Went out hunting this Sunday to a new area that my buddy has been hunting for a few years and says he always see's deer. I spent 11 hrs sitting in a ground blind overlooking a watering hole with lots of good sign. Needless to say, I didn't see anything more than a few frogs and some birds all day. There was a pretty good wind blowing most of the day, so I'm not sure if the wind was keeping the deer down, or if it was just carrying my scent to every deer in the area. Anyway, with about 45 minutes of light left, my buddy came by and we decided to call it a day. Neither of us could feel anything from about the waist down. The little foam pad seat that I picked up was slightly better than a board full of nails, but not much. We figured that if we got home an hour early we could earn a few points with the respective bosses, and maybe get to go again soon. We were almost back to the car when I saw two deer way off in a field. Having not seen anything all day we decided we would at least attempt a stalk. Neither of us really thought we had a chance, but you never know, so off we went. As soon as we started towards the deer, they started making their way towards some thick trees. I had my buddy work his way down to the edge of the trees, and I was going to try and sneak around to the other side and then work back towards him. I figured that the deer would duck down into the woods, giving me a chance to get on the other side and slowly push them towards an ambush. Just as I was getting near the two deer a bunch of doves flushed and spooked the deer. The first deer went high tailing it straight into the trees and never looked back. The second buck was a little too curious and stood there broad side at 40 yrds. I had already decided that 40 yrds was the maximum that I was willing to shoot at game, and I had a decision to make. I was confident that I could make the shot. The wind had finally died down. The deer was giving me a perfect opportunity, and I couldn't pass it up. As I watched the arrow fly it looked like I had seriously misjudged the distance and the arrow dropped several yards short. The deer jumped and followed the first down into the thicket. I made my way towards where the deer had been and started looking for my arrow a few yards from where the deer had been standing. When I got to where the deer had been I looked around. No blood anywhere. A clean miss, or so I thought. My buddy, who had seen me shoot, but hadn't seen the deer started making his way towards me along the tree line. When he got to where the deer was standing he called out that he found my arrow, and it was covered in blood. Now I was panicking. I figured it was a bad hit, and I was going to have a long night trailing this deer and trying to recover it. I was already making up a story for calling in sick to work on Monday (my wife was going to have a fever and I would need to stay home to take care of her and the kids). When I saw my arrow I was blown away. Beautiful, bright red blood, and a few bubbles on the fletching. It looked like a good hit. But, I still saw no blood on the ground. I decided to stay put for 30 minutes and hope the deer was hit well and wouldn't go far. It took the entire 30 minutes to find the first drop of blood. The trail was very faint with not more than a drop or two every few feet, but at least it was something. We started following the trail and were soon on hands and knees trying to keep on the blood. The farther we went the more blood we were starting to see. After about 50 yards we found my little button buck piled up on the side of the trail. The shot had nicked the front elbow on the way in, through the heart and lungs. Not bad for an amateur. Anyway, I am thrilled about it, and thought you all might enjoy the story, sorry I rambled on so much, but it is my first big game archery kill, and I'm still buzzed from it.
Good hunting! I have yet to arrow one, but I have had a few close calls. And bear season starts in 2 weeks so I better get on it. Congrats!
Great job! Be careful this could be the start of something you soon won't be able to control....complete archery addiction!!!
