By Rob McCoy, Turtlepoint, Pennsylvania

Rob McCoy with his piebald buck

The first day of Archery season is like a dream for me, that first morning in the stand after a grueling year’s wait is like heaven.  To say the least, the first day of the 2001 Archery season would be no exception!   I was hunting with my good friend Fran in McKean County.  I had hung two stands about 50 yards apart from each other one week prior to season.  The stands were hung in anticipation to intercept deer traveling from their feeding area to their bedding area and hopefully stopping to munch on a couple of acorns in the Red Oak patch I had selected to hang the stands in.  The stands were also hung so I could see Fran and hopefully film him shooting his first deer.  Fran and I had been bowhunting together for several years.  We had some great hunts and some magnificent blunders in the field but with no backstraps to show for ourselves.  The ultimate goal this year was to have Fran shoot his first deer with a bow!

The first morning was cool and pleasant with a very slight wind that would be in our favor.  As it got light I could make out Fran’s tree stand and his feet, the rest of Fran was blocked by branches and leaves.  When I set the stand, I got caught in a rain storm and in my rush to finish putting the stand up I never looked to see if I could see Fran’s stand clear enough to film.  Oh well, I’m sure there would be another time for filming.

As the morning progressed deer began to filter past Fran, out of his shooting range and just out of sight.  It wasn’t long before I could see deer and they were heading directly toward Fran!  There were three deer and one was a piebald buck that I had seen many times.  As they approached Fran’s tree, I was waiting to hear the sound of his bow shooting but nothing happened.  The deer fed under Fran’s stand for several minutes and since I could only see Fran’s feet I thought that he might be sleeping.  The deer eventually started moving in my direction and the path they chose would lead them past my stand at a close range.  I grabbed my bow and waited patiently, watching the ghost like piebald slowly make his way closer.  At a distant of 13 yards, the piebald stopped broadside in an opening.  I drew, released and watched the arrow hit through the vitals.  He ran a short distance and fell within sight!

It didn’t take long before Fran and I were standing over the piebald buck admiring it.  The buck had a small rack that sported 5 points.  It was a small buck but it was a beautiful trophy.  After taking several pictures I asked Fran if he had seen the piebald when it walked under his stand, I told Fran all I could see was his feet and I thought that he might have been sleeping.  Fran said he did see the piebald and tried several times to bring his bow to full draw but because of the excitement he could not pull his bow back.  I told Fran I totally understood.  The same thing happened to me my very first archery hunt!  I felt bad Fran didn’t get a shot at the piebald, but I told him this is only the beginning of archery season and there is plenty of time left.

After we got the piebald out of the woods we packed up the truck and headed toward Clarion County for the evening hunt.  Fran and I were headed just outside of Knox in a white oak flat that was loaded with acorns and had plenty of deer sign.  Before we started the evening hunt we lowered the poundage on Fran’s bow and fine tuned his sights.  All was set and we were ready to hunt.

Fran climbed into a pre-hung stand and I used my climber and shimmied up a tree about 10 yards away from Fran.  Fran was ready with an arrow nocked and I was armed with a video camera, ready to film the evening events.  About an hour into the hunt the sound of a walking deer broke the silence.  It was a buck that entered our corner of the oak patch and he was close.  The buck stopped broadside in front of Fran and behind me.  Fran came to full draw and waited patiently for the buck to take a couple more steps for an open shot.  The buck never took those two final steps and after holding at full draw for a long period of time Fran tried to slowly lower his bow down but accidentally tripped his trigger on his release!   As the arrow flew over the buck he turned and retreated for cover.  Fran shook his head and nocked another arrow in hopes the buck would return.  And guess what?  The buck did return about one minute later!  Curiosity got the best of this buck as he pranced back to the same area to check out what all the commotion was about.

Fran was ready and my video camera was on record!  Fran drew his bow and released.  The arrow entered the buck in the vitals but it was a little far back.   We decided to wait until the next morning to track the buck.  We were both psyched as we reviewed the video tape.  It was going to be a long and sleepless night!

At the first glimmer of light, Fran and I were in the woods on the trail.  The track was a short one that led us to a dandy 5 point!  Fran’s buck was on the ground and he was all smiles!  We knew the first day of this archery season was a special one and one that will never be forgotten!  Fran’s close encounter with the piebald, an accidental misfire and finally a shot that takes his first deer with a bow that was captured on film!  Redemption was sweet for Fran!  Wow, I love this game!