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Talking about an adventurous hunt..
This story is told by the hunter himself- C.L. WILL
On the evening of Wednesday October 9 I decided to hunt a farm in Keezletown, Virginia; just west of the Massanutten Mountains. A front was coming in and I decided to visit an old stand that i had hung probably in the 90's. It has been there so long it has grown into the tree. It is on a small knoll in the corner of the Hardwoods that feeds into a small hollow with a thicket, field corner and not to far away creek bottom.
Around 5:10 p.m. after hanging some H. S. Dominant buck lure scent down wind of me and ascending into the 20' high hang on tree stand I began a series of Doe bleats and a few louder buck grunts in the directions i expected the deer to come from. Within a few minutes I had that sixth sense feeling that something was nearby. I slowly looked over and at about 30 yards all I could see was a nice rack of a buck and his face which appeared to be pegged on me!
I remained motionless for what seemed an eternity until finally he continued another 10 yards or so up under a bunch of small leafy brush. I took the opportunity to quickly and quitely stand, turn and get my bow and hook my release and get into position to shoot. The buck rubbed and shook the trees for what seemed an hour but was probably only minutes before starting out of the bush. I drew as he headed directly for my stand and by the time i was centered in the peep sight and dialed in on the proper pin he was approximately 3-4 yards under me. I released the arrow striking him straight down through the chest and as he ran off grunted loudly at him stopping him at about 25 yards. He stopped and stood still a bit before falling to the ground with his nearly 18" antlers propping his head against a tree.
After a short time of getting my tree legs back I made several phone calls to hunting buddies and lastly my wife to tell her about the event. About 15 minutes later I started to gather up my gear when i hear a soft shuffle of the leaves behind me where i had just shot the buck. As i slowly turned my head in the direction of the noise i see a black bear coming up out of the hollow in front of me and heading for the same small clump of green leafy bushes the deer had rubbed merely minutes ago. I hadn't even knocked an arrow so with my Hoyt Carbon Element hanging on the hook I; in one smooth but quick motion, stood, turned, removed my bow from the hanger, knocked an arrow, drew, and let out a loud "Baaaahhh" to stop the Bear at about 25 yards. I knew i had the perfect quartering away shot so I took aim a little back in the chest and released the arrow. The Bear let out a loud growl and snapped at the side the arrow had entered. He then sprinted back down towards the hollow he had came from and crashed in the hollow beside a downed tree!
So there I am; still a little shocked and in disbelief of what just happened, but elated that god had given me this rare opportunity to harvest a beautiful Black Bear and a "Trophy" to me 8 point buck with my Bow. I can't say this is a once in a lifetime event because about 4 years ago, on the opposite side of this same farm, I shot a Black Bear that ran into a greenbrier thicket about 100 yards in, scared a seven point buck out of the greenbriar patch into the open field in front of me, then sprinted down the thicket/open field line coming to a stop directly under my tree. And yes; I made a perfect shot straight down through the chest of the 7 pointer in less than a 3-5 minute time span. I am very passionate about hunting and have been very fortunate to have good, productive hunting opportunities. The 8 pointer was my 81st deer with a bow and the bear my 5th. Happy Hunting!!