The Fredette Buck

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By Andrew Fredette

October 2010 bow season I drilled this 9-pointt in Niagara County. He wet score upwards of 160. The day started as an experimental bow hunt, hitting an area I've never hunted before but knew was being used as a connecting ditch between two big hardwoods. The ditch ran
corner to corner about 100 feet long. I first found a spot and stood for a minute, then moved to another, and another, then another, and I began getting frustrated at myself because I didn't have much sunlight left. I finally found it and it was the perfect tree to get behind, just perfect! I had clear shots to both fields and even down the middle of the ditch where the heavy trail was.

It was not one minute before I heard a twig snap and saw a tail at the corner of the closest field. I quickly set my arrow in its death seat and kept a hawks eye on that corner and, bingo out comes running this monster directly at me. I didn't realize how big the rack was until he decided to come to a full stop on the other side of the ditch just 10 yards away. That’s when I came inching around the tree at full draw keeping it as my cover, but seeing something happen that I'll never forget. At that split second a beam of sunlight came through the treetops and laid right on that buck. I was taken back so fast that I actually said under my breath, "What the ****!", as my pin was right on his heart my trigger pull on quick release. There she went in slow motion across the ditch sinking with the distinctive pop an arrow
makes on a good hit. The buck did not run farther than 30-40 yards before he collapsed in middle of the field.

I was so happy I couldn't walk straight, so I had to wait a moment to calm down before I made way to the trophy I worked so hard for. Dragging him out was another story in
itself. He was so big I had to gut him ASAP to help in the drag. I hit that same ditch using the angle to empty him out and got started on the long drag to the pickup spot.

That’s when a heavy fog set into the field as the sun set. I couldn't see well and the introduction of new hay bales were bending and twisting in the fog as I laid a huge
blood trail behind with the drag. Many other animals made their way into the field at this point also, staying just out of view but letting me know they were there.

This experience which I'll leave to you at this point didn't end for hours until a pickup could be arranged into the evening. At one point I sat on the buck laid in a fresh arrow and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. An amazing hunt I will NEVER forget.

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