Have you ever had one of those days that you just knew something good was going to happen as you close the tailgate on the truck and head for the stand? That's pretty much how I felt when Saturday morning when I threw my Lone Wolf on my back, grabbed the bow and headed off. Let me preface this by saying that its been one heck of a month leading up to archery season for me. A month earlier, while practicing in the back yard, my 3 year old Bowtech Destroyer decided to delaminate a limb at full draw. Long story short, with the season so close, and the potential for the hunt of a lifetime in northern Missouri looming, I opted to buy a new bow, a Bowtech Experience. I thrashed on that thing for a month getting it setup, comfortable and shooting the way I like it. I've never bought a bow in September and hunted with it in October, at least not since I was very young. Needless to say, its been a tad stressful. My early season Saturdays usually consist of hunting close to food sources and hitting some of my observation stands I use to see long distances in hopes of catching a good buck on his feet and moving in. With N or NW winds, I had a tree picked out in an area thats been pouring acorns for the last couple of weeks. With the heavy winds we've been having here, I figured the ground would be loaded with them and the deer wouldn't be far off. I made a decision this year to take a doe as soon as I could. The morning came and went with little to talk about. In total, just 5 deer. For some reason, movement just hasn't been that great for me in the mornings. I came home, entertained the kids in the yard for a while, grabbed some lunch and decided to head right back to that stand again. The winds were still good and surely, I wouldn't strike out twice. As I was leaving the truck, I had thought about taking a drag rope with me. I just had this feeling that it was going to happen tonight. I climbed into the tree around 3pm and settled in. I grabbed my phone, shot my buddy a text and checked the football scores. I figured I had a bit of time before I'd see deer. At around 4pm, I looked to my left and there stood a small doe feeding to me. I glassed her and found out it was a button buck. So HE started his way toward me. Soon I noticed another deer behind him working to me in the same area. Glassing her, I noticed the long mature "horse face" and quickly put down the binos and picked up the bow. The button buck started to angle in behind me, directly downwind. But, he was close enough that most of my scent most likely was going over him, at least I hoped. Behind me a good shooting lane and the button buck, went through this opening just like I'd hoped. Once he cleared, a quick glance to my right saw her following the same path. I readied my bow and when she stepped behind a big tree I came to full draw. A mouth bleat stopped her in the opening as I settled the 20 yard pin behind her shoulder. I don't really remember squeezing the trigger, but what I do recall most is the bright, lit up Nocturnal disappearing behind her shoulder. The 450 grain Gold Tip and Slick Trick broadhead found its mark. I watched her make a mad dash in a big U pattern running back in the direction she came from. Then, I saw her start to "spin her wheels" and crash to the ground, kicking a few times until she expired 60 yards from where I made the shot. I looked at my watch, it was 4:30pm. I spent a whopping hour and a half in the stand tonight. I was thrilled. All the thrashing to get this new bow "hunt ready" and I center punched a doe cleanly and no track job. The cool thing for me was being able to bring the deer home and share the excitement with my 5 year old boy who has been begging me for venison steak. He was spending the afternoon with grandma so I stopped there to celebrate the kill with him. I also learned that he likes to help skin a deer! I know its just a doe. But it really isn't. Any deer you take cleanly with a bow is a trophy in its own right. You have to work at it and put in your time in the backyard and in the woods. I've taken my share of trophy racks over the years, but taking any deer with a bow never gets old. Bring my son further into the hunting family and heritage makes it all the more bittersweet. And now for a few pictures from the hunt.
Nice job! Your ground looks a lot like our Cabin's ground with those ferns and open hardwoods in the background.
Congrats Muzzy, well done. Why don't I ever get "early" deer come to me? lol Way to make quick work of your sit.
This area was timbered last year, taking out the pine that was there. It hasn't taken off this year, but I fully expect next year for the browse to come back like crazy. There are patchy ferns around and she happened to crash in them.
