The Hunt for “Sticker”

As most of you know I am a guide for Tails of the Hunt Outfitters. On Friday, Oct. 26 we had a first group come in for a bow hunt in Missouri. Dan is from Tunkhannock, Pa., and made the trip to Missouri with two of his good friends. The following was written by Dan and this is his hunt for “Sticker” the buck.

 

It was day four of our five day hunt in northwest Missouri with Tails of the Hunt and I was headed to the “gnarly” treestand (this is what my guide, Tyler Till, called it). After a 15-minute walk in the dark I found myself perched in a treestand overlooking the Tecomate food plot waiting for daylight to arrive. As I waited, I hear noises below me, and only hope that they are deer. Daylight comes and no deer are in sight, and I decide to use my grunt tube and call. Scanning with my binoculars I notice a large buck approximately 500 yards away. Again, I look into the food plot and the direct surrounding area, no deer.

I decide to grunt again, snort wheeze and rattle. When I finish I immediately see a deer in the willows headed in my direction. Slowly the deer works his way towards me. I’m thinking to myself this could be a buck. He appears behind me and I notice a rack which looks small in the creek bed. He then continues and I notice his large body and one more look at his rack and I realize it’s not small and I need to shoot this buck. I range him at 42 yards and draw my bow. I hit the grunt call and he continues without taking his nose off the ground. I scan to my next shooting lane and tell myself to shoot high with my 30 yard pin and to my surprise my bow “goes off.” Luckily, I was anchored and on him with my sights. With the adrenaline running through my body and a Missouri monster in front of me, all common sense goes away and the routine of shooting my bow took over. Somehow the arrow hits the deer but the Lumenoc was glowing a little far back on the deer than I would like.

The deer was quartering away from me and the angle of the arrow looked good but the penetration did not. Most of my arrow was sticking out of the deer. The deer traveled 20 yards and stopped. Shooting titanium Rage broadheads I thought I might be able to watch the deer drop and within seconds the deer stumbled and fell. It was 7:45 a.m. and although the deer fell out of my sight I could hear it crash.

I immediately called my guide, Tyler, and went over the scenario with him. He was able to talk me out of going to check on the deer and I snuck out quietly. We were both concerned of my arrow penetration on the deer. His first question back to the truck was how big it was. I told him that I thought it was a big nine point and that it might score in the 140s.

After a couple hours of waiting we decided to go back and check. As I walked to where I lost saw him, I looked around the bush and there he was. My guide immediately recognized the deer by the name of “Sticker” and had 16 scoreable points. He ended up scoring 176 1/4 inches. I hit him right behind the shoulder and made a perfect shot. After telling the story a number of times the same question arises of how did your bow just “go off and hit the deer?” My answer: “Clean living, baby.”

 

A true Missouri monarch
Dan DiMeolo and I with “Sticker”
“Sticker”

 

“Sticker” in velvet

 

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1 thought on “The Hunt for “Sticker”

  1. Congrats Dan on that super buck!! I think the Outdoor or Sportsman Channels will be calling you soon…

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