried a bleat call. We did everything that we knew to make that buck come to us, but it didn't work.

That buck was definitely more interested in making that scrape. Finally Rob said, "I'm going to shoot an arrow out in front of the buck. That noise should spook him and turn him back to us." Rob had used this tactic before in Pennsylvania and had taken a really nice buck. He had confidence that this strategy would work. But I thought that this was too risky a tactic to take on a buck this big. "You just don't take that kind of a chance on a buck this big," I told my brother. My brother said, "Ok, what do you think that we should do?" I said, "Let me try to rattle in this buck." My brother said, "No, you'll spook him." Then he asked, "Do you really think if you rattle he'll come in?" I said, "I don't know for sure, but I think that he will." Rob agreed to let me try. I pulled my antlers out of my bag and hit the rattling antlers.

That deer acted liked I poked him in the rump with a hot iron. He didn't look back, and he didn't hesitate. He just shifted into high gear and ran like a bat out of hell. To this day, my brother can't forgive me for spooking the biggest white-tailed deer either one of us had ever seen. Luckily, we have all the video of the buck, but each time we watch him on the video, we just shake our heads. But really and truly, there was nothing else we could have done, but for my brother to try to shoot his arrow in front of him and run him back toward us. However every time we are together, Rob reminds me, "I still can't believe you ran the biggest buck I have ever seen away from me with those stupid rattling antlers."

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about MY WORST BOWHUNTING MISTAKES WITH ROD WHITE ...

Day 1 - My Worst Mistakes
Day 2 - The Four Missed Bucks - Part 1
Day 3 - The Four Missed Bucks - Part 2
Day 4 - The I'm Going to Kill You Buck - Part 1
Day 5 - The I'm Going To Kill You Buck - Part 2


John's Journal