By Tom Acocella

I bought a new bow, a Mathews Drenaline, and practiced all summer to get ready for the 2007 archery season in Connecticut.

Scouting a property near my hometown of Redding, I saw a few decent bucks, including a nice 6-pointer. I hunt a spot behind my house as well, but on this particular opening day, I decided to hunt on the 950-acre town property.


I climbed my ladder stand around 6:30 a.m. It was a drizzly morning, about 48 degrees with poor visibility. At 7:15, I saw a deer coming from my left side at 35 yards, a decent 4-pointer. I grabbed my bow.

A 6-pointer I’d seen all summer was behind the smaller buck. Both deer walked in front of me broadside at 30 yards.

When the 6-pointer stopped, I let an arrow fly, but it hit low, striking the ground underneath the deer.

Alarmed, the buck took off, so I didn’t get another shot at him. Nocking another arrow, I leaned back into my stand. Later, I spotted another deer directly behind me at 20 yards. Sporting a nice 8-point rack, this buck walked around my left side. I drew my bow and held it until the deer was in my peep sight.

I released the arrow as the buck stepped forward, striking it in the boiler room. The deer ran about 110 yards, stopped and flipped to the ground.

I waited 30 minutes to retrieve the buck, a symmetrical 8-pointer with a 17-inch spread and 8-inch G-2s. It was the first official deer taken in my town on opening day!

--Tom Acocella