I'm pretty new to bow hunting, and I don't have anyone to guide me along, but I think Im starting to figure out this subculture. I bought a Reflex bow off the shelf a few years back, and I never gave much time or devotion to figuring it out. (I didn't hunt with it either) I just stuck with my rifle hunting as my number one option. I decided this year however, in my area, there are so many more opportunities to bow hunt, as rifles are too restricted. Plus bow season is much longer than rifle season, so time to dust of that brand new bow. In order to hunt ethically with a bow, I decided to take my bow to a pro to get set up (Macrotech in MD = awesome). The guys there told me this thing was all put together wrong (thanks for nothing ****s Sporting Goods) and showed me why. Once I was set up and paper tuned, I took the bow out to the range at my gun club. I set aside a full day for just the sight in process (remember, I only shot this thing a few dozen times, and never could get consistent with it), but to my surprise I was able to set 4 pins at 15, 20, 25, and 30 yards with in a few shots each. In an earlier life I was a rifle and pistol coach in the Marine Corps, so I just applied the same fundamentals of breathing, alignment, ect, ect, and it just worked out. I was shooting 2-3" groups at 30 yards almost every time, so I figured I was OK to get into the woods. (I didn't want to go beyond 30 yds, as I suspect that's where the years of practice really start to shine, and I want a deer this year) I went out Saturday morning in Potomac MD (private land) where there are a good number of deer and no one else is hunting them. I was in my stand for about 2 hours and I already passed up a spike and another small 4 pointer. (If they don't get hit by cars, I'll be able to hunt them in the coming years) There was a group of does about 50 yards to my 9 o'clock position and they just hung out feeding and laying down. It was close to 9 AM when one of the larger does broke from the group and began to wander down towards my stand. She came broadside and stopped right between two markers (logs) that I had ranged earlier at 15 and 25 yards. This put her at 20 yards. I pulled back on the bow and sighted her in on my second pin (the 20 yarder). I realized at this point how badly I was shaking with nervousness, and I quickly realized I wasn't even looking through my rear peep! (so much for being cool under pressure). I backed off, took a deep breath and re-engaged my target properly (and calmly) This is where things got interesting for me. I released the arrow, and to me it looked like it went over the back of the deer. She spooked and ran at my tree, then turned and ran up a hill about 40 yards, stopped and walked over the crest. Damn! I missed... I didn't have much time left on the hunt, as I had an appointment I couldn't miss. (I had to watch my son, while my wife ran some errands... very important.) I sat in the stand for about 15 more minutes hoping something would come into range. Oddly enough and 8 pointer came trotting through, but didn't stop long enough for me to shoot. In any event, I climbed down and hurried back into the house so my wife could leave. I was watching my son, when I thought he might like to take a trip out back into the woods to help Daddy retrieve his arrow. I saw the arrow smash against a rock behind the deer, so I new it was trashed, but I thought he would like the mini adventure to get it back. He's two years old, so I didn't know if he'd be up for it, but he was excited. We walked into the woods, down a hill, past where my climbing stand was located, and to the edge of a small creek bed where I saw the arrow land. I stepped down the small embankment and picked up my arrow. Yep, it's trashed. The shaft was bent, the broad head tip was deformed. There was no saving this arrow. Surprisingly, what took me a couple moments to notice, was this arrow was covered in a thin layer of blood along the entire length. It was thin and had already dried, so it wasn't really that noticeable right of the bat, but it was blood none the less, and that means I hit that deer, and it went clean through. I immediately (and excitedly) starting looking around for more blood, and I saw a nice blood trail leading toward my stand, then up the hill. My son and I tracked that blood trail very slowly and carefully, but he is 2 years old and he grew tired of this quickly. So I put the arrow in the ground at the point where we quit, and I took him back into the house. My wife came home 30 minutes later or so, and I made a B line back to that spot so I could resume my search. I followed that trail, which grew very faint at times, to a hill crest about 75 yards from my stand (this is a pretty heavily wooded area, so tracking was not that easy, plus it was my first time) I noticed some of the heavier parts of the blood trail had bubbles in the blood. I got excited thinking that maybe I did hit the lungs, and maybe I do have a chance of recovering this deer. I looked about 15 yards in front of me and saw the old girl lying still at the base of a tree. I approached her and noticed blood was still pulsing out of a double lung hit right where I held that 20 yard pin. (Damn, that bow is nice, point of aim = point of impact) The arrow passed through so quickly, that by the time i picked it back up in my vision, it had already done its job. Needless to say I was pumped. My goal was to put some meat in the freezer this weekend and I did just that. I cant wait to go back out and look for that 8 pointer I mentioned. Maybe this time, I'll be aware enough to notice when I hit the mark. After all, I am a newbie...
