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My first big game animal with a bow!
I was sitting up on a hill in WMU 527 the night before last, when this buck and another came out into the field I was watching. Both made their way about 200 yards into the hip high grass, and I decided to see if I could cover some ground and make a stalk. Long story short I was only able to close to about 75 yards, when both bucks turned and walked to the field’s edge and bedded down. Keeping track of their antler tips above the grass I nocked an arrow and managed to close to about 20 yards. It was then that the wind shifted and both bucks jumped to their feet.
I shoot using the split vision technique and the wife and I both practice at moving targets out to 50 yards. Figured it would be great practice for Rabbits. Well it came in handy now as I tracked the closet buck, judged the gap for 30 yards and let fly. I know it sounds complicated but it all happened so fast I don’t even remember making the decision to loose. Anyhow I watched the arrow and the buck meet, with the arrow striking only a couple of inches forward of my aiming point. There was a loud “WACK!” and I knew I had hit bone, but I could see very little of my arrow. I kept my eye on the buck as he charged uphill and was lost to sight when he went over the top.
It was then that the shakes hit. Finally after four years I had managed to shoot a Deer with a traditional bow! I waited grudgingly for the next half hour to pass, but by then it was too dark to see very well. So I decided to give him the night as the temperature was supposed to drop and I didn’t want to mess up the trail in the dark.
Well another long story short, it rained heavily the next morning washing any blood away. My wife and I searched for over two hours but couldn’t find hide nor hair of him. We did grids, searched the surrounding woods, and even brought our Black Lab down to see if he could pick up a scent. But we had no luck. By now I was feeling pretty low as you can imagine.
It was about then that the farmer came by with his tractor and grass cutter with the intention of cutting the field for feed. I let him know my situation and gave him my number while I continued searching the surrounding woods, mostly now just looking for Ravens.
Imagine my surprise when he gives me a call about two hours later telling me he found my Buck! I rushed back to the field and was flabbergasted to find the Buck laying just over the hill and not 60 yards from where I shot him! He must have died the night before, no more than 30 seconds after he was hit.
We quickly set to work and found that my arrow had struck the shoulder blade, broke its way through and pierced both lungs before stopping in the muscles of the opposite shoulder, just short of the bone. For the record I was shooting a 43# longbow at my draw, and a 2016 Easton Legacy shaft tipped with a Woodsman Elite broadhead.
My wife and I gave the farmer our thanks and he commented on how amazed he was that we could actually kill a Deer with only a traditional bow.
So a quick thanks to you folks for all the advice you have given this newbie, and a thank you to the TBM staff for introducing me to traditional archery. Now bring on the Whitetails!
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