CamoMan
New Member
This has been a real fun season, and I was able to shoot a medium size 8-pointer Tuesday morning. I was hunting a funnel area on the river bottom, and was able to rattle him out of the woods into the bean field. He was about to come by at 15 yards, then got nervous about the doe decoy and circled out wide of her. I had a good shot at about 23 yards, mouth grunted to freeze him, and released.
The arrow planed a little, or the string grazed my sleeve, because the arrow hit 6-8 inches farther back than I wanted, and it didn't pass through. I'm pretty sure that was because it didn't impact straight on. The buck ran 40 yards back towards the timber, turned around to look at the decoy, and then walked into the woods. I knew the hit was marginal, so I went back home and waited until 11:00.
I picked up a decent, but not heavy blood trail, and stayed with it for 3 hours. By 2:00, I had covered about 300 yards, and was down to looking at occasional small drops. I was getting very concerned. Finally, I stuck an arrow in the ground at the last place I saw blood, said a prayer asking God to take over where my abilities couldn't take me, and just started walking through the heavy underbrush and trees. About three minutes, and 75 yards later, I saw my arrow sticking up in front of me. I couldn't believe that I had walked full circle without knowing it. Then I realized that this arrow was attatched to a very dead deer. I gave one very excited prayer of thanks, and then called my friends. I have shot much bigger deer, but this is among my best trophies, because of how much work it was to find him. The arrow had hit the liver, stayed inside the deer, and the broadhead did it's job well.
This was my first bow deer in 3 years. I had drifted away from bowhunting for three years , and phased back in over the last two years. This year, the excitement really kicked in . . even more than when I was 'young' ( I am 42). A lot of that is because of my son, Taylor who is hunting with me this year. He is a joy. I had passed up a couple of deer this size earlier, but with only a few days left to bowhunt this season, this buck started looking pretty good. I had camera problems, so photos will not be available on this deer. Not a real problem . . . I have the antlers to look at, some good memories, and a good chunk of meat.
Next year I'll buy a doe tag, try to fill it early, and then be a little more selective. I am not a real trophy hunter, and I don't get into the scores very much, but large antlers do stir a certain amount of excitement. Taylor still has a few more days to try for his first . . . and I can hardly wait til late muzzleloader season. Anyway, sorry for the lengthy story, but I really enjoy this site, and wanted to share my excitement.
The arrow planed a little, or the string grazed my sleeve, because the arrow hit 6-8 inches farther back than I wanted, and it didn't pass through. I'm pretty sure that was because it didn't impact straight on. The buck ran 40 yards back towards the timber, turned around to look at the decoy, and then walked into the woods. I knew the hit was marginal, so I went back home and waited until 11:00.
I picked up a decent, but not heavy blood trail, and stayed with it for 3 hours. By 2:00, I had covered about 300 yards, and was down to looking at occasional small drops. I was getting very concerned. Finally, I stuck an arrow in the ground at the last place I saw blood, said a prayer asking God to take over where my abilities couldn't take me, and just started walking through the heavy underbrush and trees. About three minutes, and 75 yards later, I saw my arrow sticking up in front of me. I couldn't believe that I had walked full circle without knowing it. Then I realized that this arrow was attatched to a very dead deer. I gave one very excited prayer of thanks, and then called my friends. I have shot much bigger deer, but this is among my best trophies, because of how much work it was to find him. The arrow had hit the liver, stayed inside the deer, and the broadhead did it's job well.
This was my first bow deer in 3 years. I had drifted away from bowhunting for three years , and phased back in over the last two years. This year, the excitement really kicked in . . even more than when I was 'young' ( I am 42). A lot of that is because of my son, Taylor who is hunting with me this year. He is a joy. I had passed up a couple of deer this size earlier, but with only a few days left to bowhunt this season, this buck started looking pretty good. I had camera problems, so photos will not be available on this deer. Not a real problem . . . I have the antlers to look at, some good memories, and a good chunk of meat.
Next year I'll buy a doe tag, try to fill it early, and then be a little more selective. I am not a real trophy hunter, and I don't get into the scores very much, but large antlers do stir a certain amount of excitement. Taylor still has a few more days to try for his first . . . and I can hardly wait til late muzzleloader season. Anyway, sorry for the lengthy story, but I really enjoy this site, and wanted to share my excitement.
