Crystal Mahalitc made the long climb up into her tree stand one more time on Nov. 7.
Mahalitc, from Bovina, had been hunting a buck in Warren County for a couple of weeks and actually saw a couple of good bucks several times, but they never came in range. She was about to give up and was tired of climbing that ladder only to be disappointed.
“I was hunting high over a cut cornfield,” Mahalitc said. “The corn had been picked, but my husband left the stalks up as cover for the deer so they would feel comfortable, and they were working the corn between two green fields. Finally, one of the bucks that I’d just seen come into the area a week earlier fed into range, and I shot him at 37 yards!”
Practice makes perfect
Mahalitc’s buck sported 13 non-typical points that rose up 19 inches high and scored 127 inches. The rack was unique, and the buck was hard earned by this veteran deer hunter.
“I practiced every day for several weeks learning how to shoot my crossbow from a high stand,” Mahalitc said. “I started hunting with a crossbow about 3 years ago since the rest of my family was able to get into the woods before I could. I had to wait until gun season, so I started hunting with my husband’s crossbow.”
The first year she hunted with the crossbow, Mahalitc said that she couldn’t hit anything, but she kept practicing and hunting. Last year, she killed two does and one small buck. This season, she wanted to go for a wall-hanger, and she was really after those good bucks she’d spotted nearby.
“I do a lot of praying in the stand,” said Mahalitc. “I was praying for my children and grandchildren and a lot of things. I also wanted an opportunity to get a shot at that buck in range. It’s a challenge for sure because you have to get that deer closer than you can with a gun.”
Enjoying the outdoors
Mahalitc has been hunting, off and on, for 38 years between raising children. She has 11 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
“After all the children moved out a few years ago, I started hunting a lot more,” she said. “We can walk out of the house and go hunting anytime we want to, so it gave me more time to try out a crossbow. I’m 5-foot-3, 120 pounds, and I just couldn’t pull back a bow, so the crossbow afforded me another opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy myself.”
Mahalitc’s husband Edward has had two neck surgeries, and he had a crossbow that he wasn’t using due to work.
“My husband told me to shoot it and let him know how I liked it,” she said. “After I’d killed a few deer with it and liked it, I told him that I needed to clean his bow and let him have it back. He told me that it was mine now, so I have my own crossbow!”
“Bowhunting and crossbow hunting is a good time to reflect on things and get back to nature,” said Mahalitc. “I just enjoy getting outdoors no matter if I kill one or not, but it is really fun when you’re able to harvest a good buck with the crossbow!”
Mahalitc killed the buck of her lifetime with a Mathews Mission crossbow using Rage Broadheads and they really did a number on the buck. If her recent success is an indicator of things to come, then she will be harvesting a lot more bucks from here on.
I know a lot of women who are in the 5’3″ 120 lb range that pull a bow back. Maybe there is another reason…