April Haskell

I am a new hunter, only 2 years in. For 2 years I tried and failed many times to get me a deer (let alone a buck) with my compound. We have been tracking a few target bucks that have crossed the path of the cam with no luck. This guy day lighted last year (1year, 1day and 15 minutes from the day I got him) on our camera while we were out duck hunting and then we didn’t see him again. He finally showed his face the same time and same place for about 2 days but he was too far out for me to feel comfortable with making a kill shot with my compound (approx. 45-55 yards out). I didn’t want to lose my chance at him again. So I gave in and decided to use our son’s crossbow. November 10, 2024 I almost stayed in bed… it was raining and I was just plain tired. But like my fiancé, Mike, has always told me.. you need to be there when the deer are there, and they were there. So I got my grumpy morning butt up and trucked my way to the blind. Rain and all— within 30 minutes of me getting to my blind, 2 small doe showed up. These two small doe usually travel with larger doe (I assume the momma). They both kept looking back. Mike also taught me, if a deer is consistently looking behind itself there is usually something else following behind. So I waited patiently to see if anything else was going to walk in. Within a couple of minutes I see this massive rack pop out of the brush. My heart felt like it stopped. I quickly grabbed my sons cross bow. Watching him go for these doe. He circled around closer to me and I nailed him! The nerves and excitement took over and I almost messed it up. I made the most beautifully terrible shot and it took him down quickly! This is a day I will NEVER forget!

Not only is this my first deer ever, it’s a wall hanging buck! I have never been more grateful to be able to have him cross my path!