Editor’s Note: We all want to learn how, where and when to take big deer with our bows, but bowhunting is more than just harvesting animals. Some of the greatest memories I’ve ever made have been while bowhunting with family and friends and remembering the crazy things that have happened then. Knowing how much time Mark Drury of Drury Outdoors spends bowhunting and working to improve habitat and food for deer, I felt confident he’d seen and participated in some of the funniest hunts ever. I asked Mark – who probably bleeds Mossy Oak – to tell us about some of his funniest bowhunts. Mark and his brother Terry Drury produce the TV shows “Wildlife Obsession,” “Dream Season,” “Bow Madness” and “Natural Born.”
In October, 2013, I was down in Texas. My cameraman, Wade, and I had set-up to take a 5-1/2-year-old 10-point buck that would score about 150 on Pope & Young. We had Reconyx trail-camera pictures of this beautiful, trophy buck. We had hunted this buck for three or four afternoons. Finally, the buck came in within bow range late in the afternoon. I looked over at my cameraman. He gave me the thumps-up sign to go ahead and take him.
This 10-pointer was traveling with an 8-point buck. Just as I prepared to draw my PSE EVO Max, both bucks heard us move in the blind and went on full alert. From a past history of hunting in Texas, I knew Texas deer were notorious for jumping the string (squatting to jump when they hear the bow fire). Realizing the buck probably would try to jump the string, I aimed at the very bottom of the deer’s stomach, so when he squatted, I’d hit his vitals. The buck was at 32 yards and really nervous. I knew I had aimed for the perfect bow shot. But looking back, there was something I hadn’t taken into consideration. We were hunting on a windmill farm. All the windmills were whirling around, because the wind was blowing really hard. I never considered that the sound of those windmills would mask the sound of my bow firing. When I released my arrow, the buck never moved. My arrow hit exactly where I was aiming and took hair off the bottom of his brisket. I had a Lumenok on the back end of my arrow shaft that lit up as soon as I released the bow. My Rage broadhead hit the rock right under the deer, and its blades opened, creating a huge spark and fire show that looked like a Roman candle right under that buck’s belly.
This was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen in my life. To our surprise, the buck had no clue about what just had happened. He trotted off about 20 yards, stopped, looked back and trotted off. When we saw the deer leave, my cameraman and I almost fell on the ground laughing. On that hunt, I went home with my deer tag in my pocket, but we created a laughable moment in our hunting history that will last forever. I still can close my eyes and see the explosion of my broadhead hitting the rock.
Day 2: Mark Drury – the Fight Before Daylight When Hunting Deer
Tomorrow: Mark Drury Tells How Bill’s Windup Fails to Deliver the Pitch to a Tom Turkey
