First crossbow kill measures in the 130s
First blood is something a hunter will always remember whether a doe or small buck. But, for Teresa Turbyfill of Randleman, her first crossbow kill was a stud 10-pointer she downed at 18 yards in her Rockingham County deer stand on Sept. 16.
“I was so excited the next morning. I woke up and took a look at him on Sunday morning to make sure it wasn’t a dream,” Turbyfill said.
Turbyfill has been hunting with her husband, Chris for three years now. She had hunted two times this season so far, but hadn’t see anything big enough for her to release a bolt from her crossbow because of some tell-tale trail camera photos. This deer, along with several other good bucks, were living on their hunting property and this big buck had been hanging out ever since July.
She first hunted on Saturday morning hoping to see this deer, but nothing came out at all and they considered not even going hunting that afternoon until they checked the trail camera card.
“We checked the camera card and sure enough, they were coming in at the same time every day and of course, we decided to go,” she said.
But by 7 p.m. she’d seen nothing, and she began to lose hope. Then, something caught her attention just off to the side of her stand. Ten yards away, the big 10-pointer arrived along with his companions. Turbyfill knew she needed to get into position and her heart started beating right through her chest. She was as nervous as she has ever been.
“I closed my eyes trying to relax and I was worried they were going to hear my heart beating because it was so loud,” she said.
The bucks kept meandering around and moved across her field of view. She picked out the big 10-pointer in her scope and was preparing to shoot. Then, she closed her eyes one last time.
“With my eyes closed, I said to myself, when I open my eyes, I will decide if it is the right time to shoot and make that decision,” she said. “Lord, help me to breathe and help me to make the perfect shot.”
She opened her eyes at 7:07 p.m. and the buck was standing perfectly broadside. She pulled the trigger.
“When I opened my eyes that last time, It happened in a millisecond and I don’t even remember pulling the trigger at all, but I heard the bolt hit and I knew I had made the perfect shot,” she said.
She was dead on. The bolt penetrated the buck’s heart and passed straight through, sticking into the ground on the other side. The buck ran about 80 yards and fell dead. She immediately started texting and calling Chris on the phone to tell him of her kill, crying tears of excitement.
As Chris arrived 20 minutes later, they found the buck, bringing on another rush of tears of excitement, but this time the tears were coming out of both husband and wife’s eyes. It was a good day for the Turbyfills.
Her buck was a mainframe 10-pointer, and preliminary measurements take it into the 130s.
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