A few months back, Steve Dollar our neighbor fell in love with our new Orion 3 pc bow and we worked out a deal to get one in his hands. Steve has been around archery for a long time and has appeared in Jim Hamm's books from time to time. He also is a very accomplished big buck hunter with traditional equipment. The wall in his living room will take your breath away.
Well anyway last Saturday while I was hunting with Rusty, Steve was picking up his new Orion Recurve. She is a beautiful bow with a Cocobolo riser with bocote swoop and highlights. Limbs are bamboo with bocote veneers. Specs are 52# and 58".
Anyway he tuned it up when he could during the week. Steve is a SWAT officer and spends the time we are resting, knocking down doors and handling the less friendly folks around.
We checked in as the week went by and he was excited about his shooting. On Thursday he was complaining that he was shooting 1" right at 20 yds. Heck I can't tell if I'm shooting 1" right. LOL
On Friday morning he took off for his secret spot in OK.
He sent me this pic this morning and promises to complete the story tonight.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/tradgang%20pics/stevebuck.jpg)
Here is his caption:
"Hey guys,
Here is the first of many that I will take with the new bow. I'm starting to shoot it as well as any bow I have ever owned. It performed flawlessly and was a pleasure to carry in the field. Thanks again, I love it!
Steve Dollar"
I'll fill in the story as I get it.
Mike
Awesome!
Can't wait for the story.
BTW See if he can send some of that Mojo down this way...
Congrats to Steve! Looks like you made him a real nice bow Mike.
wow, nice buck! what county in Oklahoma?
I'd love to see some pics of the bow up close if you have any.
Looking forward to the story!!! Congrats to Steve! :thumbsup: I am curious whether Steve knows Steve Clagget who is or was on the Dallas SWAT team. I really have not talked to Steve since I played football with him back in college but have seen him on TV on Dallas SWAT and on some reality show where they pitted SWAT team guys, navy seals and army rangers etc. against each other. Not trying to hijack the thread but wondered if they know each other.
:bigsmyl:
We'll take some pics of the bow when I can get him to bring it down. Hard to get it out of his hands.
Mike
Nice lookin deer. Congrats. :thumbsup:
cool , congrats :0)
Nice deer and I already know the bow. I told my wife I wouldn't buy a new bow next year, but I didn't say anything about new limbs. I can get recurve limbs that work on the Orion longbow right Mike?
Damned nice deer!
Very nice bow and deer!
Sweet!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: SUPER!!
Very nice deer. Congrats.
:thumbsup: :clapper:
:thumbsup: :archer:
TMac,
Yep you can get curve limbs for your riser.
Mike
Congrats :thumbsup:
That thing looks HUGE! What a brute! Sure not what I'm used to seeing in TX.
Top stuff!
It's a north Oklahoma buck and it is huge. Body is big making the rack look small. It's a 130ish deer, I think. Heavy rack with 11 pts.
Steve didn't come down last night.
Mike
Way to go!
Ok, Steve dropped by today and finally shared the story.
I'll skip the prelims of the 3 days hunting before this Tuesday morning. But needless to say, he was seeing big bucks everyday and on Monday had a monster 10 pt (160 class buck) at 14 yds. He did what we all do down here. Anticipate a squat and look at the white hairline under the heart. Normally this is a heart or doublelung as the deer ducks to go. Only this time the deer didn't move and now has a baldspot on his chest. Going to be hard to explain that one. Well as I've said I'd rather miss low then wound high in the shoulder.
After that, Steve shot the bow all day and said that it was shooting the best he'd ever done. The next morning he decided to hunt a new stand. It was nestled in a stand of chinaberry next to a brand new pipeline right a way. The deer were tearing up the area and one of those huge tracks that we all see now and then was frequenting the area. Before daylight he slipped over the ridge and right to the stand without using a light. Once up, he settled in and waited for daylight. As the first light of day approached he could here deer moving and as soon as he could see. Four does moved into the china berry on the trail that crossed 12 yds in front of the stand. He said that one of the does tempted him for a minute or two but it was too early in the year to be doe hunting.
Then one of the does looked back over her shoulder and Steve looked up the pipeline. The sun coming over the hill shone on a big bodied deer that he described as a "LInebacker" he was big everywhere, even his forarms bristled with muscle. Steve said it took only a couple of seconds to decide that if a shot was offered he'd take it. Not the biggest buck rack wise but a fine mature buck non the less.
The sun sparkled on the frost on the bucks back as he strutted down the trail. As luck would have it, he came on the same line as the does and soon was behind a tree only 15 yds away. Steve started to draw as the buck stepped out and stopped only 12 yds away. The near leg was forward, slight quarter away and his eyes burned a hole in the pit of the shoulder. The arrow struck exactly where he looked and stuck the far shoulder with a huge WACK!!
The buck turned and excellerated back on the line he'd came. At 50 yds he went behind a cedar and didn't come out. Steve knew he was down. The shot was perfect.
He started his stopwatch and kept an eye on the cedar in case the buck moved. After 30 minutes ticked by, he took up the trail. He said the heavy buck tore the ground up on the way out so it was easy to follow. But as he rounded the cedar. . . no deer. And no blood . . .how could there be no blood. He followed the racing deer track another 50 yds and found blood, not much but some. Another 50 . . .no deer. After 200 yds uphill, he is beginning to doubt the shot. But Steve has killed an honest 75 deer with a bow and many big bucks. He knew the shot was perfect and the WW 125 had done the job. But why no blood?
After 250 yds he could see the main road in the ranch ahead. That ment that the boundry fence laid just beyond. That also ment that if he the deer crossed the fence he'd have to get permission to follow.
The runnign deer trail lead to a cross road and the deer took a right turn instead of crossing the main road. Another 10 yds and he was piled up in full stride.
The deer had run a full speed til it died, covered almost 300 yds and probably was down and out in 30 seconds after the shot. The arrow and BH did a great job but the lack of an exit wound because of the shoulder hit, prevented the blood from pumping out. The chest cavity was full.
A lot of things go through your mind on a longer track but the one that doesn't is how fast the deer covered the distace that you just took an hour or more to unravel. Most of the time it's less then a minute.
Steve's buck is in the 130 inch class and is a great mature buck to cull in the area where 160 and bigger roam the woods.
He's very happy with it and will be back in the woods of OK in November to see if he can get the big one he missed earlier.
That's the story as told to me today.
Mike
congrats on the new bow :clapper: