9/30/2006 Had worked an all nighter, got home an hour before day light, decided to go ahead and get in the stand, fell right to sleep in my Summit. heard something that woke me up, a nice 6pt was standing right under me he smelled where I climbed into the stand started walking away, I whistled and he stopped qtring away he went 20 yards, that was my first archery deer but third deer I've killed while sleeping in the stand. oh and killed him with a hand me down Golde Eagle, that was an awesome Bow.
OK Dave...I had to do some diggin for this one. I will never forgot watching this arrow disappear through this doe - heck, I can still recall every arrow I've taken deer with - that's what I love about bowhunting - it burns deep into my memory. Nov 13, 1994 - my second bowseason - peak of the rut - but I'm shooting the first non-fawn that steps out. I was hunting a field edge about 15' up in a large Oak, she stepped out of timber at 20 yards - double lung pass through - she bolted back into timber and just as she was about to disappear I see her go head over heels. Had some buddies meet me for the recovery - what a great night! I had only taken one deer prior in '91 with shotgun that my Dad gutted - so this was my first gut job - man did I mangle that up. Hooked forever on Bowhunting! Hoyt Raider bow (around 56lbs I believe) Easton XX75 2114 with 100gr Gold Tip 2 blade expandable
It was 1999 and we were in Southern Illinois. My uncle set up a tree stand for me, but I forgot my hoist rope, so instead I climbed up on his gigantic rock about 20 yards from it. I ended up falling asleep on top of the rock, not sure for how long, but crunching leaves woke me up, and I opened my eyes to see an 8 point buck coming my direction down a nice deer run beneath me. I waited for a perfect 10 yard shot, but apparently waited too long. My strength gave out, and I accidentally let the arrow fly. It missed the buck, but to my amazing and uncharacteristic luck, he didn't even notice...or if he did, it didnt bother him at all. I knocked another arrow as he continued to walk away from me, and finally dropped him on the other side. Apparently, on that day, it was just meant to be =)
It was A Sunday afternoon i was 15. November 9th 2008. My biggest buck to date, probably they wierdest I'll ever shoot, a 9 point that had 2 unicorn points, the bengals had a bye week so I was kinda bored, and decided I'd head out hunting early that day, got in the stand at 2pm and sat there for 20 minutes, he came in straight ahead out of thick woods and turn broad side at twenty my old browning bow sent a nap thunderhead right through the air bags ha ran about 125 yards . I tracked him with my mom dad, and 3 of my sisters, a family event haha. I will never forget it. Couldn't believe my luck! Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Last year early bow season a mature doe presented herself to me at less than 20 yards. Nervous me looked at the 30 yd pin and I sent a beautiful shot just over her shoulder. The arrow seemed to be in slow motion. Of course she ran, along with the other does right behind her. I thought my day was over, but after about 20 minutes a small doe came through at the exact same spot. You bet that I used the right pin this time!
November 2002, Saw nothing all day till early afternoon when this bruiser was running along the trail right in front of me. He stopped dead in his tracks on a mock scrape I made, I drew and till this day I'm pretty sure never used my pins at all! Got lucky though and have since always hit where I aimed. Hooked for life!!!!
10-31-91 It was an early leaf drop that year, I was perched in my tree on clear cool evening, with just a few minutes left of light. Dry crunchy leaves alerted me to deer coming my way. A doe & a fawn quickly came into range & walked less than 10 yds from my tree. I could hear there was another deer coming so I readied my bow anticipating a buck. A small basket rack came right down the does trail & at about 8 yds I drew my bow. He stopped & glanced up at me for what felt like eons, then put his head back down & went to go back to the does. As soon as he took his eyes off me I released the shot. The deer whirled & went bounding away out of sight in the thick woods & fading light. My dad was about 40-50 yds away in another tree & watched the events unfold. He'd thought he'd heard the deer crash but we went home & got more lights and gave it a short time. Due to the shot angle, there was no blood trail to follow so we went to the area where I last saw the deer and he'd thoguht it crashed. It didn't take but 10 minutes to find my buck. To this day Halloween holds a special place in my heart, with having some great expereiences on that day.
