Devon Polley’s first archery buck was also his first deer to weigh 200 pounds. But with almost no blood to follow after the shot, recovering it required help from a tracking dog.
Polley shot the buck at about 10:30 a.m. last Wednesday during Maine’s regular archery season in Vassalboro. He had been hunting the deer since last year, when he spotted it but couldn’t get close enough for a shot. After running trail cameras in the area for two years, he changed his approach.
“I focused on not intruding into the woods and playing the wind effectively,” he said.
The day before the hunt, Polley spotted the buck feeding on acorns with several does and another large, six-point buck. He returned the next morning and settled into a tree stand near where he had seen it.
The buck appeared around 9 a.m. but stayed out of range. About an hour later, it returned along a rock wall. After watching it for nearly half an hour, Polley got his opportunity as it passed through a gap in the trees.
He released an arrow from about 30 yards away. A camera mount he made for his phone recorded the shot, allowing him to review the footage and assess the hit.
The buck had been walking parallel to Polley before turning slightly toward him as he released the arrow. The arrow passed through one lung, the liver and intestines before exiting in front of the back leg.
Polley believed the wound was lethal but knew the deer might not drop immediately. He determined the hit was a bit low and contacted Susanne Hamilton, a large-game tracker who had helped his family recover deer before.
They waited about 10 to 12 hours before Hamilton arrived with her dog, Fritzi.
The open hardwood forest was covered in leaves, with no visible sign of the wounded deer, Hamilton said. Fritzi quickly picked up the scent and followed the trail. About 50 yards in, they found half of Polley’s arrow and a single drop of blood. The dog followed the trail another 165 yards to the buck.
“Because of the terrain, this would’ve been an incredibly hard track for a dog if it had been mucked around,” Hamilton said. “I was so impressed with how he handled his situation.”
The buck weighed exactly 200 pounds on an official scale at Toby’s Grocery near South China and Windsor. Polley plans to register it with Maine’s Big Buck Club.