If at First You’re Caught Unready, Make Sure you’re Standing and the Bow is Steady…
Although shooting a bow has become physically harder since his multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2004, practice and patience have helped Russell Frye maintain his ability to hunt.
“Typically I’m in my deer stand every night during archery season,” Frye told us earlier this year. “My wife gets me out to the stand and I hang out in the woods every night from mid-September to early January. I just love it. Once in a while I have to get serious and shoot a deer, but usually I just watch them.” Frye sent us his rut story and photo this week.
“Well, I harvested this buck on Nov. 3rd at 12:30 pm,” he writes. “I was hunting in Richland Center Wisconsin. He was one of 24 deer I saw that day. They were running like mad.”
I went to the stand that morning bound and determined to sit all day, but as luck would have it I didn’t have to. I had seen the buck at 11:00 am that morning. He was following a doe that I had watched from 75 yards away. I didn’t see the buck immediately, so I never picked up my bow. As the doe passed at 6 yards I snapped some pictures of her, and that’s when I heard the buck grunting. I stood up and tried to put my release on the string, but it wasn’t locked. I got it to lock, but the buck was standing at 6 yards and he heard the click. We had about a minute standoff. He bounded up the hill and out of sight.”
“I was very disappointed as you can imagine. At 12:30 I reached into my back pack to get a sandwich. I took one bite and heard a deer coming. It was a doe. Having just been caught off guard, or with my pants down, I grabbed my bow immediately. As soon as I turned around the buck came running down the hill he had bounded up an hour and a half earlier grunting and chasing the doe. The doe crossed in the same spot as the other doe did with the buck in tow. I shot him at 18 yards in line with the same spot he spooked from at 11:00, only about 12 yards further.”
“ He ran approximately 50 yards and went down. He’s a pretty heavy nine pointer with an 18 inch spread. His left side is pretty messed up, but it makes him unique. I figure he’s about four years old. It was an awesome day of hunting and a bow season I will never forget. Thanks for taking the time to read my story.”
Sincerely,
Russell Frye Jr.