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Fight Night: Shake, Rattle – Let’s Roll

Dec 30, 2022

With a highly sought-after Iowa deer tag in his pocket, Elite Archery’s own Larry McCoy sets out to start a fight in Iowa.

High Expectations

After drawing a tag that can take 4 to 5 years to draw, I had high expectations for my first set in Iowa. The magical date of November 6 holds a special spot on many hunter’s calendars—and one of my favorite days to be in the woods—specifically in Iowa. I was able to snag a prototype of Elite’s new Era and was excited to put the premium, hand-laid carbon-composed bow to work. Before heading to the blind, I placed a decoy in the middle of a bean field that was planted earlier that summer and had high visibility in an attempt to lure in a targeted, dominant buck. We set up in a nearby blind where I was prepared for almost everything – everything except chairs, that is. I had to resort to resting on my knees and standing crunched over. Luckily, the hunt was action packed as soon as I got in the blind with the first deer of the evening- a young buck arriving within the first 15 minutes. I had a good feeling about this hunt after such a quick turnout.

Calling In the Chaos

After the first buck, I started rattling, calling and attempting to start a fight. That’s when all the chaos began...buck after buck. Even a few hundred yards away, it was clear that the noticeably larger and dominant buck had entered the scene. After pushing some smaller bucks around, the mature monarch swaggered his way across the field before disappearing.

Shake, Rattle – Let’s Roll.

A few more rattling sequences would bring back the giant who had looped back around to see what the commotion was all about. With his ears pinned back, the buck showed his dominance as he postured towards the decoy – slanting this massive body with all his focus on the perceived perpetrator. As he was getting close, I knew I had limited time before his antlers would make contact with the decoy.

Crouched down, I was extremely thankful for the compact axle to axle of the Era. I was able to swiftly maneuver from one window of the blind to the next to window before touching off a shot and striking the giant. The deer ran towards the blind’s base and another thirty yards to meet his demise. The SlickTrick Torch did its job and made for an easy tracking job. It doesn’t get much better and although a quick one, the first sit in Iowa proved to be an amazing fight night for me and The Next Era of Carbon Bows.