09/14/2026
Well its been an interesting 48 hours for this dad. We have two target bucks this year a big 8 and an eleven pointer. Saturday evening we went for Gatlynns first trip behind the scope at 7 years old. We saw the big 8 Saturday evening at 80 yards but he got spooked by a big flock of roosting turkeys. We gave it another shot last night with the big 8 making his appearance once again on the plot edge. After 40 mins he eased his way, at 715 he was 10 steps away from our shot zone at the feeder. The wind was in our favor but he froze at 45 yards, made a 180 and walked out of the plot. At this point Gatlynn had been a statue and done everything right. 730 comes in and the 11 comes up the same ridge with a doe but is more anxious for a meal. He eases behind the feeder and starts eating facing directly at us behind the feeder. A few minutes later after multiple stare downs he turns for Gatlynn to get a shot and THUMP. Gave him a few minutes and the first two drops of blood look like liver and are extremely dark followed by some red about 10 feet. After reviewing the shot it looked like the shot came out low so we backed out and called Carolina Crosshairs Thermal Services 😁. 30 minutes after the shot he had bedded down 75 yards behind the feeder and was obviously hurt but still alive. We ran a couple recoveries last night and got home at 1:30 this morning and checked on him. This time he was belly up. Woke up the gremlin at 6:00 this morning and we went in after him, he had been hit in the liver and the arrow deflected down through the stomach. Super proud of my girl and I continue to be amazed at the value of a thermal drone! This deer would have been bumped by anyone going in after it due to the short distance but we knew we had all the tools we needed to get the recovery. Video to come...
