J.R. Reisinger

USA – Huntingtown, MD

It was early November and archery season in Maryland. I had scouted a spot in Southern MD and set up a double ladder stand 3 years ago. I have been successful there and bagged a couple nice bucks in the past but never a wall hanger. A week prior I was in my stand during the muzzleloader season and saw a giant buck off to my left, down wind and in range. The problem was, he was looking right at me and my gun was at my side. Before I could move he turned and ran back the direction he came from and out of my life, perhaps forever. I was literally sick and spent days questioning what I did wrong and what I could do to improve my chances in the future.

Fast forward one week. I took a couple days of vacation so I could get back in the woods and hope for another chance at this spectacular buck. I began my preparations a few days in advance by making sure my outer clothing and gear was scent free. On the morning of November 3rd I awoke 30 minutes before my alarm went off and if I’m being truthful, I hardly slept at all from the anticipation of the hunt. I showered and washed my hair with the scent eliminating body wash and began spraying my layers of clothing as I dressed with scent free spray. When I arrived at my hunting spot I sprayed everything again from my boots to my hat. After a challenging walk in the dark to my stand I was sweating a bit and wanted to make sure that was covered too, so I dried my face and sprayed my hands, face and hair again with the spray.

It was 6:30 AM and I was finally in my stand and all was quiet. At 9:00 a small but legal buck walked in and provided me a 15 yard shot that I decided not to take. I might add that I was hunting with my cross bow and had never killed with it before so I was kind of kicking myself after he walked away for not taking the shot but I knew a much bigger buck was in the area.

It was the start of the rut so I was rattling and using a grunt call every hour or so. I hadn’t seen another deer and it was 1:00 in the afternoon. It was warming up a bit and I was getting restless and wondering if I should get down for a while and take a break. I decided to hit my grunt call one more time and give it 30 minutes or so. I called 3 or 4 times kind of aggressively and decided to sit back and wait. To my right and directly downwind from me was a large branch still covered in leaves and it prevented me from seeing anything past 20 yards in that direction. At 1:15 I heard his footsteps in the leaves directly downwind and could tell he was coming in. I remember thinking to myself “well that’s not a squirrel” I knew it was a deer and hoped that it wouldn’t smell me. He stepped into view and it was the biggest buck I had ever seen while hunting. He was walking at a steady pace heading for the creek in front of me 20 yards away! I picked an opening in the branches and was waiting for him to step in to view. When he did I grunted, he stopped, I let an arrow fly and he turned and ran back the direction he came from and disappeared from view in the brush. Since I didn’t hear or see him go down, I sat in my stand for the longest hour of my life, trembling from the adrenaline rush and wondering if my shot was true.

After an hour, I got down and walked 50 yards from my stand and could see this giant buck laying in the leaves. He turned out to be a 9 point with a 23 ½ inch spread. Everything just came together that day and allowed me to take an amazing buck.

I have been bow hunting for many years and have changed out all of my equipment many times. The only staple has been my broad heads. I have been using MUZZY 4 blade 90gr broad heads since 1990 and have seen all of my friends and relatives change time and time again trying the new gimmicks and expandable’s every year. I can target and 3D shoot all summer, pull off my target points, put on my MUZZY 90’s and never make a sight adjustment. The damage they do is amazing! I sharpen them and reuse because they hold up so well. I can’t think of one reason to ever change brands.

Thanks MUZZY!!!