Hi Folks, Normally I hunt the early season muzzleloader with my father-in-law and the bow thing never got much effort put into it. I spaced getting my muzz tag and they sold out in 2 days. After the embarrassment of not getting my tag wore off, I decided to put the work in for bowhunting. Dusted off the bow, spent some time at the range and got great advice on my form. Shot every morning and night and eventually got really comfortable with my accuracy. I'm hunting public land on the ground behind one of those HS backpackers blinds. Took a bunch of scouting trips and made a bunch of nests to come back to and walked off the distances to make sure I know my range. Spent a bunch of $$ on better camo and misc. gear including some string wax. As I was waxing up my strings, I happened to notice a rather large crack/separation on one of the limbs of my bow so.... My wife said happy birthday go get a new bow. This was not in the cards but I ended up getting a Mission Craze and swapped my rest & sites across. This purchase was a little tough for me, as they were getting me set up I see someones girlfriend shooting that bow and then I see the 11yr old kid getting his setup as well. Took a deep breath and told myself that it's not just a youth/girlie bow, it just happens to have a very wide range of adjustments and you will be able to kill deer with it and eventually set your daughter up with it when she's ready, then you can get your "big boy" bow. I really came to like it a lot, especially the compact size is great when you're sitting behind a piece of cloth, there's that much less to try to conceal. So I'm feeling really good about the work I've done and my plan has really come together from releasing the arrow to putting meat in the freezer, I got it thought through and covered. It's difficult to balance between family and work and then carve out time to make hunting a large mammal a priority, luckily my wife is super supportive. Opening Day finally arrives! The wind is being a bit of a bastard, but that's why you scout as many spots as you can. My buddy offers to film so we head out nice and early get set and watch a beautiful morning unfold. No deer and I fought a loosing battle with a patch of flatulence, but just great to be out none the less. Head home, nap, and gather up for the evening. I decided to setup in a corner of a freshly mowed field that I've hunted in years past and pretty much know the deer by name. The temp is warm and so i know they won't peek out until the last moment but I still get ancy and move around and stood up too much. Every year I have to reacquaint myself with holding still and being quiet, so I played about fifty games of free cell. With about 10 minuets of light left I looked up from my little card game and see a doe feeding about a hundred yards away. I get situated and watched her meander right to me. Once she was within my 25 yard arc I decide it's time to shoot. Now, I have shot several deer with the old Hawkins style cap and ball open sight rifle and I understand what happens when you have adrenaline pounding through your veins but it's totally different when you're aiming a stick at a large animal. My first attempt at a draw found my arms burning and I quickly stopped and forced myself to recheck her distance and try to take a breath. That calmed me just enough to make a smooth draw, put the pin on the boiler room focus and release. What happened next is what gets played over and over in my head and keeps me wanting to hunt forever. The arrow hits with a crack/thud and drops about 5 feet on the other side of her (lit nocks are so cool). She had no idea I was there or what just passed through both lungs, I could not believe I just made the shot. She ran about 100 yards and dropped in my sight in this mowed field. When I was able to get it together and shoot off a text to any concerned parties, I saw that I shot her within about 2 minuets of light. Since I could see the white of her tail and no movement, I gave it ten minuets and packed up and got back to the car and shook off the last of the major adrenaline. Smoked the victory smoke and packed the drag harness and flashlight made my way over to her and started the 500 yard drag. I will be investing in a wheeled cart for the future. Got her back to the car and dressed her by headlight. Finally had a clean gut job but managed to slice my finger pretty good on the pelvic bone where I sawed through it of all things. Drove home, got her hung up and skinned then passed out. Carved her up first thing in the morning and she was in the freezer by noon. If you've read this far you can probably tell I'm pretty proud of how this went down. It's really satisfying to have hard work pay off with success. This is my first post here so if it's in the wrong place or inappropriate, my apologies.
Congrats man! Sounds like you had to go through a lot to get that doe, and I know it was worth it for you! Good luck and good story.
Putting in the extra work always makes the hunt more rewarding. That's the reason I'll never fire a gun at a deer again. Congratulations on your bow kill, sounds like you'll be as addicted as the rest of us pretty soon.
Thanks guys, It's really cool to be able to lay out a hunt story to folks that love 'em, I know I do. Got more tags so hopefully some more stories soon. Is there a place or threads here where folks lay out stories and pics and such? I don't get too much time to search around.
