Monster Mayhem

Only 5 minutes in the stand until Greg Batten, my dad, took down this monster whitetail! However, it was 15 hours until he could get his hands on the prize …

"I shot and hit just a little back, no shame in it. It sucks to wait to track a deer but you owe it to the animal."

(I know the picture may stop you in your tracks but keep reading after you admire it!)

I got a text at 4:17 pm on Wednesday, October 26th from my dad saying he is all set up. 2 minutes later I got a picture of his birds eye view. 5 minutes later I got the text, "I just shot a giant. No joke." The preference of it not being a joke was necessary and he knew it. A giant, monster buck in 5 minutes? No way! But dreams become reality sometimes!

Dad shared that it happened so fast he didn't even know what happened in the moment. Recounting it all over the phone, it started to click. He got set up in the tree stand on a prime October evening 6 days before Halloween, the prime time for deer hunting in Indiana. The bucks are on the move and the weather is taking a turn for fall. Next thing he did, like clockwork every hunt, was take out the range finder and range all around him, maxing out his distances. As he lowered the range finder from his eye, his eyes refocused on what stood ahead, an 11 point monster.

The monster seemed to appear out of thin air, sneaking in quiet and unnoticed on the leaf covered soil. He stood just far away enough he was safe of an arrow, unknowing of his next move. However, the simple blow of a grunt call from Dad determined that for him as he came running right over. He was quick on the move, straight line, head down, ready to meet the maker of the grunt. Another grunt from the call slowed his gate, but did not stop him. Broadside and 20 yards away now, Dad made the shot. The monster took the arrow and 'death ran' away. Dad knew it was a fatal shot, but did not love how the shot landed back on the body of the monster.

The decision to wait or to track took longer than the encounter with the deer itself. When you shoot a deer farther back than the desired hit spot, you are dealing with the liver. While liver shots are pretty-guaranteed fatal, they are definitely not something to push. Research and experience shows that a deer will die when hit through the liver, but it is a slower process. Their first desire when hit is to run away from the scene, then bed down in safety. If you track them immediately you push them, wounded but not dead, out of their safety bed. This pushing is unbearable for both the animal and the hunter. It is encouraged, and best, to wait it out, and that is what Dad did.

Waiting till morning until breaking out the tracking team was a call Dad was glad he made. However, it always makes ya wonder when they truly do die. Questioning the 'what ifs?' Piece of advice: it is always better safe than sorry! This track did not take long, competing with how long he was in the stand. As Dad started to follow the blood trail from the night before he looked up to see the monster laying 30 yards from where he was shot, a total of 50 yards from the stand. It was a sigh of relief and a job well done.

Congratulations Dad! So proud of you and wish I could have been there <3 But thanks for tagging out and leaving me with the pick of the crop back home :)