Reply To: My First Traditional Kill

[hunt1321]

#10423

MSARCHER wrote: Congrats! There is no feeling better than the first one. I’d love to hear some of the hunt details behind it. Great job!

Well a couple of weeks ago I missed a deer on a different stand. Shot just over the shoulder. I don’t practice from elevated stands as much as I should. I haven’t seen many deer this year so far and the bucks seem to be few and far between, I am hoping this is due to the crazy weather we have been experiencing lately,(low barometer) with the phase of the moon. It had been raining all day Thursday and Friday but quit about 2:30 p.m. I was fortunate to get off early and thought with the moon right they would definitely be moving. I was right! About 5:45 p.m A young doe and no doubt her first yearling approached my stand, both within 15 steps. I briefly considered shooting the bigger deer for the meat and the bigger target but I decided to let her live and continue to reproduce and take the yearling. I accounted for the height and aimed a little low and still hit a little high and back at about 11 steps. I wasn’t crazy about the shot. As fate would have it, rain began to fall immediately after I shot the deer. I thought I had really made a mistake but I immediately left the area. I was actually in my little chevy cruise that I drive on my weekly commute to work (fuel economy) so there was no way I was going to be able to transport the deer in my car, therefore I drove the twenty miles home and got the truck from my wife. On the way out of the woods Coyotes were yipping in the area and I knew that I had to try and recover the small deer that night. My mentor and friend who sparked my interest in traditional bow hunting concurred and suggested I take his gas lantern. I knew there would be no blood trail but the lantern does seem to work better than a flashlight. He and I also discussed the likely hood that the deer ran towards an old pond about 150 yds north of my stand on the property I was hunting. He couldn’t accompany me on the recovery due to other obligations but our assessment was correct and the deer was lying right at the waters edge of the old pond. She was still barely alive so I carefully approached and dispatched her with my knife. The arrow had gotten into the paunch but had also punctured the liver. Wasn’t a great shot but I’ll take it. I knew from experience not to push wounded deer. Fortunately it worked out. I did get a little excited prior to the shot and I contribute that to the bad hit. I know that’s the fun part but composure, I think, is very important in making lethal shots. I really believe had I been using a light arrow and broad head that in all likely hood I would not have recovered that animal. Thanks!

BTW: It was about and hour and a half from the time I shot and recovered the animal. I ate one of the shoulder roasts last night and today for dinner and it was delicious!!