Hsmaross
Member
Long story short, I have been waiting for this for 20 years. My old man got me started bow hunting when I was 14, but with him being an OTR driver, our time together was at a minimum. When he died in 2003, I tried to continue with the bow hunting thing, but my confidence was terrible. After years of trying to do everything right in the woods, my wife and I started our family and I took a break from deer hunting for a couple years to help her as much as I could. About 6 years ago I started bow hunting again, and again felt like I would never get this done.
Fast forward two years ago. I finally had a nice buck come in and at 23 yards, I got him stopped and let it fly. Only to have him spin on the release and stick his face across his chest as he did. The arrow stuck him somewhere on the side of his head. After tracking an almost non-existent blood trail for probably 300 yards, it completely quit. Last year I arrowed a doe at 22 yards only to recover the arrow and find that I only got about 2-3 inches of penetration where it snapped off. I had hit her square in the front leg.
Focussed on making sure this would never happen again, I bought different broadheads, heavier arrows, and increased my draw weight to 65lbs for this year. Saturday morning was my first chance to test this out. At 7:30, I nice little buck came in off the CRP following the same trail a lone doe had taken about 15 minutes earlier. I watched him come from about 80 yards out. He entered the timber at 20 yards and proceeded right down the trail the veers behind my stand. After bleating at him for a third time, he stopped, slightly quartering to me at 8 yards. I had been at full draw since he hit the timber edge, so I settled in, took a breath, and squeezed the release. The arrow hit at top of his shoulder and looked good. The blood trail was minimal, but not needed as I watched him go about 80 yards and crash almost exactly where I first saw him. I got full penetration and double lunged him. Couldn't be happier to say "FINALLY", I put it all together
If you read all this, You deserve a reward. Sorry for the all rambling, just really exited to finally be able to share a happy ending!
Fast forward two years ago. I finally had a nice buck come in and at 23 yards, I got him stopped and let it fly. Only to have him spin on the release and stick his face across his chest as he did. The arrow stuck him somewhere on the side of his head. After tracking an almost non-existent blood trail for probably 300 yards, it completely quit. Last year I arrowed a doe at 22 yards only to recover the arrow and find that I only got about 2-3 inches of penetration where it snapped off. I had hit her square in the front leg.
Focussed on making sure this would never happen again, I bought different broadheads, heavier arrows, and increased my draw weight to 65lbs for this year. Saturday morning was my first chance to test this out. At 7:30, I nice little buck came in off the CRP following the same trail a lone doe had taken about 15 minutes earlier. I watched him come from about 80 yards out. He entered the timber at 20 yards and proceeded right down the trail the veers behind my stand. After bleating at him for a third time, he stopped, slightly quartering to me at 8 yards. I had been at full draw since he hit the timber edge, so I settled in, took a breath, and squeezed the release. The arrow hit at top of his shoulder and looked good. The blood trail was minimal, but not needed as I watched him go about 80 yards and crash almost exactly where I first saw him. I got full penetration and double lunged him. Couldn't be happier to say "FINALLY", I put it all together
If you read all this, You deserve a reward. Sorry for the all rambling, just really exited to finally be able to share a happy ending!
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