Three’s the charm
Family scores big bowhunting
What a torrid weekend of hunting for the Cook family of Johnsville.
Torie Cook arrowed a big whitetail buck last Sunday but worried that she made a bad shot, so she and her husband Torry went back home for a few hours to give things time to die down before looking for it.
Torie’s fears were groundless. She made a fine shot, and they found the buck a short distance from where she shot it.
Ean Maxwell, 10, doesn’t sweat these things.
Ean is Torie’s son, and Torry’s stepson. He also arrowed a fine buck Sept. 28, opening day of the statewide archery season. He and Torry were afraid that this buck might hard to find, as well. Instead of sitting around fretting, Ean borrowed his grandfather’s .22-cal. rifle and bagged a mess of squirrels behind the barn.
“That’s how he killed his nerves,” Torry said. “He ate him a sausage and went to killing squirrels.”
There was no uncertainty Monday when Torry tagged the last out in the triple play. He made a clean shot on a 5 ½-year-old whitetail that went down right where it should, in plain sight. It’s rack will score in the 140-inch range, said Torry, a professional taxidermist.
The three hunters bagged three mature bucks in three days. It was the picture of efficiency for a family that has become nationally known in a short time for their award-winning game calls and predator hunting videos. The brand is MFK, or “Made for Killing.”
“We make the No. 1 diaphragm call in the world,” said Torry, who started his company in 2009. “We’ve got about 14 world titles, more than any other call in the industry.”
The Cooks also produce videos to support their business. One recent episode went viral and garnered 6 million views, which Torry said caught the attention of People magazine, ESPN and The Weather Channel. You can see it at youtube.com/watch?v=mER3MoMa_qM. Torry said the Discovery Channel also has approached them about doing a reality show in the vein of Duck Dynasty.
Torry said he devotes most of his time to predator hunting in August and September, and before turkey season, but come fall he is devoted to hunting deer.
He leaves little to chance. He said he’s in the woods every day, all year, so he watches deer through the seasons. He also photographs them constantly with remote cameras, so he knows where individual bucks eat, sleep and frolic. He only hunts when the wind is right, and it was perfect for the three hunts that occurred last week.
EAN’S BUCK
The Sept. 28 hunt resulted in Maxwell killing his first archery buck. Torry wanted Maxwell to kill a cull buck with deformed antlers, but circumstances conspired against them. He killed a dandy 8-point instead.
“Based on the pictures I had, evening would have been better to hunt this deer,” Torry said, “but we couldn’t hunt in the evening because my sister was getting married later that day.”
Deer were coming into the area about 6 p.m. and staying all night, Torry said.
“It would be hard to get in there in the morning, but I found about an hour and 45-minute gap before daylight when we weren’t getting many pictures. That was the best time for us to get in there undetected.”
The spot was in a hardwood funnel that pinches down to a bottleneck. Torry had built a blind that was well-hidden by brush. He said he could hear bucks fighting in a nearby field in the dark. Deer started filtering through the funnel just before daylight. Five bucks finally appeared, including three 8-points, a 6-point and the cull buck.
“I told him to shoot whichever one he wanted,” Torry said. “He took his time and hit it perfect behind the shoulder. It had the prettiest rack of the bunch.”
Archers always wait before trying to recover deer they shoot. Even a mortally wounded deer can run a long way quickly if pressured. Maxwell passed that time shooting squirrels. Torry said they found the buck five minutes after picking up its blood trail.
TORIE’S FIRST
Sunday was Torie’s turn. She was after a mature 8-point that she’d been watching for two years. Torry gave her a new bow for Mother’s Day, and she’d practiced endlessly with it from their elevated balcony.
The wind was right Sunday afternoon to hunt another hardwood funnel between a field and a pond. Does and small bucks passed, followed by older deer later. Shortly before dark, two bucks appeared, including the one they nicknamed “Rack City.”
“It walked right under us and out into the field,” Torry said. “It’s what we intended to happen, like they read the script.”
The bucks lowered their heads to eat, and Torie loosed her arrow. She said she was afraid she hit too high. Torry said he believed he saw the deer lie down at the edge of a treeline across the field, so they went back to the house for a couple of hours.
“She was on pins and needles,” Torry said. “She hadn’t eaten since lunch, and she didn’t have any supper. She couldn’t function until she found that deer.”
When they returned, they found Torie’s arrow in the field. It had a lighted nock, and there was a lot of blood. Torry had noted the last tree that the buck passed, and they found it lying 10 yards past that tree.
“It was a wide rack, a real uniform 8-point,” Torry said. “It was 4 ½ years old, and it’ll score in the low 130s.”
It was Torie’s first deer, her reward for years of hard work, patience and anticipation.
“I cried,” Torie said. “I’m a girl. I never thought I’d cry over a deer, but I was so excited. I watched him grow from velvet, to bigger and bigger and bigger. I’m thinking, ‘We’re down to it.’ All those scenarios that played in my mind when I was practicing, it’s here.
“Until you put your hands on him, you don’t know if it’s good enough.”
EPILOGUE
Monday was Torry’s date with another buck with which he had a long history. He reached his stand at the appointed time, and a group of does arrived within 10 minutes. Torry said they ran in a coy sort of way. They weren’t alarmed, Torry said, but playful.
Four bucks were behind them, three 8-pointers and a 9-point. Torry said the 9-point lunged at another buck, which turned him broadside. Torry arrowed him at 15 steps. The buck ran 60 yards and was out at third.
Inning over. Three hits, three runs, no errors.