“Helicopter”

As members of the Walking “C” Hunting club, my son Josh and I are fortunate to hunt on a place that allows us to manage, age, feed and take the right deer. They also make sure we allow our trophy deer to reach 5½ years old (at minimum) while also taking the right culls and does along the way.

We first saw this buck we nicknamed “Helicopter” back in 2011 and thought he had some potential, but he was aged at 4½ – 5½ years old. As the 2012 season rolled around we watched Helicopter’s progression through the summer and thought he was a cool deer at 5½ – 6 ½ years old, but decided early on to let him walk for another year. At the same time, we were crossing our fingers and hoped he would not get shot.

As would be the case, since he was on the “do-not-shoot” list, he was a regular at pretty much every hunt. He’d be presenting a shot every hunter dreams of, and always located right under the feeder. As the 2012 season ended, we knew Helicopter had made it. He appeared like clock work at the feeder the last day. We’d wait for trail cam pics in 2013 and hope for a wet spring.

We put our trail cams out in May and pulled our first cards in June. Much to our surprise, he grew into something special. It was then I decided I wanted Josh to have the chance of a lifetime to take a special buck. He has been fortunate to take several nice bucks in his lifetime, but none with a bow.

Josh was off to a good start in 2012 with several early bow kills—even a double on an evening doe hunt—but it was the first buck bow kill that he was really after. Unfortunately, he broke his arm playing basketball in mid November and that pretty much cancelled his opportunity for his first buck with a bow. Having outgrown his old bow, a new one became the perfect Christmas gift.

After his broken arm healed, we headed to West Houston Archery to get his bow set up and dialed in. With their help, he was dialed in and his practice had begun with hope for the opportunity at taking Helicopter. When August rolled around, we began to see how Helicopter would finish out.

Opening weekend had finally arrived and Josh had only one buck on his mind—Helicopter. There was no sign of Helicopter opening morning, but we remained positive for the evening hunt. Several members of our camp were all hunting and we kept in sync via text. As the evening was winding down Josh sent out a text at 7:15 – “Helicopter is at the feeder.” With sunlight beginning to fade, I became nervous and anxious, hoping the opportunity would present itself.

At 7:30 the text came across: “just shot, blood was squirting out, but a little far back.” More texts were sent—“I’ll pick this person up; I’ll bring an extra flashlight,” etc. That’s when all kinds of thoughts started going through my mind. “Did I prepare him enough? Did I remind him for 100th time—find your anchor spot, hold your form, follow through. Let the broadhead do its work.”

We all met up with Josh and we talked about the shot. He said he felt good about the shot. When he hit him the buck kind of stumbled and took off with blood squirting out and hit the panel on his way out. We decided to give him an hour and then head back to the feeder. We (eight of us) arrived at the feeder, led by an awesome guy—Mark Vanacek. Mark is like gold to our camp. Words can’t describe his camaraderie, spirit, and willingness to always help.

We found good blood sign at the feeder and the tracking began—good here and then spotty—good some more—and then spotty again. After about 45 minutes of tracking, we saw our last drop of blood and couldn’t seem to locate anymore. I was starting to feel a little bummed. After about 15 minutes (it seemed like forever) Mark found more blood about 25 more yards off to the right. The excitement came back! The blood started looking very bubbly, and we were thinking Josh made a lung shot.

As Mark went a little farther he said, “There he is,” and the cheering and high fiving began. Josh finally had his first bow buck, and a tremendous buck it was. Helicopter had a live weight of 190 pounds, scored 154 B&C, and had an eight-inch droptine. Josh won first place in the ForEverlast Big Buck Bowhunt for the Texas Youth Division. Josh, I am proud of you. It was an awesome experience. I’m sure this memory will last forever.