Chad Becker

Harvest Story: Well I definitely couldn’t have drawn this one up. After voting this morning and waiting out the rain I headed to the stand. Not wanting to get sweaty I carried my clothes to the stand and intended to put them on at the base of the tree. I was almost to my stand cleanly when a doe suddenly jumped up and ran a short distance. The buck jumped up shortly after and was looking right at me. I’m not sure how he didn’t see me as he was only 20 yards. He only has one eye and I have to assume that was my saving grace. There is a levee that runs the length of the draw I was hunting. They crossed over to the other side of the levee. I was able to sneak to the top of the levee and spot him. He knew something was up and was looking my direction. Luckily he didn’t ever spook. The rain played in my favor and deadened a lot of the noise I might have otherwise made. I snuck back down the levee and removed my boots because there was so much mud stuck to them. I was worried I would make too much noise if I left them on. After removing my boots I inched closer to the buck and headed back up the levee. Peaking over the top I could see he was looking in my direction once again. Again, I snuck back down the levee and inched closer. Finally after sneaking up the levee for a third time I could see I was at a comfortable shooting distance and had a clear shot. Once again he was looking in my direction. After a long stare down, the doe stole the buck’s attention and I was able to range him at 30 yards. Finally after one more stare down he glanced away and I was able to come to full draw. I let the arrow fly and made a double lung hit. I never did get to put my camo on. When I shot him I was wearing blue jeans, a black Iowa sweatshirt, and no boots. This is definitely one of the most memorable hunts I’ll ever have!