Monday A.M.
 This being my last morning to hunt, I decided before I left the bunkhouse that if I got a shot at the young Fallow buck I've seen every day of my hunt so far, that I would take him. I came here partly to try and shoot a nice trophy exotic deer, but I also came here partly to get some good meat. We actually bought some ground beef last week! We haven't done that in several years. My wife gave me implicit instructions to try my hardest to come home with some meat from this hunt. So, I decided that if I didn't see the Axis buck or one of the big white Fallow bucks early this morning, and I had a shot at the young Fallow, I would take it. He's a 4x4 and is bigger in body than a Texas whitetail deer. Plus, I've heard they're great eating, so I was determined to take him if one of the bigger bucks didn't show up or didn't present a shot. I got situated in my blind before daylight. As daylight came and went and the sun started to rise, no Axis and no trophy white Fallow bucks showed up. A big group of Fallow deer did show up, though, including the buck I'd decided on shooting if I got a chance. For about 10-15 minutes he fed on the other side of some bushes, and then when he came into the open, he was quartering hard towards me. He slowly came closer. When he was at 15 yards, I wasn't going to wait any longer. He was pretty close to broadside, so I drew, held where I wanted to hit, and touched the trigger on my release. I heard the arrow hit but didn't see it. The buck made a hard turn and ran off to his left into the brush. After about 5 seconds of a bunch of noise in the brush, I heard a big crash and then nothing else. I got out of my blind and immediately saw the arrow laying on the ground behind where the buck had been. I knew about where the crash had come from, but just out of curiosity I inspected the blood trail to see what it was like. I was using a Phantom 125 gr. 4-blade cut-to-tip broadhead, now manufactured by Muzzy. This was the first animal I shot with it, so I was eager to see what kind of blood trail it left. I was impressed with the trail. It could easily be followed walking upright without pausing, as there was a lot of blood on bushes and on the ground. I was pleased with that. I walked in the direction that I had heard the crash, and found my buck laying down in a creek bottom, dead. He had gone about 40 yards from the shot. After pulling him up out of the creek bottom (with much effort), I inspected the shot. The arrow had entered on his right side about 4 inches above the bottom of his chest and right in line with his front leg. It had exited the left side about 5 inches behind his shoulder. When I field-dressed it, I saw that it was a double-lung shot, but had passed just behind the heart. I always seem to think they're a little more broadside than they sometimes are. Oh well, I'm not complaining, I made a good shot and he was in the bag. Now for the fun part.....  my Fallow buck - should be great eatin' Hunt Conclusion This was the 4th time in the last several years that I have hunted the Helm Ranch. I enjoy myself every time I go there. I'm always hunting for hogs or exotics, but the ranch also has a moderate population of javelina, turkey and whitetail deer. Speaking of exotics, I mentioned earlier that the Helm also has exotic rams, sheep, and goats. I saw them frequently when I was driving to and from my hunting spot, but the Corsican, Texas dall, and Black Hawaiian sheep, and the several kinds of goats, tended to hang out in a different part of the area where the exotics are on the ranch. Consequently, I didn't see them at my particular hunting spot, only when I was driving to and from camp. They have a bunch of them, though, and some nice, nice rams.  walk-in cooler at the Helm  skinning rack at the Helm  one bunkhouse at the Helm  3-d range at the Helm Lodging at the Helm is better than the average "day-lease" camp that I have been to. Loding is in semi-private rooms in air-conditioned, clean, modern trailer homes. Bathroom and shower facilities are located in each trailer. Each trailer also has cooking facilities, along with an assortment of cooking utensils, pots and pans, plus there is a central stand-alone cookhouse if you wish to cook your meals there. There are also several BBQ grills for the use of hunters. The Helm has a nice, big walk-in cooler and a lighted skinning/hanging rack. They also have a nice, 3-d shooting range for field-points. Last but not least, the Helm has as it's hunting manager a serious bowhunter (well, he's serious about bowhunting, but he's a pretty funny guy) and all-around nice guy, J.J. Reynolds, whose sincere desire it is to see the hunters on the Helm have a good time on their hunt. I'd definitely recommend the Helm for a good hunt, but take my advice and go in the spring, fall or winter, not in the middle of summer like I did, I almost melted. I hope you enjoyed the Live Hunt. Check back in a month or so for some more Live Hunts, for western Big Game!
Joshua Flournoy owns and manages the Livehunts.com web site. He also arranges exciting hunts through his business Longleaf Hunting Adventures. Joshua resides in east Texas with his wife and four children. |
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