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A clean shot isn’t the only thing that makes a hunt honest. We dig into two bow stories that don’t flinch: a high hit with no blood that turns into a bigger buck days later, and a first-year bowhunter who waits out a feeding buck at 35 yards, makes the shot, then learns what coyotes do overnight. No gloss, no shortcuts—just the choices that matter when the wind swirls, the light fades, and your heart is pounding in a tree.
Lane breaks down how summer scouting and elevated cell cams built a pattern that held through the opener, why wind is the one variable he won’t ignore, and how backing out after a marginal hit saved the season. He shares the moment he heard the diaphragm pop on a heavy-bodied 12 and the quiet relief of finding him within 80 yards. We talk scoring, why tall-tined deer looked smaller from high cameras, and how genetics tied his buck to a known local giant.
Anthony—farmer, lumberjack competitor, and now first-time bowhunter—walks through a field-edge setup between soybeans and a regrowing cut. He explains why he avoided bait to protect a consistent travel pattern, how a steady headwind let him stay invisible, and the patience it took to watch an eight work from 100 to 35 yards. The shot felt perfect. The blood was thin. He backed out, returned at daylight, and recovered the buck despite coyotes. Along the way, he connects lessons from timber sports—razor edges, discipline, and timing—to making good decisions at full draw.
We also get candid about nuisance permits, deer density, and crop damage, laying out how assessments and research guide those tags. If you’re dialing early-season strategy, wondering when to wait versus push a track, or curious how soybeans and cuts shape movement, this one gives you a grounded, real-world blueprint. If it helps, share it with a buddy, subscribe for more hunts that tell the whole story, and leave a review with your toughest recovery lesson—we’ll feature our favorites next week.

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