Early October 1995. My sophomore year in high school. Back in the day when there was no such thing as a safety harness and carbon arrows were for yuppy rich guy hunters. Shot her at about 10 yards with an XX75 2315 and a thousand grain Zwickey eskimo 2-blade that I sharpened myself. Double lung, she ran about 40 yards and stood there for a few seconds. I remember wondering what she was doing and why she wasn't running. I always thought they ran off and died somewhere else out of sight after you shot them, so for a second I thought I had missed. Then she stumbled a bit and fell over dead. I waited a few minutes then climbed down to get my arrow and check her out. I was so excited I trounced right through the middle of the woods to my dad's stand to tell him I shot a deer.
It was in October of 1979. I shot the first deer to give me a clean shot which was a large doe. There were very few bowhunters back then. It was a double-lung hit and she only went about 50 yards. It was a very long time ago and I remember it as if it was just this morning. I dont think anyone ever forgets any details about that first bowkill deer. I remember running back to the house and asking my Dad, "what do I do now!!"
Mine was mid October the late 80's (I killed my first gun buck in 85 so i'll guess 86 or 87) I was hunting out of my camp in Michigan's U.P. and had a baited stand. The buck came in on a trail on my right side and stopped quartering away. I drew my Golden eagle twin turbo and settled my pin and let fly,the arrow hit and the buck exploded out of the clearing. I climbed down and went back to camp and waited for my buddy to get done with his hunt and we went back in with a coleman lantern and found the fork horn piled up 75 yards or so from the stand.
1993? I was out partying all night and wreaked of booze. Never went to bed, woke up Preacher Tony and he drove us the hour to my cousins house. Then we got him and drove another 20 minutes to the bowhunting destination. Around 0900 this spike buck came through, walked right under my treestand and straight out. I remember saying to myself, "cut to the right or the left and you are dead." He cut to the right and I stuck him with a double lung. He ran about 10 yards and flipped over, thrashing around. Preacher Tony was within 50 yards and was watching this buck. He did not know I shot and he thought this buck had a major issue. He did, a Gamegetter II Autumn Orange arrow with a 125 grain Muzzy 3 blade. I climbed down with my Loggy Bayou and freaked out a while. Preacher Tony wanted to stay and hunt so I had to wait to get home to show it off to the fam. I went up in my climber by my cousin and watched him sleep the afternoon hunt away, until two small deer came in and checked out his decoy. The dude slept all afternoon and woke up as soon as the deer appeared!!! he didn't shoot because they were yearlings. Sal
My first deer with a bow was when i was 14. 15 minutes into my first ever sit and a big doe comes walking by within ten yards of my setup. Been hooked ever since!
1997. Sat in a climber opening morning, and after a whopping ten minutes a deer came by at 15 yards. Shot and saw the deer run and fall over in a thicket. Thinking it was ok, I got down and went to get my dad. Jumped the deer while walking out! Found it three hours later. Low heart shot and the adrenaline allowed it to run over three hundred yards. Lots of educating going on that day. Best lesson, I love bowhunting, but be patient! Turned out to be 130lb spike. One spike I will never forget!
October 1, 2011. First morning of bow hunting. My dad was in a stand 120-140 yards away. I heard a big crash about 1/2 hour past daylight. I figured he had shot a deer. I was really excited about knowing that he had gotten a deer or a tree had fallen. I was hoping for a big buck. I thought at that point that my hunt was probably over. I was wrong. I was sitting on in treestand on fenceline. Right on the edge of a finger of timber that comes out with food plot and corn on each side. Doe came down the fenceline right towards my stand. I wasn't sure if I was going to take her or not, because I figured we had 1 deer already. She kept begging me to shoot her and I did at 7-10 yards straight in front of my stand. I knew I hit her good and was very excited. 2 minutes later my dad comes up through the finger of timber. He must have been walking over while I shot it. Early enough that foilage was thick. Both kills were quick and good shots. We had all the meat deboned and in the fridge by 11:30. Probably one of the best hunts I've had since it was with my dad and we both got something so quickly. Very fortunate.
I'm seeing and reading some great memories , also liking the humourous and funny learning curves some of you guys experienced out there , " Justin , Fletch to name a few ) I'm still waiting to take mine , but 2012 is gonna be as good a time as any . I'll be hunting Elk , Mule Deer and Whitetail in Colorado and South Dakota next Fall . Matt , sounds like you had a great time field prepping that deer lol . ( are you coming to Colorado Fall 2012 ??? ) Backcountry , loving that Elk , very Jealous . Infact I'm jealous of each and every one of you , great memories and thanks for sharing ...... Keep'em coming .
