Clay Kiteley could do no wrong on Nov. 3, 2020, though he might now think twice before carrying a naked crossbow to and from his deer stands.
It’s one thing, a good thing, to climb and descend ladders with an uncocked and unloaded bow. When feet are on the ground, however, it’s usually prudent to be prepared.
After an uneventful morning hunt on his parents’ 700 acres, Clay was heading back to his parked ATV when he walked within 15 yards of a tremendous buck. He’d already removed the bolt from his borrowed crossbow and de-cocked it.
Aside from some brush, there was only one tree between them, and the animal apparently thought standing behind it was as good as wearing a cloak of invisibility, never mind that it was peering around the trunk – head, neck and most of its rack clearly exposed.
The 21-year-old hunter pegged it as a 150-incher, which is no slouch in Tallapoosa County, Alabama.
Clay knew that, in order to have a shot, he’d have to get the crossbow off his shoulder, pull the cocking tool out of his pocket, crank it, and load a bolt. In other words, prospects seemed futile, and he almost didn’t even try.
Throughout the very noisy process, however, the deer remained stone still, as if it had been standing in four leg-hold traps.
While Clay was sliding the short Rage-tipped arrow onto the crossbow’s rail, he was almost shaking his head.
“I was thinking, This is the dumbest buck I’ve ever seen or heard of in my life,” he told John Phillips, who’s writing the story for Rack magazine. “The whole time, this deer and I stared straight into each others’ eyes ... It was just asking me to shoot it.”
In order to oblige the whitetail’s death wish, Clay had to move a little. He began easing along in a crouch, looking for a clear path for his arrow, and he stopped when he found one.
From that position, unfortunately, his only target was the buck’s throat patch.
“I knew that wasn’t good, but I was confident I could make the 10- to 15-yard shot,” he said.
The buck finally thawed when Clay squeezed the trigger, but it didn’t exactly put pedal to metal. Had the arrow even hit it?
That would be a yes.
“After the buck was out of sight, I walked to where it had been standing and found a large pool of blood,” he said. “When I couldn’t find the arrow, I decided to go back to my dad’s, have a cup of coffee, and get his read on things. I also hoped he’d join me in the search.”
An hour and a half later, father and son began following the blood trail. The deer had traveled between 75 and 100 yards, the bolt protruding from its neck.
With a Buckmasters score of 194 inches, dumb or not, Clay’s 15-pointer is the new Alabama record among crossbow-felled Semi-irregulars.
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