I had a great season opener yesterday! It was an unusual hunt. The forecast called for rain and thunderstorms moving into the area around 3:00, but weather here on the coast is always unpredictable. I had been out of town for the weekend, celebrating my fiances birthday with friends, but I left early on Saturday to get home and into a stand before the weather hit. When I arrived into town around 1:30, the first thing I saw was a young doe eating apples off a tree not 20 yards from a busy road. It seemed like both a good and bad omen- good, in that I was seeing deer; bad in that I was seeing deer out feeding so early. The sun was still shining, but there were dark clouds to southwest, and I could almost feel the pressure changing. A spattering of rain blew in on a gust of wind as I pulled in my driveway. I hopped out of the truck and ran inside to shower and get my gear. I still hadn't decided where I was going to hunt. I had nearly a dozen sites scouted and prepped to hunt, and stands already hanging in four spots, and a ground blind brushed in in a small field that was once my grandfathers vegetable garden. The NOAA weather graph showed a steady southwest wind through the afternoon. That would be perfect for a spot where I had a few daytime pictures of a great buck, but I would have to take down a stand near my house and move it if I wanted to hunt there this afternoon. It seemed risky, but I was excited to take my chances. Running outside in my baseslayers, I headed toward a stand I had set up on a nice bench over a little ridge from house, about 150 yards to the south. I slowed as I crested the ridge, remembering how often I had spooked deer on the other side at all times of day. Sure enough, I was a bit slow on the uptake, and three or four does bounded off down the hill, while another two eyed me through the branches 60 or 70 yards away. Feeling flustered, and not wanting to ruin one of my best spots, I backed out to the house and reconsidered my options. The wind was swirling now, gusting from the north and northwest, and swinging south too. At a bit of a loss, and feeling rushed, I headed to another nearby stand overlooking a hideyhole forest food plot that had been getting a lot of attention through August. I got in stand and fidgeted anxiously for a while, checking the wind, hoping for things to settle. The wind just kept swirling, but the storm seemed to be holding off. At four, I gave up on the stand and got in the truck, thinking only my ground blind might protect me from the capricious wind and threat of possible downpour. I got to the ground blind around 4:30. It would be my first time hunting it, but it was well brushed in and set in the middle of a small field with a loaded apple tree 20 yards on one side, and several oaks just starting to drop acorns 20 yards on the other. Last year, I shot my first ever deer, a nice doe (with a beautiful recurve I bought on ebay) from a stand overlooking this same field. It felt right once I got in the blind, and my nerves finally started to settle after all the running around and changes of plans. The weather was holding, and the sun actually came out again while I relaxed and watched the apple tree from the one half-open window of the blind. Every now and then I would unzip a peephole and check out the oak trees, but I could feel the draft blow through every time, so tried to keep it as zipped up as possible to keep my scent from blowing out toward the apple tree. Around six thirty I was checking the oak, when I turned around there was velvet buck 15 yards away, heading for the apple tree. It walked into my shooting lane as I quickly drew my creed, holding it low and out of sight, then bringing the bow up and clearing the window edge as the buck stopped to browse the apples. I was quickly trying to gauge his size and age, when he swung his head toward me briefly I could see he had a decent spread, and at least three points on a side, so when my 25 yard pin settled quickly just above his armpit, I tripped the release without a thought.
Sorry! I got cut off there... Anyway, I heard the arrow hit the deer and then the apple tree in a loud double crack. The buck took off, stumbling immediately, then charging off over a dirt road out of sight. A few seconds later I heard a loud, messy, crash, and I did a little fist pump in the blind. I waited 20 minutes, but the storm was coming closer, lots of thunder in the distance, so I gathered my pack and bow and slipped out to check up on the shot. The arrow vanes were bright red, but there was also a bit of white hair and tallow on the shaft, so I was concerned about the shot. It had been very tight in the blind at full draw, maybe the top limb hit the ceiling and threw the shot down? I was getting worried, and there was very little blood, and the storm was going to be there any minute. I tracked the buck to the road and found blood spatters with what could have been lung bits between the heavy tracks. I scanned the brush from the road, but there was no sign of the deer, and the tracks were hard to follow on the dry forest floor. Then The thunderstorm finally arrived, and I ran for the truck. I spent a nervous night, but this morning I found him not 70 yards from the shot, perfect double lung.