I shot a whitetail doe in the heart from a homemade, plywood, hang-on treestand with my Jennings Forked Lightning, a 2018 aluminum gamegetter and a NAP 125 grain Thunderhead. I remember there was a lot of blood. I think we drove a truck in to pick her up and that's about all I remember. It was a long time ago and I'm confusing several sits from that location in my mind. I do remember the photo and that my mom was pretty upset for the poor deer. She never discouraged me but she definitely wasn't happy that I was a hunter.
My first bow kill (canned ranch hunt) was a real eye opener. I learned real quick that hitting the bullseye on a target meant nothing when shooting a live animal. You have to consider where the arrow goes after hitting the spot you're aiming at. You also have to contend with aiming through foliage and in shadows (where my pig was bedded). On my 1st arrow I totally pooched the angle (got one lung) and the hog ran off. I chased him and his 200lb girlfriend decided to take a run at me...charging me hard and fast. I had no idea what to do so I yelled "STOP PIG!" I then pointed in the direction of the big boar and amazingly, the hog stopped 15' in front of me, grunted and walked off in the direction I was pointing. Wow! Mad Jedi Pigmind Control, I thought. My second arrow nailed both lungs and the 400lb boar slowed but did not stop. I circled around to line up a third shot and basically repeated my first shot but from the other side. Now I'm really frustrated. A final shot up close & personal did the job but the lesson was brutal. The trajectory of the arrow thru the animal is everything! It's not like hitting a center dot on a target. I now practice with dots on both sides of my block so I don't repeat this awful mistake in the field. I focus on entry and exit points and for that, the canned hunt was money well spent.
I made my first bow kill in 2002. I had hunted for three seasons before killing my first deer with a bow. It was early November and I got out of work early on a Thursday afternoon. I hustled out to a spot on the place I hunt and got set up about 3pm. About one hour later a doe came running by at warp speed and jumped the creek I was hunting by that day. About 2 minutes later I heard the crunch crunch crunch sound and then saw a pretty good 7 point buck coming down the ravine and he too jumped over the creek. He then proceeded to walk back through the creek and began scent checking for the hot doe that passed minutes earlier. He eventually walked right below my tree. I being stupid, sent an arrow right down between the bucks shoulder blades (I had gun hunted for ten years prior to this and my mentality locked back into how I was "trained"). The buck bolted off. I was so pumped that I only waited 30 minutes and then began tracking a gut shot wounded buck. I tracked for about 3 hours then had to leave because of the military base rules. I called out of work the next day and began tracking the buck in the morning, bow in hand. About 9 am as I was walking up a small hill I turned around and saw a smaller 6 point buck coming my way and he was only 30 yards away. I slipped behind a tree, drew my bow, and then shot him "broadside"(yeah right) when he was only about 7 yards away. I shot high and back....ughhhhhh. Mistake number 2. I knew it right away. I almost gave up bowhunting that day. I was dejected. But when things get really hard I tend to get really stubborn and persistent. I started tracking that buck for hours and the trail petered out only 100 yards away. I could not find a drop of blood after that. Now I had two dead bucks from two terrible shots on my hands. Again, I almost broke my bow over my knee but I just kept grid searching over and over for hours. About 10 hours after my search started the day before I found the first buck I shot laid out underneath the roots of a tree hanging over the creek. I was on cloud nine! However, that feeling had to tempered with the fact that I made a bad shot on the first buck and made it suffer, and also ended the life of another buck with a bad shot, and never found it. I grew a lot that day.
Cool thread. Shot mine 10/9/10. I left late Friiday night to catch up with my uncle and brother who were already in deer camp at my uncles property. Bought a combination archery tag on the way there. Arrived around midnight. Woke at 5am to go hunt. Settled into tree around 6 and at 6:45 I noticed some movement to my right. A doe was walking down the path my uncle mowed earlier in the week. He had placed a marker at 25 yards and she stopped right next to it to scratch her back. I stood and drew my bow with one motion. Without even thinking I put my pin on her lungs and the arrow flew and I heard a "thwack!" She jumped straight up and took off to my left into some tall grass and crashed 20 yards away. Then 2 fawns stepped out back to my right looking for their mom. They walked in circles for 45 minutes. I called my brother who was hunting a couple hundred yards away and he came over to help. She was only 20 yards away and died very quickly. Liver shot! Not the lung shot I thought. I'll never forget it. It is burned into my memory.
