Ben Jones
Tennessee, Roane County 
Harvested on October 14th, 2006. 
Equipment:  Mathews Switchback - Compound Bow
 
The weather was perfect for an early fall evening bow hunt.  I had been sitting in my tree stand for a couple of hours imagining a deer walking into one of my shooting lanes.  You know how you sit there and think, "If he just steps behind this tree, I can draw on him".  You have a lot of time to think when you're sitting out there.  Conditions were good but I hadn't seen a thing, except about a million squirrels.  About 30 minutes before dusk, the woods lit up with action.  I was 100% tuned in to all of the sounds around me.  You know how it is when you hear certain things and you just know it’s a deer. Just then, a doe came through and was obviously being perused by a love struck buck.  A few minutes after the doe moved into my hunting area, I saw two small bucks, a spike and a 4 pointer.  The spike made his move on the doe but was rejected.  I was really enjoying the much needed deer action, even though there weren't any shooters in the bunch.  The 3 deer moved on out of site and I started to sit back down in my tree stand.  All of the sudden, I heard some leaves rustling behind me.  THERE HE WAS.  My heart started beating out of my chest.  I could hear myself breathing and tried to close my mouth to muffle the sound.  This was the biggest deer I'd ever seen in the woods and he's coming right at me.  To add to the drama, he has a companion, another buck, just slightly smaller but still a monster.  I'm still standing up because of the deer that just came through.  I can feel my knees shaking a little bit.  I'm trying as hard as I can to focus on standing still. 
 
At this point, I'm trying to reel myself back in and focus on a possible shot.  I still can't get my legs to stop shaking and now my hands are beginning to shake.  The bigger buck is moving toward my food plot and things are happening just as I imagined them.  I'm thinking about getting ready to draw but he is angled slightly away from me and still in a position where he can bust me.  I hear some noise in the woods behind me.  I slowly turn my head to look back and there's another doe coming down the hill.  "Not Now!!!", I'm thinking.  The buck looks up to see where the noise is coming from and has to look right in my direction.  I'm just dying right now, thinking that he's going to see me.  When that happens, you swear that he's looking right at you.  Luckily, he doesn't seem to be bothered by the doe.  He puts his head back down to eat and I draw.  One more step to the right is all I need.  He took that step and squared up for me.  At that moment in time, I felt rock solid.  I'm thinking to myself.  Look at your sites, not the rack.  I squeezed the trigger on my release and watched my arrow disappear behind his shoulder.  What a rush!!!!  It was perfect.  I was almost surprised that I had made the shot.  I knew then that I had him.  Of course, he was running down hill, a big hill too.  I sat back down in my tree stand so I didn't pass out.  I couldn't believe what just happened.  All I could think about was getting to that deer as fast as I could.  I knew I needed to wait a little bit, so I climbed down from my tree and walked back to the house to get my wife.  I wanted her to be there with me when we found him. 
 
This was the most incredible moment in bow hunting that I've had the privilege to experience.  My wife and I walked down the hill, following a fantastic blood trail.  He only made it about 100 yards.  I can't tell you how great I felt when I saw him laying there.  I guess I don't have to.  I think you know what I mean.  I started counting the points like they do on those hunting shows.  (I used to make fun of that).  I just sat there and stared at my buck.  That is my story.