Syracuse.com - CNY bow hunters share their bow/buck tales from this fall's season

[HuntingNY-News]

This fall's bowhunting season, which ended Friday, featured a number of high points for local hunters. Some hunters bagged their biggest deer ever. For others, it was their first.

This fall's bowhunting season, which ended Friday, featured a number of high points for local hunters. Some hunters bagged their biggest deer ever.

For others, it was their first.

Many readers submitted photos and stories about their successful outings. Among the highlights:

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Hardcore hunter

David Edwards is one of those guys who doesnt bowl or golf.

"I spend a lot of time in the woods and have been doing it ever since I was 16," said the 56-year-old Apulia Station resident. "A lot of days Ill go in when its dark and not come out until it's dark."

Edwards persistence paid off this season with a 13-pointer that he shot Oct. 29 from his 15-foot-high tree stand on private property in Fabius.

"He made two to three good leaps, stopped, looked around and fell over after going only about 20 yards," Edwards said.

His plans for his trophy deer, which he said had a raw antler score of a little more than 142 points, involve having a shoulder mount done and hanging it on the living room wall of his log cabin. He already has four others: two eight-pointers, one 10-pointer and one 11-pointer.

"My wife isnt too happy about that. She says one should probably go downstairs," he said.

Edwards is eager to pass on his passion to his grandchildren. Last Christmas, he bought one grandchild, Brandon, 2, a lifetime sportsmens license, and hes considering it with another, Nolan, who is six months old.

"They'll come a time when I wont be able to drag deer out of the woods, he said. Hopefully, I'll have grandkids who will like this sport and will help me."

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Mom's deer

C.J. Brunelle, of Memphis, described herself as a 31-year-old stay-at-home mom who got her first deer this fall. It was a "gorgeous four-point," she said.

"This is my third season bow hunting and this is my first deer harvested," Brunelle said.

"I purchased a brand new Mathews Passion (compound bow) over the summer and spent a lot of time target shooting and practicing from a tree stand.

"My husband, Ryan, is also an avid bowhunter and taught me a lot."

Brunelle said the deer was a six yards from her tree stand when she fired her arrow. She said her tree stand was 12 to 14 feet above the deer.

"He weighed 160 pounds after being field dressed," she said. "It was just an exciting experience overall and I cant wait to get out next season. We look forward to sharing this and other outdoor experiences with our two young boys, Nolan, 4, and Chase, 1."

Brunelle said the deer has been processed by her husband, and the meat is in the freezer. She said shes keeping the antlers "as a small reminder of my success.

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Waited 45 years

Tom Scibetta is one of those guys who only hunts with a bow "even during gun season."

Scibetta, 74, of Baldwinsville, arrowed his biggest deer this season. He's been bow hunting for more than 45 years.

"It was an eight-pointer that dressed out at 182 pounds," he said. It's 50 pounds bigger than any deer I've ever taken."

He nailed the big guy on private land in Pompey from a tree stand some 18 feet high. He spotted the deer but had no idea how big it was. He made a split-second decision to take a shot through an estimated one-square-foot area of brush.

He said the deer has been processed and is already in the freezer.

"We'll be spreading him around to the family, he said.

And the antlers?

"They might be mounted. I think my kids are doing it on the QT," he said.

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Got it with a recurve

Jerry Grigonis has been using a traditional recurve bow since the early 1980s. He's harvested 10 bucks over the years, but this year's deer -- an eight-pointer taken in Madison County -- was the biggest.

"I like the feel of a recurve, of using natural (wood), traditional gear," the 61-year-old Fulton resident said. "It's got a 60-pound draw weight. I get ready by doing a lot of stump shooting during the summer. It's more back muscles than anything (to pull and hold the string back)."

't shoot outside of a 20-yard range. He took his most recent buck from a tree stand at about 18 yards.

He's since taken the meat to a processor, and he did a European skull mount. He skinned, boiled and scraped it out himself.

"I finished it off by taking it to the car wash and putting one of those high-powered hoses on it," he said.

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Young buck

Brad Cupernall said he was excited and shaking a bit after taking his first buck with a bow.

Cupernall, 15, of Palermo, was in a tree stand, right next to his father, when he took the shot at a spike horn about 20 yards away.

The boy took his bow hunting safety course at a state Department of Environmental Conservation summer camp. He went out three weekends in a row before his successful harvest.

In addition to taking his first deer, the boy was particularly proud that he gutted it himself.

"I used my dad's knife and got a little help. It was pretty cool to learn, though," he said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog