HUNTER’S POINT OF VIEW
By: Randy Welfle

It was September 2000.  It was quite a dry year, making the habitat very difficult for us to maneuver in without being heard.  I had gotten up very early that morning, along with my father-in-law, Ted Lewis, and we had stationed ourselves on two separate ridges.  We had seen this impressive deer before, but just couldn’t get the upper hand; it always seemed he was ten steps ahead of us.  However, on this morning, I got the extreme privilege of viewing him along with three other bucks, all of them strolling over the ridge that I was concentrating on.  All the bucks were in the feeding mode, walking slowly between the sagebrush with their heads down.  I spent some time watching and also trying to control my blood pressure after seeing the impressive rack that this particular buck was displaying.  There was no doubt that this was the buck we had seen previously.

When the morning moved on and the sun was higher in the sky, all the bucks bedded down behind some sagebrush.  My father-in-law came over to my position and I informed him of the situation at hand.  He wanted me to make the attempt on this buck, and I didn’t question his authority.  At that moment, I knew exactly where I had to be to get a bow shot on any of the bucks I had seen.  So, I slowly made my way up the ridge to this precise spot, where a brightly fall-colored bush was anchored to the hillside.  I tried to keep bushes and rocks in my way to help aide me with getting as close as I could.  When I was about eighty yards away, I dropped my hunting pack, along with my quiver of arrows.  I took two arrows with me, and, with my binoculars, I strapped them to my neck and placed them in my front shirt pocket. 

I moved towards the bucks.  At this point, the approach got really interesting.  One of the bucks on the ridge stood up to stretch and feed a little.  He was a nice 4x4, but the only problem was, he was facing my way, looking down the hill, being very alert to his surroundings.  My approach became very slow, because every time this buck put his head down, I crawled as much a possible, attempting to gain ground without being detected.  I was about fifty yards away from the bucks when my binoculars slipped out of my shirt, crashing onto the rock I was halfway over.  When I picked them up, I clanged them against my bow.  I slowly peered up the hill, thinking all I would see was the back end of four deer making their way over the ridge.  To my surprise, the buck on the ridge above me was still there, giving me hope that I hadn’t missed the opportunity of a lifetime.  I told myself that I would try for any of the bucks on the hillside, but deeply wished for a shot at that big buck.

As I proceeded to my selected bush, my mouth became dry; the last thing I wanted to do was lie there in the sagebrush and cough, giving away my location and my intentions with those bucks.  I concentrated on my breathing and scanned the situation.  The buck on top of the ridge laid back down, giving me at least a chance for a shot. 

I continued on and made it to my vantage point.  I knocked an arrow while I was placing my release on my bowstring.  I heard one of the deer grunt.  I about jumped out of my boots; it seemed that the noise had come from only feet away.  I don’t think there are words that could express my emotional state at this point.  I controlled myself enough to get the mechanical release on the bowstring.  Seconds later, I heard some dry grass move.  It sounded as if an animal was standing up.  I drew back my PSE bow and stood face-to-face with a buck staring at me from only a few yards away.  I knew this deer had horns, but I didn’t dare take the time to count the points.  I place my thirty yard pin on the top of his chest and released my arrow.  The buck hunched backwards abruptly and I saw my arrow going all the way up to the fletching.  The buck then sped off, running along the hillside right in front of me.  I reached down for my second arrow, hoping that maybe he would offer me a second shot.  At this point, I got a good look at what I had hit.  My emotions overwhelmed me, and all I could do was sit there and watch him run out of sight and try to mark his last position.

My father-in-law had witnessed the whole scene from across the valley and came to my position while I waited for the time to start tracking.  After about forty minutes, we started following the blood trail and found the buck only eighty yards away, lying under a pine tree.  I stood there, awed at what had just happened.  I commented to my hunting partner that luck was on my side that day.  He replied that I just didn’t have any bad luck at all, and I should make a mental picture because it might be a long time before I see a sight like this again.

I had the buck scored by a Pope and Young official scorer.  His net score came to 153 3/8.  I have never documented this experience before, but it will be etched in my soul for the rest of my life.  Every year I go out bow hunting for deer, I get a better sense of how lucky I was that September day.  If I ever encounter an experience like this again, I will consider myself blessed once more.